the sword of royalty in thy right hand, and that half sittest on a high
seat. Place under control, as I am piously uttering the mantrams to
serve thee, all demons, namely Yakshi, Gandharvan, Poomalagandharvan,
Chutali, Nirali, Nilankari, Chuzali, and many others who cause all
kinds of illness that flesh is heir to. Oh! holy mother, Bhadrakali,
I vow by my preceptor.
(5) For devil driving.
Oh! thou, Karinkutti (black dwarf) of Vedapuram in Vellanad, that
pluckest the fruits of the right hand branch of the strychnine tree
(Strychnos Nux-vomica), and keepest toddy in its shell, drinking the
blood of the black domestic fowl, drumming and keeping time on the
rind of the fruit, filling and blowing thy pipe or horn through the
nose. Oh! thou primeval black dwarf, so long as I utter the proper
mantrams, I beg thee to cause such demons as would not dance to dance,
and others to jump and drive them out. Oh! thou, Karinkutti, come,
come, and enable me to succeed in my attempts.
(6) Oh! thou goddess with face. Oh! thou with face like that of a bear,
and thou, a hunter. I utter thy mantrams and meditate upon thee, and
therefore request thee to tread upon my enemies, burst open their
bodies to drink their blood, and yawn to take complete rest; drive
out such demons as cause convulsions of the body both from within
and without, and all kinds of fever. Scatter them as dust. I swear
by thee and my preceptor. Swahah.
(7) For the evil eye.
Salutations to thee, Oh! God. Even as the moon wanes in its brightness
at the sight of the sun, even as the bird chakora (Eraya) disappears
at the sight of the moon; even as the great Vasuki (king of serpents)
vanishes at the sight of chakora; even as the poison vanishes from
his head; so may the potency of his evil eye with thy aid vanish.
(8) To cause delay in the occurrence of menses.
Salutation to thee, Oh! Mars (the son of the goddess Earth).
If this mantram is muttered on a thread dyed yellow with turmeric,
and if the thread be placed on both the palms joined together, and if
the number of days to which the occurrence of the menses should be
delayed be thought of, the postponement will be procured by wearing
it either round the neck or the loins. The thread with a ring attached
to it, and worn round the neck is equally effective.
(9) To prevent cows from giving milk.
Om, Koss, dry up the liquid, kindly present me with thy gracious
aspect. Oh! thou with the great sword in thy hands, the great
trident, dry up the cow's udder even as a tiger, I swear by thee and
my preceptor.
(10) To cause cows to give milk.
Even as the swelling on the holy feet of Mahadeva due to the bite
of a crocodile has subsided and gone down, so go down. I swear by
my preceptor.
(11) To remove a thorn from the sole of the foot.
When Parameswara and Parvathi started on their hunting expedition,
a thorn entered the foot of her lady-ship. It was doubted whether it
was the thorn of a bamboo, an ant, or a strychnine tree. Even so may
this poison cease to hurt, Oh! Lord. I swear by my preceptor.
(12) To effect metamorphosis.
Take the head of a dog and burn it, and plant on it vellakutti
plant. Burn camphor and frankincense, and adore it. Then pluck the
root. Mix it with the milk of a dog and the bones of a cat. A mark
made with the mixture on the forehead will enable any person to assume
the figure of any animal he thinks of.
(13) Before a stick of the Malankara plant, worship with a lighted
wick and incense. Then chant the Sakti mantram 101 times, and mutter
the mantram to give life at the bottom. Watch carefully which way
the stick inclines. Proceed to the south of the stick, and pluck the
whiskers of a live tiger, and make with them a ball of the veerali
silk, string it with silk, and enclose it within the ear. Stand on
the palms of the hand to attain the disguise of a tiger, and, with
the stick in hand, think of a cat, white bull, or other animal. Then
you will, in the eyes of others, appear as such.
(14) Take the nest of a crow from a margosa tree, and bury it at the
cremation ground. Then throw it into the house of your enemy. The
house will soon take fire.
(15) Take the ashes of the burial-ground on which an ass has been
rolling on a Saturday or Sunday, and put it in the house of your
enemy. The members of the family will soon quit the house, or a severe
illness will attack them.
The Velans and Mannans are animists, and worship demoniacal gods,
such as Chandan, Mundian, Kandakaranan, Karinkutti, and Chathan. All
of them are separately represented by stones located underneath a
tree in the corners of their compounds. Offerings of sheep, fowls,
plantain fruits, cocoanuts, parched rice and beaten rice, are made to
them on the tenth of Dhanu (last week in December), on a Tuesday in
Makaram (January-February), and on Kumbham Bharani (second asterism
in March-April). They also adore the goddess Bhagavathi and the
spirits of their departed ancestors, who are believed to exercise
their influence in their families for good or evil. Sometimes, when
they go to Cranganore to worship the goddess there, they visit the
senior male members of the local Nayar, Kammalan and Izhuvan families
to take leave of them, when they are given a few annas with which
they purchase fowls, etc., to be given as offerings to the local
goddess. Wooden or metal images, representing the spirits of their
ancestors, are located in a room of their huts, and worshipped with
offerings on New Moon and Sankranti nights.
The Velans and Mannans either burn or bury the dead. The son is the
chief mourner who performs the funeral rites, and the nephews and
brothers take part in them. Their priests are known as Kurup, and
they preside at the ceremonies. Death pollution lasts for sixteen
days, and on the morning of the sixteenth day the hut of the dead
person is well swept and cleansed by sprinkling water mixed with
cowdung. The members of the family, dressed in the mattu (a washed
cloth worn before bathing) brought by the washerman, bathe to be free
from pollution. The castemen, including their friends and relations,
are invited and feasted. A similar funeral feast is also held at the
end of the year.
The chief occupation of the Velans and Mannans is the giving of
mattu to Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Anthalarajatis, Nayars, Kammalans
and Izhuvans, for wearing before going to bathe on the day on which
they are freed from pollution. A girl or woman in her courses on
the morning of the fourth day, a woman in confinement on the fifth,
ninth, eleventh and sixteenth days, and all the members of a family
under death pollution on the sixteenth day, have to use it. They
bathe wearing the washed cloth, and return it as soon as the bath is
over. It may either belong to the washerman, or have been previously
given to him by the members of the family. He gets an anna or a
measure of paddy for his service to a woman in her menses, and a
para of paddy or six annas for birth and death pollutions. The Velans
give the mattu to all the castes above mentioned, while the Mannans
refuse to give it to the Kammalans, and thereby profess themselves to
be superior in status to them. They wash clothes to dress the idols
in some of the high caste temples. Their washing consists in first
plunging the dirty cloths in water mixed with cowdung, and beating
them on a stone by the side of a tank (pond), canal or river, and
again immersing them in water mixed with wood ashes or charamannu,
after which they are exposed to steam for a few hours, and again beaten
on the stone, slightly moistening in water now and then, until they
are quite clean. They are then dried in the sun, and again moistened
with a solution of starch and indigo, when they are exposed to the
air to dry. When dry, they are folded, and beaten with a heavy club,
so as to be like those ironed. The Velans of the Cranganore, Cochin,
and Kanayannur taluks, climb cocoanut trees to pluck cocoanuts,
and get about eight to ten annas for every hundred trees they go
up. They make umbrellas. Some among them practice magic and sorcery,
and some are quack doctors, who treat sickly children. Some are now
engaged in agricultural operations, while a few make beds, pillows,
and coats. There are also a few of them in every village who are
songsters, and whose services are availed of on certain ceremonial
occasions, namely, on the bathing day of a girl in her first menses,
on the wedding night, and when religious ceremonies are performed, and
sacrifices offered to their gods. Some are experts in drum-beating,
and are invited by low caste people of the rural parts. The Mannans
also follow the same occupations.
The Velans and Mannans eat at the hands of all castes above them,
namely, Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Nayars, and Izhuvans. The former take
food from Kammalans, while the latter abstain from so doing. They do
not eat the food prepared by Kaniyans, Panans, Vilkurups, or other
castes of equal or inferior status. They have to stand at a distance
of twenty-four feet from Brahmans. They have their own barbers, and
are their own washermen. They stand far away from the outer wall
of the temples of high castes. They are not allowed to take water
from the wells of high caste Sudras, nor are they allowed to live in
their midst.
The following note on the Velans of Travancore has been furnished by
Mr. N. Subramani Iyer.
The word Velan has been derived from vel a spear, and also from vela
work. The usual title of the Velans is Panikkan. They are believed
to be divided into four classes, viz., Bharata Velan, Vaha Velan,
Pana Velan, and Manna Velan. While the last of these sections, in
addition to their traditional occupation, are washermen and climbers
of areca palm trees, the Pana Velans take sawing as a supplementary
employment. Some of the members of the first and second classes are
also physicians. This classification is gradually going out of vogue.
The Velans are said traditionally to have been descended from Siva,
who, on one occasion, is believed to have removed the evil effects of
the sorcery of demons upon Vishnu by means of exorcism. As this kind
of injury began to increase among men, a man and woman were created
by this deity, to prevent its dire consequences. In the Keralolpatti,
this caste is mentioned as Velakkuruppu. But at present the Puranadis,
who are the barbers and priests of this class, are known by this
name. A Puranadi means one who stands outside, and is not admitted
as of equal rank with the Velans proper. The Puranadis are not
washermen. Commensal relations exist only between the male members
of the Velans and Puranitis (Puranadi females).
The Velans perform a number of useful services in the body politic of
Malabar. In the Keralolpatti their duty is said to be the nursing of
women in their confinement. In the Kerala-Visesha-Mahatmya, exorcism,
climbing of trees, and washing clothes, are mentioned as their
occupations. There are various kinds of exorcism, the chief being Velan
Tullal and Velan Pravarti. The former is a kind of masque performed by
the Velans for warding off the effects of the evil eye, and preventing
the injurious influences of demons and spirits. Atavi is a peculiar
female divinity worshipped by the caste, by whose help these feats are
believed to be performed in the main. She, and a host of minor gods and
goddesses, are represented by them, and a dance commences. After it is
over, all the characters receive presents. Velan Pravarti, or Otuka,
may either last for eleven days, or may be finished on a minor scale
within three days, and in emergent cases even in one day. A Puranadi
acts as buffoon, and serves the purpose of a domestic servant on
the occasion. This is called Pallipana when performed in temples,
Pallipperu when in palaces, and Velan Pravarti or Satru-eduppu in
the case of ordinary people. This is also done with a view to prevent
the effect of the evil eye. On the first day, a person representing
the enchanted man or woman is placed in a temporary shed built for
the purpose, and lights are waved before him. On the third day, a
pit is dug, and a cock sacrificed. On the fourth day, the Pattata
Bali, or human sacrifice, takes place. A person is thrown into a
pit which is covered with a plank of wood, upon which sacrifices are
offered. The buried person soon resuscitates himself, and, advancing
as if possessed, explains the cause of the disease or calamity. On
the eighth day, figures of snakes, in gold or silver, are enclosed
in small copper vessels, and milk and fruit are offered to them. On
the ninth day, the Velans worship the lords of the eight directions,
with Brahma or the creator in the midst of them. On the tenth day,
there is much festivity and amusement, and the Mahabharata is sung
in a condensed form. The chief of the Velans becomes possessed, and
prays that, as the Pandavas emerged safely from the sorcery of the
Kauravas, the person affected by the calamity may escape unhurt. On
the last day, animals are sacrificed at the four corners of the
compound surrounding the house. No special rite is performed on the
first day, but the Ituvanabali, Kuzhibali, Pattatabali, Kitangubali,
Patalabali, Sarakutabali, Pithabali, Azhibali, Digbali, and Kumpubali,
are respectively observed during the remaining ten days. The Pana,
of which rite the breaking of cocoanuts is the most important item,
completes this long ceremony. It was once supposed that the Bharata
Velans exorcised spirits in the homes of high caste Hindus, the same
work being done among the middle classes by the Vaha Velans, and
among the low by the Manna Velans. This rule does not hold good at
the present day. The Velans are also engaged in the event of bad crops.
Besides standing thirty-two feet apart from Hindu temples, and
worshipping the divinities therein, the Velans erect small sanctuaries
for Siva within their own compounds, called Kuriyala. They worship
this deity in preference to others, and offer tender cocoanuts, fried
rice, sugar, and plantain fruits to him on the Uttradam day in the
month of August.
Velanati (foreign).--A sub-division of Kapus, and other Telugu castes,
and of Telugu Brahmans.
Velanga (wood apple: Feronia elephantum).--An exogamous sept of
Muka Dora.
Velichchapad.--Of the Velichchapads, or oracles, of Malabar, the
following account is given by Mr. F. Fawcett. [128] "Far away in
rural Malabar, I witnessed the ceremony in which the Velichchapad
exhibited his quality. It was in the neighbourhood of a Nayar house,
to which thronged all the neighbours (Nayars), men and women, boys
and girls. The ceremony lasts about an hour. The Nayar said it was
the custom in his family to have it done once a year, but could give
no account of how the custom originated; most probably in a vow,
some ancestor having vowed that, if such or such benefit be received,
he would for ever after have an annual performance of this ceremony
in his house. It involved some expenditure, as the Velichchapad had
to be paid, and the neighbours had to be fed. Somewhere about the
middle of the little courtyard, always as clean as a dinner table,
the Velichchapad placed a lamp (of the Malabar pattern) having a
lighted wick, a kalasam (brass vessel), some flowers, camphor, saffron
(turmeric) and other paraphernalia. Bhagavati was the deity invoked,
and the business involved offering flowers, and waving a lighted wick
round the kalasam. The Velichchapad's movements became quicker, and,
suddenly seizing his sword (nandakam), he ran round the courtyard
(against the sun, as sailors say) shouting wildly. He is under the
influence of the deity who has been introduced into him, and he gives
oracular utterances to the deity's commands. What he said I know not,
and no one else seemed to know or care in the least, much interested
though they were in the performance. As he ran, every now and then
he cut his forehead with the sword, pressing it against the skin
and sawing vertically up and down. The blood streamed all over his
face. Presently he became wilder and wilder, and whizzed round the
lamp, bending forward towards the kalasam. Evidently some deity,
some spirit was present here, and spoke through the mouth of the
Velichchapad. This, I think, undoubtedly represents the belief of
all who were present. When he had done whizzing round the kalasam,
he soon became a normal being, and stood before my camera. The
fee for the self-inflicted laceration is one rupee, some rice,
etc. I saw the Velichchapad about three days afterwards, going to
perform elsewhere. The wound on his forehead had healed. The careful
observer can always identify a Velichchapad by the triangular patch
over the forehead, where the hair will not grow, and where the skin
is somewhat indurated."
Veliveyabadina Razu.--The name, denoting Razus who were thrown out,
of a class said to be descended from Razus who were excommunicated
from their caste. [129]
Veliyam.--Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a title
of Nayars. In the same report Veliyattu is described as synonymous
with Pulikkappanikkan, a sub-division of Nayar.
Vellaikaran (white man).--A Tamil name for European.
Vellala.--"The Vellalas," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [130] "are
the great farmer caste of the Tamil country, and they are strongly
represented in every Tamil district. The word Vellalan is derived from
vellanmai [vellam, water, anmai, management?] meaning cultivation,
tillage. Dr. Oppert [131] considers Vellalan to be etymologically
connected with Pallan, Palli, etc., the word meaning the lord of
the Vallas or Pallas. The story of their origin is as follows. Many
thousands of years ago, when the inhabitants of the world were rude
and ignorant of agriculture, a severe drought fell upon the land, and
the people prayed to Bhudevi, the goddess of the earth, for aid. She
pitied them, and produced from her body a man carrying a plough,
who showed them how to till the soil and support themselves. His
offsprings are the Vellalas, who aspire to belong to the Vaisya
caste, since that includes Govaisyas, Bhuvaisyas, and Dhanavaisyas
(shepherds, cultivators and merchants). A few, therefore, constantly
wear the sacred thread, but most put it on only during marriages or
funerals as a mark of the sacred nature of the ceremony."