Gandhmali, [15] Thanapati.--The caste of village priests of the
temples of Siva or Mahadeo in Sambalpur and the Uriya States. They
numbered about 700 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911. The caste
appears to be an offshoot of the Malis or gardeners, differentiated
from them by their special occupation of temple attendants. In
Hindustan the priests of Siva's temples in villages are often Malis,
and in the Maratha country they are Guraos, another special caste,
or Phulmalis. Some members of the caste in Sambalpur, however,
aspire to Rajput origin and wear the sacred thread. These prefer
the designation of Thanapati or 'Master of the sacred place,' and
call the others who do not wear the thread Gandhmalis. Gandh means
incense. The Thanapatis say that on one occasion a Rajput prince
from Jaipur made a pilgrimage to the temple of Jagannath at Puri,
and on his return stopped at the celebrated temple of Mahadeo at Huma
near Sambalpur. Mahadeo appeared before the prince and asked him to
become his priest; the Rajput asked to be excused as he was old,
but Mahadeo promised him three sons, which he duly obtained and
in gratitude dedicated them to the service of the god. From these
sons the Thanapatis say that they are descended, but the claim is no
doubt quite illusory. The truth is, probably, that the Thanapatis are
priests of the temples situated in towns and large villages, and owing
to their calling have obtained considerable social estimation, which
they desire to justify and place on an enduring basis by their claim
to Rajput ancestry; while the Gandhmalis are village priests, more
or less in the position of village menials and below the cultivating
castes, and any such pretensions would therefore in their case be quite
untenable. There are signs of the cessation of intermarriage between
the two groups, but this has not been brought about as yet, probably
owing to the paucity of members in the caste and the difficulty of
arranging matches. Three functional subdivisions also appear to be in
process of formation, the Pujaris or priests of Mahadeo's temples,
the Bandhadias or those who worship him on the banks of tanks, and
the Mundjhulas [16] or devotees of the goddess Somlai in Sambalpur,
on whom the inspiration of the goddess descends, making them shake and
roll their heads. When in this state they are believed to drink the
blood flowing from goats sacrificed in the temple. For the purposes
of marriage the caste is divided into exogamous groups or bargas, the
names of which are usually titles or designations of offices. Marriage
within the barga is prohibited. When the bride is brought to the
altar in the marriage ceremony, she throws a garland of jasmine
flowers on the neck of the bridegroom. This custom resembles the old
Swayamwara form of marriage, in which a girl chose her own husband
by throwing a garland of flowers round his neck. But it probably has
no connection with this and merely denotes the fact that the caste
are gardeners by profession, similar ceremonies typifying the caste
calling being commonly performed at marriages, especially among the
Telugu castes. Girls should be married before adolescence and, as is
usual among the Uriya castes, if no suitable husband is forthcoming a
symbolic marriage is celebrated; the Thanapatis make her go through the
form with her maternal grandfather or sister's husband, and in default
of them with a tree. She is then immediately divorced and disposed
of as a widow. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. A
bachelor marrying a widow must first go through the ceremony with
a flower. The Gandhmalis, as the priests of Mahadeo, are generally
Saivas and wear red clothes covered with ochre. They consider that
their ultimate ancestor is the Nag or cobra and especially observe
the festival of Nag-Panchmi, abstaining from any cooked food on that
day. They both burn and bury the dead and perform the shraddh ceremony
or the offering of sacrificial cakes. They eat flesh but do not drink
liquor. Their social position is fairly good and Brahmans will take
water from their hands. Many of them hold free grants of land in return
for their services at the temples. A few are ordinary cultivators.