Chapter 11

Petition of __________ aged about 17 or 18.I have agreed to become a Basavi, and get myself stamped by my guru (priest) according to the custom of my caste. I request that my proper age, which entitles me to be stamped, may be personally ascertained, and permission granted to be stamped.The stamping refers to branding with the emblems of the chank and chakram.Petition of _____ wife of _____.I have got two daughters, aged 15 and 12 respectively. As I have no male issues, I have got to necessarily celebrate the ceremony in the temple in connection with the tying of the goddess’s tāli to my two daughters under the orders of the guru, in accordance with the customs of my caste. I, therefore, submit this petition for fear that the authorities may raise any objection (under the Age of Consent Act). I, therefore, request that the Honourable Court may be pleased to give permission to the tying of the tāli to my daughters.Petition of two girls, aged 17 to 19.Our father and mother are dead. Now we wish to be like prostitutes, as we are not willing to be married, and thus establish our house-name. Our mother also was of this profession. We now request permission to be prostitutes according to our religion, after we are sent before the Medical Officer.The permission referred to in the above petitions bears reference to a decision of the High Court that, a girl who becomes a Basavi being incapable of contracting a legal marriage, her dedication when a minor is an offence under the Penal Code.At Adoni the dead body of a new-born infant was found in a ditch, and a Basavi, working with others in a cotton factory, was suspected of foul play. The station-house officer announced his intention of visiting the factory, and she who was in a state of lactation, and could produce no baby to account for her condition, would be the culprit. Writing concerning the Basavis of the Bellary district,20Mr. W. Francis tells us that “parents without male issue often, instead of adopting a son in the usual manner, dedicate a daughter by a simple ceremony to the god of some temple, and thenceforth, by immemorial custom, she may inherit her parents’ property, and perform their funeral rites as if she was a son. She does not marry, but lives in her parents’ house with any man of equal or higher caste whom she may select, and her children inherit her father’s name and bedagu (sept), and not those of their own father. If she has a son, he inherits her property; if she has only a daughter, that daughter again becomes a Basavi. Parents desiring male issue of their own, cure from sickness in themselves or their children, or relief from some calamity, will similarly dedicate their daughter. The children of a Basavi are legitimate, and neither they nor their mothers are treated as being in any way inferior to their fellows. A Basavi, indeed, from the fact that she can never be a widow, is a most welcome guest at weddings. Basavis differ from the ordinary dancing-girls dedicated at temples in that their duties in the temples (which are confined to the shrine of their dedication) are almost nominal, and that they do not prostitute themselves promiscuously for hire. A Basavi very usually lives faithfully with one man, who allows hera fixed sum weekly for her maintenance, and a fixed quantity of new raiment annually, and she works for her family as hard as any other woman. Basavis are outwardly indistinguishable from other women, and are for the most part coolies. In places there is a custom by which they are considered free to change their protectors once a year at the village car-festival or some similar anniversary, and they usually seize this opportunity of putting their partner’s affections to the test by suggesting that a new cloth and bodice would be a welcome present. So poor, as a rule, are the husbands that the police aver that the anniversaries are preceded by an unusual crop of petty thefts and burglaries committed by them in their efforts to provide their customary gifts.” A recent report of a Police Inspector in the Bellary district states that “crimes are committed here and there, as this is Nagarapanchami time. Nagarapanchami festival is to be celebrated at the next Ammavasya or new-moon day. It is at that time the people keeping the prostitutes should pay their dues on that day; otherwise they will have their new engagements.”In the Kurnool district, the Basavi system is practised by the Bōyas, but differs from that in vogue in Bellary and Mysore. The object of making a Basavi, in these two localities, is to perpetuate the family when there is no male heir. If the only issue in a family is a female, the family becomes extinct if she marries, as by marriage she changes her sept. To prevent this, she is not married, but dedicated as a Basavi, and continues to belong to her father’s sept, to which also any male issue which is born to her belongs. In the Kurnool district the motive in making Basavis is different. The girl is not wedded to an idol, but, on an auspicious day, is tied by means of a garland of flowers to the garuda kambham(lamp) of a Balija Dāsari. She is released either by the man who is to receive her first favours, or by her maternal uncle. A simple feast is held, and a string of black beads tied round the girl’s neck. She becomes a prostitute, and her children do not marry into respectable Bōya families.“Basava women,” Dr. E. Balfour writes,21“are sometimes married to a dagger, sometimes to an idol. In making a female child over to the service of the temple, she is taken and dedicated for life to some idol. A khanjar, or dagger, is placed on the ground, and the girl who is to undergo the ceremony puts a garland thereon. Her mother then puts rice on the girl’s forehead. The officiating priest then weds the girl to the dagger, just as if he was uniting her to a boy in marriage, by reciting the marriage stanzas, a curtain being held between the girl and the dagger.” In an account of the initiation ceremony of the Basavis of the Bellary district Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows.22“A sword with a lime stuck on its point is placed upright beside the novice, and held in her right hand. It represents the bridegroom, who, in the corresponding ceremony of Hindu marriage, sits on the bride’s right. A tray, on which are a kalasyam (vessel of water) and a lamp, is then produced, and moved thrice in front of the girl. She rises, and, carrying the sword in her right hand, places it in the god’s sanctuary. Among the dancing-girls very similar ceremonies are performed. With them, the girl’s spouse is represented by a drum instead of a sword, and she bows to it. Her insignia consist of a drum and bells.” In a further note on the dedication of Basavis, Mr. Fawcett writes23that “a tāli,on which is depicted the nāmam of Vishnu, fastened to a necklace of black beads, is tied round her neck. She is given by way of insignia a cane as a wand carried in the right hand, and a gopālam or begging basket, which is slung on the left arm. She is then branded with the emblems of the chank and chakra. In another account24of the marriage ceremony among dancing-girls, it is stated that the Bōgams, who are without exception prostitutes, though they are not allowed to marry, go through a marriage ceremony, which is rather a costly one. Sometimes a wealthy Native bears the expense, makes large presents to the bride, and receives her first favours. Where no such opportunity offers itself, a sword or other weapon represents the bridegroom, and an imaginary nuptial ceremony is performed. Should the Bōgam woman have no daughter, she invariably adopts one, usually paying a price for her, the Kaikōla (weaver) caste being the ordinary one from which to take a child.Among the Kaikōlan musicians of Coimbatore, at least one girl in every family should be set apart for the temple service, and she is instructed in music and dancing. At the tāli-tying ceremony she is decorated with jewels, and made to stand on a heap of paddy (unhusked rice). A folded cloth is held before her by two Dāsis, who also stand on heaps of paddy. The girl catches hold of the cloth, and her dancing master, who is seated behind her, grasping her legs, moves them up and down in time with the music which is played. In the evening she is taken, astride a pony, to the temple, where a new cloth for the idol, the tāli, and other articles required for doing pūja (worship) have been got ready. The girl is seated facingthe idol, and the officiating Brāhman gives sandal and flowers to her, and ties the tāli, which has been lying at the feet of the idol, round her neck. The tāli consists of a golden disc and black beads. She continues to learn music and dancing, and eventually goes through the form of a nuptial ceremony, The relations are invited on an auspicious day, and the maternal uncle, or his representative, ties a golden band on the girl’s forehead, and, carrying her, places her on a plank before the assembled guests. A Brāhman priest recites mantrams (prayers), and prepares the sacred fire (hōmam). For the actual nuptials a rich Brāhman, if possible, and, if not, a Brāhman of more lowly status is invited. A Brāhman is called in, as he is next in importance to, and the representative of, the idol. As a Dāsi can never become a widow, the beads in her tāli are considered to bring good luck to women who wear them. And some people send the tāli required for a marriage to a Dāsi, who prepares the string for it, and attaches to it black beads from her own tāli. A Dāsi is also deputed to walk at the head of Hindu marriage processions. Married women do not like to do this, as they are not proof against evil omens, which the procession may meet. And it is believed that Dāsis, to whom widowhood is unknown, possess the power of warding off the effects of inauspicious omens. It may be remarked,en passant, that Dāsis are not at the present day so much patronised at Hindu marriages as in olden times. Much is due in this direction to the progress of enlightened ideas, which have of late been strongly put forward by Hindu social reformers. When a Kaikōlan Dāsi dies, her body is covered with a new cloth removed from the idol, and flowers are supplied from the temple, to which she belonged. No pūja is performed in the temple till thecorpse is disposed of, as the idol, being her husband, has to observe pollution.“In former times, dancing-girls used to sleep three nights at the commencement of their career in the inner shrine of the Koppēsvara temple at Palivela in the Godāvari district, so as to be embraced by the god. But one of them, it is said, disappeared one night, and the practice has ceased. The funeral pyre of every girl of the dancing girl (Sāni) caste dying in the village should be lit with fire brought from the temple. The same practice is found in the Srīrangam temple near Trichinopoly.”25The following account of Dāsis in Travancore, where their total strength is only about four hundred, is taken from a note by Mr. N. Subramani Aiyer. “While the Dāsis of Kartikappalli, Ambalapuzha, and Shertallay belonged originally to the Konkan coast, those of Shenkottah belonged to the Pāndian country. But the South Travancore Dāsis are an indigenous class. The female members of the caste are, besides being known by the ordinary name of Tēvadiyāl and Dāsi, both meaning servant of God, called Kudikkar, meaning those belonging to the house (i.e., given rent free by the Sirkar), and Pendukal, or women, the former of these designations being more popular than the latter. Males are called Tēvadiyan, though many prefer to be known as Nanchināt Vellālas. Males, like these Vellālas, take the title of Pillai. In ancient days Dēva-dāsis, who became experts in singing and dancing, received the title of Rāyar (king) which appears to have been last conferred in 1847 A.D. The South Travancore Dāsis neither interdine nor intermarry with the dancing-girls of the Tamil-speaking districts. They adopt girls onlyfrom a particular division of the Nāyars, Tamil Padam, and dance only in temples. Unlike their sisters outside Travancore, they do not accept private engagements in houses on the occasion of marriage. The males, in a few houses, marry the Tamil Padam and Padamangalam Nāyars, while some Padamangalam Nāyars and Nanchināt Vellālas in their turn take their women as wives.“When a dancing-woman becomes too old or diseased, and thus unable to perform her usual temple duties, she applies to the temple authorities for permission to remove her ear-pendants (todus). The ceremony takes place at the palace of the Mahārāja. At the appointed spot the officers concerned assemble, and the woman, seated on a wooden plank, proceeds to unhook the pendants, and places them, with a nuzzur (gift) of twelve fanams (coins), on the plank. Directly after this she turns about, and walks away without casting a second glance at the ear-ornaments which have been laid down. She becomes immediately a taikkizhavi or old mother, and is supposed to lead a life of retirement and resignation. By way of distinction, a Dāsi in active service is referred to as ātumpātram. Though the ear-ornaments are at once returned to her from the palace, the woman is never again permitted to put them on, but only to wear the pampadam, or antiquated ear-ornament of Tamil Sūdra women. Her temple wages undergo a slight reduction, consequent on her proved incapacity.“In some temples, as at Kēralapuram, there are two divisions of dancing-girls, one known as the Murakkudi to attend to the daily routine, the other as the Chirappukuti to serve on special occasions. The special duties that may be required of the South Travancore Dāsis are:—(1) to attend the two Utsavas at SriPadmanābahswāmi’s temple, and the Dusserah at the capital; (2) to meet and escort members of the royal family at their respective village limits; (3) to undertake the prescribed fasts for the Apamargam ceremony in connection with the annual festival of the temple. On these days strict continence is enjoined, and they are fed at the temple, and allowed only one meal a day.“The principal deities of the dancing-girls are those to whom the temples, in which they are employed, are dedicated. They observe the new and full-moon days, and the last Friday of every month as important. The Onam, Sivarātri, Tye-Pongal, Dīpāvali, and Chitrapurnami are the best recognised religious festivals. Minor deities, such as Bhadrakāli, Yakshi, and Ghandarva are worshipped by the figure of a trident or sword being drawn on the wall of the house, to which food and sweetmeats are offered on Fridays. The priests on these occasions are Ōcchans. There are no recognized headmen in the caste. The services of Brāhmans are resorted to for the purpose of purification, of Nampiyans and Saiva Vellālas for the performance of funeral rites, and of Kurukkals on occasions of marriage, and for the final ceremonies on the sixteenth day after death.“Girls belonging to this caste may either be dedicated to temple service, or married to a male member of the caste. No woman can be dedicated to the temple after she has reached puberty. On the occasion of marriage, a sum of from fifty to a hundred and fifty rupees is given to the bride’s house, not as a bride-price, but for defraying the marriage expenses. There is a preliminary ceremony of betrothal, and the marriage is celebrated at an auspicious hour. The Kurukkal recites a few hymns, and the ceremonies, which include the tying of the tāli, continue for four days. The couplecommence joint life on the sixteenth day after the girl has reached puberty. It is easy enough to get a divorce, as this merely depends upon the will of one of the two parties, and the woman becomes free to receive clothes from another person in token of her having entered into a fresh matrimonial alliance.“All applications for the presentation of a girl to the temple are made to the temple authorities by the senior dancing-girl of the temple, the girl to be presented being in all cases from six to eight years of age. If she is closely related to the applicant, no enquiries regarding her status and claim need be made. In all other cases, formal investigations are instituted, and the records taken are submitted to the chief revenue officer of the division for orders. Some paddy (rice) and five fanams are given to the family from the temple funds towards the expenses of the ceremony. The practice at the Suchindrum temple is to convene, on an auspicious day, a yōga or meeting, composed of the Valiya Sri-kariyakkar, the Yogattil Potti, the Vattappalli Muttatu, and others, at which the preliminaries are arranged. The girl bathes, and goes to the temple on the morning of the selected day with two new cloths, betel leaves and nuts. The temple priest places the cloths and the tāli at the feet of the image, and sets apart one for the divine use. The tāli consists of a triangular bottu, bearing the image of Ganēsa, with a gold bead on either side. Taking the remaining cloth and the tāli, and sitting close to the girl, the priest, facing to the north, proceeds to officiate. The girl sits, facing the deity, in the inner sanctuary. The priest kindles the fire, and performs all the marriage ceremonies, following the custom of the Tirukkalyānam festival, when Siva is represented as marrying Parvati. He then teaches the girl the Panchakshara hymn if thetemple is Saivite, and Ashtakshara if it is Vaishnavite, presents her with the cloth, and ties the tāli round her neck. The Nattuvan, or dancing-master, instructs her for the first time in his art, and a quantity of raw rice is given to her by the temple authorities. The girl, thus married, is taken to her house, where the marriage festivities are celebrated for two or three days. As in Brāhmanical marriages, the rolling of a cocoanut to and fro is gone through, the temple priest or an elderly Dāsi, dressed in male attire, acting the part of the bridegroom. The girl is taken in procession through the streets.“The birth of male children is not made an occasion for rejoicing, and, as the proverb goes, the lamp on these occasions is only dimly lighted. Inheritance is in the female line, and women are the absolute owners of all property earned. When a dancing-girl dies, some paddy and five fanams are given from the temple to which she was attached, to defray the funeral expenses. The temple priest gives a garland, and a quantity of ashes for decorating the corpse. After this, a Nampiyan, an Ōcchan, some Vellāla headmen, and a Kudikkari, having no pollution, assemble at the house of the deceased. The Nampiyan consecrates a pot of water with prayers, the Ōcchan plays on his musical instrument, and the Vellālas and Kudikkari powder the turmeric to be smeared over the corpse. In the case of temple devotees, their dead bodies must be bathed with this substance by the priest, after which alone the funeral ceremonies may proceed. The Kartā (chief mourner), who is the nearest male relative, has to get his whole head shaved. When a temple priest dies, though he is a Brāhman, the dancing-girl, on whom he has performed the vicarious marriage rite, has to go to his death-bed, and prepare the turmeric powder to be dusted over his corpse. The anniversaryof the death of the mother and maternal uncle are invariably observed.“The adoption of a dancing-girl is a lengthy ceremony. The application to the temple authorities takes the form of a request that the girl to be adopted may be made heir to both kuti and pati, that is, to the house and temple service of the person adopting. The sanction of the authorities having been obtained, all concerned meet at the house of the person who is adopting, a document is executed, and a ceremony, of the nature of the Jātakarma, performed. The girl then goes through the marriage rite, and is handed over to the charge of the music teacher to be regularly trained in her profession.”As bearing on the initiation, laws of inheritance, etc., of Dēva-dāsis, the following cases, which have been argued in the Madras High Court, may be quoted26:—(a) In a charge against a dancing-girl of having purchased a young girl, aged five, with the intent that she would be used for the purpose of prostitution, or knowing it to be likely that she would be so used, evidence was given of the fact of purchase for sixty rupees, and that numerous other dancing-girls, residing in the neighbourhood, were in the habit of obtaining girls and bringing them up as dancing-girls or prostitutes, and that there were no instances of girls brought up by dancing-girls ever having been married. One witness stated that there were forty dancing-girls’ houses in the town (Adōni), and that their chief source of income was prostitution, and that the dancing-girls, who have no daughters of their own, get girls from others, bring them up, and eventually make them dancing-girls orprostitutes. He added that the dancing-girls get good incomes by bringing up girls in preference to boys. Another witness stated that dancing-girls, when they grow old, obtain girls and bring them up to follow their profession, and that good-looking girls are generally bought.27(b) The evidence showed that two of the prisoners were dancing-girls of a certain temple, that one of them took the two daughters of the remaining prisoner to the pagoda, to be marked as dancing-girls, and that they were so marked, and their names entered in the accounts of the pagoda. The first prisoner (the mother of the girls) disposed of the children to the third prisoner for the consideration of a neck ornament and thirty-five rupees. The children appeared to be of the ages of seven and two years, respectively. Evidence was taken, which tended to prove that dancing-girls gain their livelihood by the performance of certain offices in pagodas, by assisting in the performance of ceremonies in private houses, by dancing and singing upon the occasion of marriage, and by prostitution.28(c) The first prisoner presented an application for the enrolment of his daughter as a dancing-girl at one of the great pagodas. He stated her age to be thirteen. She attained puberty a month or two after her enrolment. Her father was the servant of a dancing-girl, the second prisoner, who had been teaching the minor dancing for some five years. The evidence showed that the second prisoner brought the girl to the pagoda, that both first and second prisoners were present when the bottu (or tāli) was tied, and other ceremonies of the dedication performed; that third prisoner, as Battar of the temple,was the person who actually tied the bottu, which denotes that the Dāsi is wedded to the idol. There was the usual evidence that dancing-girls live by prostitution, though occasionally kept by the same man for a year or more.29(d) The plaintiff, a Dēva-dāsi, complained that, when she brought offerings according to custom and placed them before the God at a certain festival, and asked the Archakas (officiating priests) to present the offerings to the God, burn incense, and then distribute them, they refused to take the offerings on the ground that the Dēva-dāsi had gone to a Kōmati’s house to dance. She claimed damages, Rs. 10, for the rejected offerings, and Rs. 40 for loss of honour, and a perpetual injunction to allow her to perform the mantapa hadi (sacrifice) at the Chittrai Vasanta festival. The priests pleaded that the dancing-girl had, for her bad conduct in having danced at a Kōmati’s house, and subsequently refused to expiate the deed by drinking panchagavyan (five products of the cow) according to the shastras, been expelled both from her caste and from the temple.30(e) In a certain temple two dancing-girls were dedicated by the Dharmakarta to the services of the temple without the consent of the existing body of dancing-girls, and the suit was instituted against the Dharmakarta and these two Dēva-dāsis, asking that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the Dēva-dāsis of the pagoda in regard (1) to the dedication of Dēva-dāsis, (2) to the Dharmakarta’s power to bind and suspend them; and that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the plaintiff, the existing Dēva-dāsis, as to the exclusion of all other Dēva-dāsis,save those who are related to or adopted by some one of the Dēva-dāsis for the time being, or those who, being approved by all, are elected and proposed to the Dharmakarta for dedication. That the new Dāsis may be declared to have been improperly dedicated, and not entitled to any of the rights of Dēva-dāsis, and restrained from attending the pagoda in that character, and from interfering with the duly dedicated Dēva-dāsis in the exercise of their office. That first defendant be restrained from stamping and dedicating other Dēva-dāsis but such as are duly approved. The Judge dismissed the case on the ground that it would be contrary to public policy to make the declaration prayed for, as, in so doing, the Court would be lending itself to bringing the parties under the criminal law. In the appeal, which was dismissed, one of the Judges remarked that the plaintiffs claimed a right exclusive to themselves and a few other dancing-women, professional prostitutes, to present infant female children for dedication to the temple as dancing-girls to be stamped as such, and so accredited to become at maturity professional prostitutes, private or public.31(f) A Dēva-dāsi sued to establish her right to the mirāsi (fees) of dancing-girls in a certain pagoda, and to be put in possession of the said mirāsi together with the honours and perquisites attached thereto, and to recover twenty-four rupees, being the value of said perquisites and honours for the year preceding. She alleged that the Dharmakarta of the pagoda and his agents wrongfully dismissed her from the office because she had refused to acquiesce in the admission by the Dharmakarta of new dancing-girls into the pagoda service, ofwhich she claimed the monopoly for herself and the then existing families of dancing-girls. The District Judge dismissed the suit, but the High Court ordered a re-investigation as to the question of the existence of an hereditary office with endowments or emoluments attached to it.32(g) A girl, aged seventeen, instituted a suit against the trustees of a pagoda. It was alleged that a woman who died some years previously was one of the dancing-women attached to the pagoda, and, as such, entitled to the benefit of one of the temple endowments; that she had taken in adoption the plaintiff, who was accordingly entitled to succeed to her office and the emoluments attached to it; that the plaintiff could not enter on the office until a bottu-tāli had been tied on her in the temple; and that the trustees did not permit this to be done. The prayer of the plaint was that the defendants be compelled to allow the tāli to be tied in the temple in view to the girl performing the dancing service, and enjoying the honours and endowments attached thereto. The Judge dismissed the suit on the ground that the claim was inadmissible, as being in effect a claim by the plaintiff to be enlisted as a public prostitute.33(h) On the death of a prostitute dancing-girl, her adopted niece, belonging to the same class, succeeds to her property, in whatever way it is acquired, in preference to a brother remaining in his caste. The general rule is that the legal relation between a prostitute dancing-girl and her undegraded relations remaining in caste be severed.34(i) A pauper sued his sister for the partition of property valued at Rs. 34,662. The parties belonged tothe Bōgam caste in the Godāvari district. The woman pleaded that the property had been acquired by her as a prostitute, and denied her brother’s claim to it. He obtained a decree for only Rs. 100, being a moiety of the property left by their mother. The High Court held, on the evidence as to the local custom of the caste, that the decree was right.35(j) The accused, a Mādiga of the Bellary district, dedicated his minor daughter as a Basavi by a form of marriage with an idol. It appeared that a Basavi is incapable of contracting a lawful marriage, and ordinarily practices promiscuous intercourse with men, and that her sons succeed to her father’s property. It was held that the accused had committed an offence under the Penal Code, which lays down that “whoever sells, lets to hire, or otherwise disposes of any minor under the age of sixteen years, with intent that such minor shall be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution, or for any unlawful and immoral purpose, shall be punished, etc.” The Sessions judge referred to evidence that it was not a matter of course for Basavis to prostitute themselves for money, and added: “The evidence is very clear that Basavis are made in accordance with a custom of the Mādiga caste. It is also in evidence that one of the effects of making a girl Basavi is that her male issue becomes a son of her father, and perpetuates his family, whereas, if she were married, he would perpetuate her husband’s family. In this particular case, the girl was made a Basavi that she might be heir to her aunt, who was a Basavi, but childless. Siddalingana Gowd says that they and their issue inherit the parents’ property. There is evidence that Basavisare made on a very large scale, and that they live in their parents’ houses. There is no evidence that they are regarded otherwise than as respectable members of the caste. It seems as if the Basavi is the Mādiga and Bēdar equivalent of the “appointed daughter” of Hindu law (Mitakshara, Chap. I, s. xi, 3). Upon the whole, the evidence seems to establish that, among the Mādigas, there is a widespread custom of performing, in a temple at Uchangidurgam, a marriage ceremony, the result of which is that the girl is married without possibility of widowhood or divorce; that she is at liberty to have intercourse with men at her pleasure; that her children are heirs to her father, and keep up his family; and that Basavi’s nieces, being made Basavis, become their heirs. The Basavis seem in some cases to become prostitutes, but the language used by the witnesses generally points only to free intercourse with men, and not necessarily to receipt of payment for use of their bodies. In fact, they seem to acquire the right of intercourse with men without more discredit than accrues to the men of their caste for intercourse with women who are not their wives.36It may be observed that Dēva-dāsis are the only class of women, who are, under Hindu law as administered in the British Courts, allowed to adopt girls to themselves. Amongst the other castes, a widow, for instance, cannot adopt to herself, but only to her husband, and she cannot adopt a daughter instead of a son. A recent attempt by a Brāhman at Poona to adopt a daughter, who should take the place of a natural-born daughter, was held to be invalid by general law, and not sanctioned by local usage.37The same would be held inMadras. “But among dancing-girls,” Mayne writes,38“it is customary in Madras and Western India to adopt girls to follow their adoptive mother’s profession, and the girls so adopted succeed to their property. No particular ceremonies are necessary, recognition alone being sufficient. In the absence, however, of a special custom, and on the analogy of an ordinary adoption, only one girl can be adopted.” In Calcutta and Bombay these adoptions by dancing-girls have been held invalid.39Of proverbs relating to dancing-girls, the following may be quoted:—(1) The dancing-girl who could not dance said that the hall was not big enough. The Rev. H. Jensen gives40as an equivalent “When the devil could not swim, he laid the blame on the water.”(2) If the dancing-girl be alive, and her mother dies, there will be beating of drums; but, if the dancing-girl dies, there will be no such display. This is explained by Jensen as meaning that, to secure the favour of a dancing-girl, many men will attend her mother’s funeral; but, if the dancing-girl herself dies, there is nothing to be gained by attending the funeral.(3) Like a dancing-girl wiping a child. Jensen remarks that a dancing-girl is supposed to have no children, so she does not know how to keep them clean. Said of one who tries to mend a matter, but lacks experience, and makes things worse than they were before.(4) As when a boy is born in a dancing-girl’s house. Jensen notes that, if dancing-girls have children, they desire to have girls, that they may be brought up to their own profession.(5) The dancing-girl, who was formerly more than filled with good food in the temple, now turns a somersault to get a poor man’s rice.(6) If a matron is chaste, she may live in the dancing-girl’s street,The insigne of courtesans, according to the Conjeeveram records, is a Cupid, that of a Christian, a curry-comb.41Dēvādiga.—The Dēvādigas are Canarese-speaking temple servants in South Canara, concerning whom Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows.42“This is a class of servants, chiefly musicians in Hindu temples. In the reign of Mayūra Varma, who built a number of new temples, it was found that Brāhmans could not perform all the services. It was, therefore, ordained by him that the pūja or worship alone should be performed by the Brāhmans, and that the Stanikas and Dēvādigas should perform the other services in the temples. They are also called Moili (or Moyili), but there is a caste called Kannada Moili which is quite distinct, and Dēvādigas will not eat with them. Some of them cultivate lands, and some are employed as peons and constables. They returned eleven sub-divisions, but only one (Tulu) is numerically important. They are Vaishnavites, and Tulu Brāhmans are their priests. As regards marriage, there is no fixed age. Remarriage of widows is permitted, but it is practiced only in the case of young widows. The dead are burned. They eat flesh, and drink liquor.”The Dēvādigas or Moilis speak Tulu, and are mainly agriculturists. Their traditional occupation, however, is said to be service in temples (slaves or servants of thedēva or god). A large number of them, both male and female, are engaged as domestic servants. Like the Bants, they follow the aliya santāna law of inheritance (in the female line), and they have the same balis (septs) as the Bants and Billavas. In their marriage ceremonies, they closely imitate the Bants. An interesting feature in connection therewith is that, during the dhāre ceremony, a screen is interposed between the bride and bridegroom at the time when the dhāre water is poured. As a sign of betrothal, a ring is given to the bride-elect, and she wears it on the little finger. The caste is a mixed one, and here and there Dēvādigas are seen to have the typical prominent cheek-bones and square face of the Jains.In the Census Report, 1901, Dakkera Dēvali, Padarti, and Vālagadava are returned as sub-divisions of Dēvādiga.Dēvala(belonging to God).—An exogamous sept of Oddē. The equivalent Dēvali has been recorded as a sub-caste of Dēvādiga, and Dēvalyal as a division of the Todas.43A division of the Irulas of the Nīlgiris, settled near the village of Dēvāla, is known by that name.Dēvānga.—The Dēvāngas are a caste of weavers, speaking Telugu or Canarese, who are found all over the Madras Presidency. Those whom I studied in the Bellary district connected my operations in a vague way with the pilāg (plague) tax, and collection of subscriptions for the Victoria Memorial. They were employed in weaving women’s sāris in pure cotton, or with a silk border, which were sold to rich merchants in the local bazaar, some of whom belong to the Dēvānga caste. They laughingly said that, though they areprofessional weavers, they find it cheapest to wear cloths of European manufacture.Dēvānga.Dēvānga.The Dēvāngas are also called Jādaru or Jāda (great men), Dēndra, Dēvara, Dēra, Sēniyan, and Sēdan. At Coimbatore, in the Tamil country, they are called Settukkāran (economical people).The following legend is narrated concerning the origin of the caste. Brahma, having created Manu, told him to weave clothes for Dēvas and men. Accordingly Manu continued to weave for some years, and reached heaven through his piety and virtuous life. There being no one left to weave for them, the Dēvas and men had to wear garments of leaves. Vexed at this, they prayed to Brahma that he would rescue them from their plight. Brahma took them to Siva, who at once created a lustrous spirit, and called him Dēvalan. Struck with the brilliancy thereof, all fled in confusion, excepting Parvati, who remained near Siva. Siva told her that Dēvalan was created to weave clothes, to cover the limbs and bodies of Dēvas and men, whose descendants are in consequence called Dēvāngas (Dēva angam, limb of god). Dēvalan was advised to obtain thread from the lotus stalks springing from the navel of Vishnu, and he secured them after a severe penance. On his way back, he met a Rākshasa, Vajradantan by name, who was doing penance at a hermitage, disguised as a Sanyāsi. Deceived by his appearance, Dēvalan paid homage to him, and determined to spend the night at the hermitage. But, towards the close of the day, the Rishi and his followers threw off their disguise, and appeared in their true colours as Asuras. Dēvalan sought the assistance of Vishnu, and a chakra was given to him, with which he attempted to overthrow the increasing number of Asuras. He then invoked the assistance of Chaudanāyaki orChaudēswari, who came riding on a lion, and the Asuras were killed off. The mighty Asuras who met their death were Vajradantan (diamond-toothed), Pugainethran (smoke-eyed), Pugaimugan (smoke-faced), Chithrasēnan (leader of armies) and Jeyadrathan (owner of a victory-securing car). The blood of these five was coloured respectively yellow, red, white, green, and black. For dyeing threads of different colours, Dēvalan dipped them in the blood. The Dēvāngas claim to be the descendants of Dēvalan, and say that they are Dēvānga Brāhmans, on the strength of the following stanza, which seems to have been composed by a Dēvānga priest, Sambalinga Murti by name:—Manu was born in the Brāhman caste.He was surely a Brāhman in the womb.There is no Sudraism in this caste.Dēvanga had the form of Brāhma.The legendary origin of the Dēvāngas is given as follows in the Baramahal Records.44“When Brahma the creator created the charam and acharam, or the animate and inanimate creation, the Dēvatas or gods, Rākshasas or evil demons, and the human race, were without a covering for their bodies, which displeasing the god Narada or reason, he waited upon Paramēshwara or the great Lord at his palace on the Kailāsa Parvata or mount of paradise, and represented the indecent state of the inhabitants of the universe, and prayed that he would be pleased to devise a covering for their nakedness. Paramēshwara saw the propriety of Narada’s request, and thought it was proper to grant it. While he was so thinking, a male sprang into existence from his body, whom he named Dēva angamor the body of God, in allusion to the manner of his birth. Dēva angam instantly asked his progenitor why he had created him. The God answered ‘Repair to the pāla samudram or sea of milk, where you will find Sri Maha Vishnu or the august mighty god Vishnu, and he will tell thee what to do.’ Dēva angam repaired to the presence of Sri Maha Vishnu, and represented that Paramēshwara had sent him, and begged to be favoured with Vishnu’s commands. Vishnu replied ‘Do you weave cloth to serve as a covering to the inhabitants of the universe.’ Vishnu then gave him some of the fibres of the lotus flower that grew from his navel, and taught him how to make it into cloth. Dēva angam wove a piece of cloth, and presented it to Vishnu, who accepted it, and ordered him to depart, and to take the fibres of trees, and make raiment for the inhabitants of the Vishnu loka or gods. Dēva angam created ten thousand weavers, who used to go to the forest and collect the fibre of trees, and make it into cloth for the Dēvatas or gods and the human race. One day, Dēva angam and his tribe went to a forest in the Bhuloka or earthly world, in order to collect the fibre of trees, when he was attacked by a race of Rākshasas or giants, on which he waxed wroth, and, unbending his jata or long plaited hair, gave it a twist, and struck it once on the ground. In that moment, a Shakti, or female goddess having eight hands, each grasping a warlike weapon, sprang from the earth, attacked the Rākshasas, and defeated them. Dēva anga named her Chudēshwari or goddess of the hair, and, as she delivered his tribe out of the hands of the Rākshasas, he made her his tutelary divinity.”The tribal goddess of the Dēvāngas is Chaudēswari, a form of Kāli or Durga, who is worshipped annuallyat a festival, in which the entire community takes part either at the temple, or at a house or grove specially prepared for the occasion. During the festival weaving operations cease; and those who take a prominent part in the rites fast, and avoid pollution. The first day is called alagu nilupadam (erecting, or fixing of the sword). The goddess is worshipped, and a sheep or goat sacrificed, unless the settlement is composed of vegetarian Dēvāngas. One man at least from each sept fasts, remains pure, and carries a sword. Inside the temple, or at the spot selected, the pūjari (priest) tries to balance a long sword on its point on the edge of the mouth of a pot, while the alagu men cut their chests with the swords. Failure to balance the sword is believed to be due to pollution brought by somebody to get rid of which the alagu men bathe. Cow’s urine and turmeric water are sprinkled over those assembled, and women are kept at a distance to prevent menstrual or other form of pollution. On the next day, called jothiārambam (jothi, light or splendour) as Chaudēswari is believed to have sprung from jothi, a big mass is made of rice flour, and a wick, fed with ghī (clarified butter) and lighted, is placed in a cavity scooped out therein. This flour lamp must be made by members of a pūjāri’s family assisted sometimes by the alagu boys. In its manufacture, a quantity of rice is steeped in water, and poured on a plantain leaf. Jaggery (crude sugar) is then mixed with it, and, when it is of the proper consistency, it is shaped into a cone, and placed on a silver or brass tray. On the third day, called pānaka pūja or mahānēvedyam, jaggery water is offered, and cocoanuts, and other offerings are laid before the goddess. The rice mass is divided up, and given to the pūjari, setti, alagu men and boys, and to thecommunity, to which small portions are doled out in a particular order, which must be strictly observed. For example, at Tindivānam the order is as follows:—Setti (headman).Dhondapu family.Bapatla family.Kosanam family.Modanam family.Fire-walking does not form part of the festival, as the goddess herself sprang from fire.In some places in the North Arcot district the festival lasts over ten days, and varies in some points from the above. On the first day, the people go in procession to a jammi (Prosopis spicigera) tree, and worship a decorated pot (kalasam), to which sheep and goats are sacrificed. From the second to the sixth day, the goddess and pot are worshipped daily. On the seventh day, the jammi tree is again visited, and a man carries on his back cooked rice, which may not be placed on the ground, except near the tree, or at the temple. If the rice is not set downen routethereto, it is accepted as a sign that the festival may be proceeded with. Otherwise they would be afraid to light the joti on the ninth day. This is a busy day, and the ceremonies of sandhulu kattadam (binding the corners), alagu erecting, lighting the flour mass, and pot worship are performed. Early in the morning, goats and sheep are killed, outside the village boundary, in the north, east, south, and west corners, and the blood is sprinkled on all sides to keep off all foreign ganams or saktis. The sword business, as already described, is gone through, and certain tests applied to see whether the joti may be lighted. A lime fruit is placed in the region of the navel of the idol, who should throw it down spontaneously. A bundle of betel leaves is cut across with a knife, and the cut ends should unite. If theomens are favourable, the joti is lighted, sheep and goats are killed, and pongal (rice) is offered to the joti. The day closes with worship of the pot. On the last day the rice mass is distributed. All Dēvānga guests from other villages have to be received and treated with respect according to the local rules, which are in force. For this purpose, the community divide their settlements into Sthalams, Pāyakattulu, Galugrāmatulu, Pētalu, and Kurugrāmālu, which have a definite order of precedence.Among the Dēvāngas the following endogamous sections occur:—(1) Telugu; (2) Canarese; (3) Hathinentu Manayavaru (eighteen house people); (4) Sivachara; (5) Ariya; (6) Kodekal Hatakararu (weavers).They are practically divided into two linguistic sections, Canarese and Telugu, of which the former have adopted the Brāhmanical ceremonials to a greater extent than the latter, who are more conservative. Those who wear the sacred thread seem to preponderate over the non-thread weavers in the Canarese section. To the thread is sometimes attached metal charm-cylinder to ward off evil spirits.The following are examples of exogamous septs in the Telugu section:—Ākāsam, sky.Anumala, seeds ofDolichos lablab.Boggula, charcoal.Bandla, rock or cart.Chintakai, tamarind fruit.Challa, buttermilk.Chapparam, pandal or booth.Dhoddi, cattle-pen, or courtyard.Dhuggāni, money.Yerra, red.Konda, mountain.Kaththi, knife.Bandāri (treasurer).Būsam, grain.Dhondapu (Cephalandra indica).Elugoti, assembly.Gattu, bank or mound.Paidam, money.Gonapala, old plough.Gosu, pride.Jigala, pith.Katta, a dam.Kompala, houses.Kōnangi, buffoon.Kātikala, collyrium.Kaththiri, scissors.Mōksham, heaven.Pasupala, turmeric.Pidakala, dried cow-dung cakes.Pōthula, male.Pachi powaku, green tobacco.Padavala, boat.Pouzala, a bird.Pammi, clay lamp.Thalakōka, female cloth.Thūtla, hole.Utla, ropes for hanging pots.Vasthrāla, cloths.Matam, monastery.Madira, liquor or heap of earth.Mēdam, fight.Māsila, dirt.Olikala, funeral pyre and ashes.Prithvi, earth.Peraka, tile.Punjala, cock or male.Pinjala, cotton-cleaning.Pichchiga, sparrow.Sika (kudumi: tuft of hair).Sandala, lanes.Santha, a fair.Sajje (Setaria italica).The majority of Dēvāngas are Saivites, and wear the lingam. They do not, however, wash the stone lingam with water, in which the feet of Jangams have been washed. They are not particular as to always keeping the lingam on the body, and give as an explanation that, when they are at work, they have to touch all kinds of people. Some said that merchants, when engaged in their business, should not wear the lingam, especially if made of spatikam (quartz), as they have to tell untruths as regards the value and quality of their goods, and ruin would follow if these were told while the lingam was on the body.In some parts of Ganjam, the country folk keep a large number of Brāhmini bulls. When one of these animals dies, very elaborate funeral ceremonies take place, and the dead beast is carried in procession by Dēvāngas, and buried by them. As the Dēvāngas are Lingāyats, they have a special reverence for Basavanna, the sacred bull, and the burying of the Brāhmini bull isregarded by them as a sacred and meritorious act. Other castes do not regard it as such, though they often set free sacred cows or calves.Dēvāngas and Padma Sālēs never live in the same street, and do not draw water from the same well. This is probably due to the fact that they belong to the left and right-hand factions respectively, and no love is lost between them. Like other left-hand castes, Dēvāngas have their own dancing-girls, called Jāthi-biddalu (children of the castes), whose male offspring do achchupani, printing-work on cloth, and occasionally go about begging from Dēvāngas. In the Madras Census Report, 1901, it is stated that “in Madura and Tinnevelly, the Dēvāngas, or Sēdans, consider themselves a shade superior to the Brāhmans, and never do namaskāram (obeisance or salutation) to them, or employ them as priests. In Madura and Coimbatore, the Sēdans have their own dancing-girls, who are called Dēvānga or Sēda Dāsis in the former, and Mānikkāttāl in the latter, and are strictly reserved for members of the caste under pain of excommunication or heavy fine.”Concerning the origin of the Dēvānga beggars, called Singamvādu, the following legend is current. When Chaudēswari and Dēvālan were engaged in combat with the Asuras, one of the Asuras hid himself behind the ear of the lion, on which the goddess was seated. When the fight was over, he came out, and asked for pardon. The goddess took pity on him, and ordered that his descendants should be called Singamvāllu, and asked Dēvālan to treat them as servants, and support them. Dēvāngas give money to these beggars, who have the privilege of locking the door, and carrying away the food, when the castemen take their meals. In assemblies of Dēvāngas, the hand of the beggar servesas a spittoon. He conveys the news of death, and has as the insignia of office a horn, called thuththari or singam.The office of headman, or Pattagar, is hereditary, and he is assisted by an official called Sesha-rāju or Umidisetti who is the servant of the community, and receives a small fee annually for each loom within his beat.Widow remarriage is permitted in some places, and forbidden in others. There may be intermarriage between the flesh-eating and vegetarian sections. But a girl who belongs to a flesh-eating family, and marries into a vegetarian family, must abstain from meat, and may not touch any vessel or food in her husband’s family till she has reached puberty. Before settling the marriage of a girl, some village goddess, or Chaudēswari, is consulted, and the omens are watched. A lizard chirping on the right is a good omen, and on the left bad. Sometimes, red and white flowers, wrapped up in green leaves, are thrown in front of the idol, and the omen considered good or bad according to the flower which a boy or girl picks up. At the marriage ceremony which commences with distribution of pān-supāri (betel) and Vignēswara worship, the bride is presented with a new cloth, and sits on a three-legged stool or cloth-roller (dhonige). The maternal uncle puts round her neck a bondhu (strings of unbleached cotton) dipped in turmeric. The ceremonies are carried out according to the Purānic ritual, except by those who consider themselves to be Dēvānga Brāhmans. On the first day the milk post is set up being made ofOdina Wodierin the Tamil, andMimusops hexandrain the Telugu country. Various rites are performed, which include tonsure, upanāyanam (wearing the sacred thread), pādapūja (washing the feet), Kāsiyātra (mock pilgrimage to Benares), dhārādhattam(giving away the bride), and māngalyadhāranam (tying the marriage badge, or bottu). The proceedings conclude with pot searching. A pap-bowl and ring are put into a pot. If the bride picks out the bowl, her first-born will be a girl, and if the bridegroom gets hold of the ring, it will be a boy. On the fifth day, a square design is made on the floor with coloured rice grains. Between the contracting couple and the square a row of lights is placed. Four pots are set, one at each corner of the square, and eight pots arranged along each side thereof. On the square itself, two pots representing Siva and Uma, are placed, with a row of seedling pots near them. A thread is wound nine times round the pots representing the god and goddess, and tied above to the pandal. After the pots have been worshipped, the thread is cut, and worn, with the sacred thread, for three months. This ceremony is called Nāgavali.When a girl reaches puberty, a twig ofAlangium Lamarckiiis placed in the menstrual hut to keep off devils.The dead are generally buried in a sitting posture. Before the grave is filled in, a string is tied to the kudumi (hair knot) of the corpse, and, by its means, the head is brought near the surface. Over it a lingam is set up, and worshipped daily throughout the death ceremonies.The following curious custom is described by Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. Once in twelve years, a Dēvānga leaves his home, and joins the Padma Sālēs. He begs from them, saying that he is the son of their caste, and as such entitled to be supported by them. If alms are not forthcoming, he enters the house, and carries off whatever he may be able to pick up. Sometimes, if he can get nothing else, he has been known to seize alighted cigar in the mouth of a Sālē, and run off with it. The origin of this custom is not certain, but it has been suggested that the Dēvāngas and Sālēs were originally one caste, and that the former separated from the latter when they became Lingāyats. A Dēvānga only becomes a Chinērigādu when he is advanced in years, and will eat the remnants of food left by Padma Sālēs on their plates. A Chinērigādu is, on his death, buried by the Sālēs.Many of the Dēvāngas are short of stature, light skinned, with sharp-cut features, light-brown iris, and delicate tapering fingers. Those at Hospet, in the Bellary district, carried thorn tweezers (for removing thorns ofAcacia arabicafrom the feet), tooth-pick and ear-scoop, suspended as a chatelaine from the loin-string. The more well-to-do had these articles made of silver, with the addition of a silver saw for paring the nails and cutting cheroots. The name Pampanna, which some of them bore, is connected with the nymph Pampa, who resides at Hampi, and asked Paramēswara to become her husband. He accordingly assumed the name of Pampāpathi, in whose honour there is a tank at Anagūndi, and temple at Hampi. He directed Pampa to live in a pond, and pass by the name of Pampasarovara.The Sēdans of Coimbatore, at the time of my visit in October, were hard at work making clothes for the Dīpāvali festival. It is at times of festivals and marriages, in years of prosperity among the people, that the weavers reap their richest harvest.In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bilimagga (white loom) and Atagāra (weavers and exorcists) are returned as sub-castes of Dēvānga. The usual title of the Dēvāngas is Chetti.The shortness of stature of some of the weaving classes which I have examined is brought out by the following average measurements:—

Petition of __________ aged about 17 or 18.I have agreed to become a Basavi, and get myself stamped by my guru (priest) according to the custom of my caste. I request that my proper age, which entitles me to be stamped, may be personally ascertained, and permission granted to be stamped.The stamping refers to branding with the emblems of the chank and chakram.Petition of _____ wife of _____.I have got two daughters, aged 15 and 12 respectively. As I have no male issues, I have got to necessarily celebrate the ceremony in the temple in connection with the tying of the goddess’s tāli to my two daughters under the orders of the guru, in accordance with the customs of my caste. I, therefore, submit this petition for fear that the authorities may raise any objection (under the Age of Consent Act). I, therefore, request that the Honourable Court may be pleased to give permission to the tying of the tāli to my daughters.Petition of two girls, aged 17 to 19.Our father and mother are dead. Now we wish to be like prostitutes, as we are not willing to be married, and thus establish our house-name. Our mother also was of this profession. We now request permission to be prostitutes according to our religion, after we are sent before the Medical Officer.The permission referred to in the above petitions bears reference to a decision of the High Court that, a girl who becomes a Basavi being incapable of contracting a legal marriage, her dedication when a minor is an offence under the Penal Code.At Adoni the dead body of a new-born infant was found in a ditch, and a Basavi, working with others in a cotton factory, was suspected of foul play. The station-house officer announced his intention of visiting the factory, and she who was in a state of lactation, and could produce no baby to account for her condition, would be the culprit. Writing concerning the Basavis of the Bellary district,20Mr. W. Francis tells us that “parents without male issue often, instead of adopting a son in the usual manner, dedicate a daughter by a simple ceremony to the god of some temple, and thenceforth, by immemorial custom, she may inherit her parents’ property, and perform their funeral rites as if she was a son. She does not marry, but lives in her parents’ house with any man of equal or higher caste whom she may select, and her children inherit her father’s name and bedagu (sept), and not those of their own father. If she has a son, he inherits her property; if she has only a daughter, that daughter again becomes a Basavi. Parents desiring male issue of their own, cure from sickness in themselves or their children, or relief from some calamity, will similarly dedicate their daughter. The children of a Basavi are legitimate, and neither they nor their mothers are treated as being in any way inferior to their fellows. A Basavi, indeed, from the fact that she can never be a widow, is a most welcome guest at weddings. Basavis differ from the ordinary dancing-girls dedicated at temples in that their duties in the temples (which are confined to the shrine of their dedication) are almost nominal, and that they do not prostitute themselves promiscuously for hire. A Basavi very usually lives faithfully with one man, who allows hera fixed sum weekly for her maintenance, and a fixed quantity of new raiment annually, and she works for her family as hard as any other woman. Basavis are outwardly indistinguishable from other women, and are for the most part coolies. In places there is a custom by which they are considered free to change their protectors once a year at the village car-festival or some similar anniversary, and they usually seize this opportunity of putting their partner’s affections to the test by suggesting that a new cloth and bodice would be a welcome present. So poor, as a rule, are the husbands that the police aver that the anniversaries are preceded by an unusual crop of petty thefts and burglaries committed by them in their efforts to provide their customary gifts.” A recent report of a Police Inspector in the Bellary district states that “crimes are committed here and there, as this is Nagarapanchami time. Nagarapanchami festival is to be celebrated at the next Ammavasya or new-moon day. It is at that time the people keeping the prostitutes should pay their dues on that day; otherwise they will have their new engagements.”In the Kurnool district, the Basavi system is practised by the Bōyas, but differs from that in vogue in Bellary and Mysore. The object of making a Basavi, in these two localities, is to perpetuate the family when there is no male heir. If the only issue in a family is a female, the family becomes extinct if she marries, as by marriage she changes her sept. To prevent this, she is not married, but dedicated as a Basavi, and continues to belong to her father’s sept, to which also any male issue which is born to her belongs. In the Kurnool district the motive in making Basavis is different. The girl is not wedded to an idol, but, on an auspicious day, is tied by means of a garland of flowers to the garuda kambham(lamp) of a Balija Dāsari. She is released either by the man who is to receive her first favours, or by her maternal uncle. A simple feast is held, and a string of black beads tied round the girl’s neck. She becomes a prostitute, and her children do not marry into respectable Bōya families.“Basava women,” Dr. E. Balfour writes,21“are sometimes married to a dagger, sometimes to an idol. In making a female child over to the service of the temple, she is taken and dedicated for life to some idol. A khanjar, or dagger, is placed on the ground, and the girl who is to undergo the ceremony puts a garland thereon. Her mother then puts rice on the girl’s forehead. The officiating priest then weds the girl to the dagger, just as if he was uniting her to a boy in marriage, by reciting the marriage stanzas, a curtain being held between the girl and the dagger.” In an account of the initiation ceremony of the Basavis of the Bellary district Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows.22“A sword with a lime stuck on its point is placed upright beside the novice, and held in her right hand. It represents the bridegroom, who, in the corresponding ceremony of Hindu marriage, sits on the bride’s right. A tray, on which are a kalasyam (vessel of water) and a lamp, is then produced, and moved thrice in front of the girl. She rises, and, carrying the sword in her right hand, places it in the god’s sanctuary. Among the dancing-girls very similar ceremonies are performed. With them, the girl’s spouse is represented by a drum instead of a sword, and she bows to it. Her insignia consist of a drum and bells.” In a further note on the dedication of Basavis, Mr. Fawcett writes23that “a tāli,on which is depicted the nāmam of Vishnu, fastened to a necklace of black beads, is tied round her neck. She is given by way of insignia a cane as a wand carried in the right hand, and a gopālam or begging basket, which is slung on the left arm. She is then branded with the emblems of the chank and chakra. In another account24of the marriage ceremony among dancing-girls, it is stated that the Bōgams, who are without exception prostitutes, though they are not allowed to marry, go through a marriage ceremony, which is rather a costly one. Sometimes a wealthy Native bears the expense, makes large presents to the bride, and receives her first favours. Where no such opportunity offers itself, a sword or other weapon represents the bridegroom, and an imaginary nuptial ceremony is performed. Should the Bōgam woman have no daughter, she invariably adopts one, usually paying a price for her, the Kaikōla (weaver) caste being the ordinary one from which to take a child.Among the Kaikōlan musicians of Coimbatore, at least one girl in every family should be set apart for the temple service, and she is instructed in music and dancing. At the tāli-tying ceremony she is decorated with jewels, and made to stand on a heap of paddy (unhusked rice). A folded cloth is held before her by two Dāsis, who also stand on heaps of paddy. The girl catches hold of the cloth, and her dancing master, who is seated behind her, grasping her legs, moves them up and down in time with the music which is played. In the evening she is taken, astride a pony, to the temple, where a new cloth for the idol, the tāli, and other articles required for doing pūja (worship) have been got ready. The girl is seated facingthe idol, and the officiating Brāhman gives sandal and flowers to her, and ties the tāli, which has been lying at the feet of the idol, round her neck. The tāli consists of a golden disc and black beads. She continues to learn music and dancing, and eventually goes through the form of a nuptial ceremony, The relations are invited on an auspicious day, and the maternal uncle, or his representative, ties a golden band on the girl’s forehead, and, carrying her, places her on a plank before the assembled guests. A Brāhman priest recites mantrams (prayers), and prepares the sacred fire (hōmam). For the actual nuptials a rich Brāhman, if possible, and, if not, a Brāhman of more lowly status is invited. A Brāhman is called in, as he is next in importance to, and the representative of, the idol. As a Dāsi can never become a widow, the beads in her tāli are considered to bring good luck to women who wear them. And some people send the tāli required for a marriage to a Dāsi, who prepares the string for it, and attaches to it black beads from her own tāli. A Dāsi is also deputed to walk at the head of Hindu marriage processions. Married women do not like to do this, as they are not proof against evil omens, which the procession may meet. And it is believed that Dāsis, to whom widowhood is unknown, possess the power of warding off the effects of inauspicious omens. It may be remarked,en passant, that Dāsis are not at the present day so much patronised at Hindu marriages as in olden times. Much is due in this direction to the progress of enlightened ideas, which have of late been strongly put forward by Hindu social reformers. When a Kaikōlan Dāsi dies, her body is covered with a new cloth removed from the idol, and flowers are supplied from the temple, to which she belonged. No pūja is performed in the temple till thecorpse is disposed of, as the idol, being her husband, has to observe pollution.“In former times, dancing-girls used to sleep three nights at the commencement of their career in the inner shrine of the Koppēsvara temple at Palivela in the Godāvari district, so as to be embraced by the god. But one of them, it is said, disappeared one night, and the practice has ceased. The funeral pyre of every girl of the dancing girl (Sāni) caste dying in the village should be lit with fire brought from the temple. The same practice is found in the Srīrangam temple near Trichinopoly.”25The following account of Dāsis in Travancore, where their total strength is only about four hundred, is taken from a note by Mr. N. Subramani Aiyer. “While the Dāsis of Kartikappalli, Ambalapuzha, and Shertallay belonged originally to the Konkan coast, those of Shenkottah belonged to the Pāndian country. But the South Travancore Dāsis are an indigenous class. The female members of the caste are, besides being known by the ordinary name of Tēvadiyāl and Dāsi, both meaning servant of God, called Kudikkar, meaning those belonging to the house (i.e., given rent free by the Sirkar), and Pendukal, or women, the former of these designations being more popular than the latter. Males are called Tēvadiyan, though many prefer to be known as Nanchināt Vellālas. Males, like these Vellālas, take the title of Pillai. In ancient days Dēva-dāsis, who became experts in singing and dancing, received the title of Rāyar (king) which appears to have been last conferred in 1847 A.D. The South Travancore Dāsis neither interdine nor intermarry with the dancing-girls of the Tamil-speaking districts. They adopt girls onlyfrom a particular division of the Nāyars, Tamil Padam, and dance only in temples. Unlike their sisters outside Travancore, they do not accept private engagements in houses on the occasion of marriage. The males, in a few houses, marry the Tamil Padam and Padamangalam Nāyars, while some Padamangalam Nāyars and Nanchināt Vellālas in their turn take their women as wives.“When a dancing-woman becomes too old or diseased, and thus unable to perform her usual temple duties, she applies to the temple authorities for permission to remove her ear-pendants (todus). The ceremony takes place at the palace of the Mahārāja. At the appointed spot the officers concerned assemble, and the woman, seated on a wooden plank, proceeds to unhook the pendants, and places them, with a nuzzur (gift) of twelve fanams (coins), on the plank. Directly after this she turns about, and walks away without casting a second glance at the ear-ornaments which have been laid down. She becomes immediately a taikkizhavi or old mother, and is supposed to lead a life of retirement and resignation. By way of distinction, a Dāsi in active service is referred to as ātumpātram. Though the ear-ornaments are at once returned to her from the palace, the woman is never again permitted to put them on, but only to wear the pampadam, or antiquated ear-ornament of Tamil Sūdra women. Her temple wages undergo a slight reduction, consequent on her proved incapacity.“In some temples, as at Kēralapuram, there are two divisions of dancing-girls, one known as the Murakkudi to attend to the daily routine, the other as the Chirappukuti to serve on special occasions. The special duties that may be required of the South Travancore Dāsis are:—(1) to attend the two Utsavas at SriPadmanābahswāmi’s temple, and the Dusserah at the capital; (2) to meet and escort members of the royal family at their respective village limits; (3) to undertake the prescribed fasts for the Apamargam ceremony in connection with the annual festival of the temple. On these days strict continence is enjoined, and they are fed at the temple, and allowed only one meal a day.“The principal deities of the dancing-girls are those to whom the temples, in which they are employed, are dedicated. They observe the new and full-moon days, and the last Friday of every month as important. The Onam, Sivarātri, Tye-Pongal, Dīpāvali, and Chitrapurnami are the best recognised religious festivals. Minor deities, such as Bhadrakāli, Yakshi, and Ghandarva are worshipped by the figure of a trident or sword being drawn on the wall of the house, to which food and sweetmeats are offered on Fridays. The priests on these occasions are Ōcchans. There are no recognized headmen in the caste. The services of Brāhmans are resorted to for the purpose of purification, of Nampiyans and Saiva Vellālas for the performance of funeral rites, and of Kurukkals on occasions of marriage, and for the final ceremonies on the sixteenth day after death.“Girls belonging to this caste may either be dedicated to temple service, or married to a male member of the caste. No woman can be dedicated to the temple after she has reached puberty. On the occasion of marriage, a sum of from fifty to a hundred and fifty rupees is given to the bride’s house, not as a bride-price, but for defraying the marriage expenses. There is a preliminary ceremony of betrothal, and the marriage is celebrated at an auspicious hour. The Kurukkal recites a few hymns, and the ceremonies, which include the tying of the tāli, continue for four days. The couplecommence joint life on the sixteenth day after the girl has reached puberty. It is easy enough to get a divorce, as this merely depends upon the will of one of the two parties, and the woman becomes free to receive clothes from another person in token of her having entered into a fresh matrimonial alliance.“All applications for the presentation of a girl to the temple are made to the temple authorities by the senior dancing-girl of the temple, the girl to be presented being in all cases from six to eight years of age. If she is closely related to the applicant, no enquiries regarding her status and claim need be made. In all other cases, formal investigations are instituted, and the records taken are submitted to the chief revenue officer of the division for orders. Some paddy (rice) and five fanams are given to the family from the temple funds towards the expenses of the ceremony. The practice at the Suchindrum temple is to convene, on an auspicious day, a yōga or meeting, composed of the Valiya Sri-kariyakkar, the Yogattil Potti, the Vattappalli Muttatu, and others, at which the preliminaries are arranged. The girl bathes, and goes to the temple on the morning of the selected day with two new cloths, betel leaves and nuts. The temple priest places the cloths and the tāli at the feet of the image, and sets apart one for the divine use. The tāli consists of a triangular bottu, bearing the image of Ganēsa, with a gold bead on either side. Taking the remaining cloth and the tāli, and sitting close to the girl, the priest, facing to the north, proceeds to officiate. The girl sits, facing the deity, in the inner sanctuary. The priest kindles the fire, and performs all the marriage ceremonies, following the custom of the Tirukkalyānam festival, when Siva is represented as marrying Parvati. He then teaches the girl the Panchakshara hymn if thetemple is Saivite, and Ashtakshara if it is Vaishnavite, presents her with the cloth, and ties the tāli round her neck. The Nattuvan, or dancing-master, instructs her for the first time in his art, and a quantity of raw rice is given to her by the temple authorities. The girl, thus married, is taken to her house, where the marriage festivities are celebrated for two or three days. As in Brāhmanical marriages, the rolling of a cocoanut to and fro is gone through, the temple priest or an elderly Dāsi, dressed in male attire, acting the part of the bridegroom. The girl is taken in procession through the streets.“The birth of male children is not made an occasion for rejoicing, and, as the proverb goes, the lamp on these occasions is only dimly lighted. Inheritance is in the female line, and women are the absolute owners of all property earned. When a dancing-girl dies, some paddy and five fanams are given from the temple to which she was attached, to defray the funeral expenses. The temple priest gives a garland, and a quantity of ashes for decorating the corpse. After this, a Nampiyan, an Ōcchan, some Vellāla headmen, and a Kudikkari, having no pollution, assemble at the house of the deceased. The Nampiyan consecrates a pot of water with prayers, the Ōcchan plays on his musical instrument, and the Vellālas and Kudikkari powder the turmeric to be smeared over the corpse. In the case of temple devotees, their dead bodies must be bathed with this substance by the priest, after which alone the funeral ceremonies may proceed. The Kartā (chief mourner), who is the nearest male relative, has to get his whole head shaved. When a temple priest dies, though he is a Brāhman, the dancing-girl, on whom he has performed the vicarious marriage rite, has to go to his death-bed, and prepare the turmeric powder to be dusted over his corpse. The anniversaryof the death of the mother and maternal uncle are invariably observed.“The adoption of a dancing-girl is a lengthy ceremony. The application to the temple authorities takes the form of a request that the girl to be adopted may be made heir to both kuti and pati, that is, to the house and temple service of the person adopting. The sanction of the authorities having been obtained, all concerned meet at the house of the person who is adopting, a document is executed, and a ceremony, of the nature of the Jātakarma, performed. The girl then goes through the marriage rite, and is handed over to the charge of the music teacher to be regularly trained in her profession.”As bearing on the initiation, laws of inheritance, etc., of Dēva-dāsis, the following cases, which have been argued in the Madras High Court, may be quoted26:—(a) In a charge against a dancing-girl of having purchased a young girl, aged five, with the intent that she would be used for the purpose of prostitution, or knowing it to be likely that she would be so used, evidence was given of the fact of purchase for sixty rupees, and that numerous other dancing-girls, residing in the neighbourhood, were in the habit of obtaining girls and bringing them up as dancing-girls or prostitutes, and that there were no instances of girls brought up by dancing-girls ever having been married. One witness stated that there were forty dancing-girls’ houses in the town (Adōni), and that their chief source of income was prostitution, and that the dancing-girls, who have no daughters of their own, get girls from others, bring them up, and eventually make them dancing-girls orprostitutes. He added that the dancing-girls get good incomes by bringing up girls in preference to boys. Another witness stated that dancing-girls, when they grow old, obtain girls and bring them up to follow their profession, and that good-looking girls are generally bought.27(b) The evidence showed that two of the prisoners were dancing-girls of a certain temple, that one of them took the two daughters of the remaining prisoner to the pagoda, to be marked as dancing-girls, and that they were so marked, and their names entered in the accounts of the pagoda. The first prisoner (the mother of the girls) disposed of the children to the third prisoner for the consideration of a neck ornament and thirty-five rupees. The children appeared to be of the ages of seven and two years, respectively. Evidence was taken, which tended to prove that dancing-girls gain their livelihood by the performance of certain offices in pagodas, by assisting in the performance of ceremonies in private houses, by dancing and singing upon the occasion of marriage, and by prostitution.28(c) The first prisoner presented an application for the enrolment of his daughter as a dancing-girl at one of the great pagodas. He stated her age to be thirteen. She attained puberty a month or two after her enrolment. Her father was the servant of a dancing-girl, the second prisoner, who had been teaching the minor dancing for some five years. The evidence showed that the second prisoner brought the girl to the pagoda, that both first and second prisoners were present when the bottu (or tāli) was tied, and other ceremonies of the dedication performed; that third prisoner, as Battar of the temple,was the person who actually tied the bottu, which denotes that the Dāsi is wedded to the idol. There was the usual evidence that dancing-girls live by prostitution, though occasionally kept by the same man for a year or more.29(d) The plaintiff, a Dēva-dāsi, complained that, when she brought offerings according to custom and placed them before the God at a certain festival, and asked the Archakas (officiating priests) to present the offerings to the God, burn incense, and then distribute them, they refused to take the offerings on the ground that the Dēva-dāsi had gone to a Kōmati’s house to dance. She claimed damages, Rs. 10, for the rejected offerings, and Rs. 40 for loss of honour, and a perpetual injunction to allow her to perform the mantapa hadi (sacrifice) at the Chittrai Vasanta festival. The priests pleaded that the dancing-girl had, for her bad conduct in having danced at a Kōmati’s house, and subsequently refused to expiate the deed by drinking panchagavyan (five products of the cow) according to the shastras, been expelled both from her caste and from the temple.30(e) In a certain temple two dancing-girls were dedicated by the Dharmakarta to the services of the temple without the consent of the existing body of dancing-girls, and the suit was instituted against the Dharmakarta and these two Dēva-dāsis, asking that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the Dēva-dāsis of the pagoda in regard (1) to the dedication of Dēva-dāsis, (2) to the Dharmakarta’s power to bind and suspend them; and that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the plaintiff, the existing Dēva-dāsis, as to the exclusion of all other Dēva-dāsis,save those who are related to or adopted by some one of the Dēva-dāsis for the time being, or those who, being approved by all, are elected and proposed to the Dharmakarta for dedication. That the new Dāsis may be declared to have been improperly dedicated, and not entitled to any of the rights of Dēva-dāsis, and restrained from attending the pagoda in that character, and from interfering with the duly dedicated Dēva-dāsis in the exercise of their office. That first defendant be restrained from stamping and dedicating other Dēva-dāsis but such as are duly approved. The Judge dismissed the case on the ground that it would be contrary to public policy to make the declaration prayed for, as, in so doing, the Court would be lending itself to bringing the parties under the criminal law. In the appeal, which was dismissed, one of the Judges remarked that the plaintiffs claimed a right exclusive to themselves and a few other dancing-women, professional prostitutes, to present infant female children for dedication to the temple as dancing-girls to be stamped as such, and so accredited to become at maturity professional prostitutes, private or public.31(f) A Dēva-dāsi sued to establish her right to the mirāsi (fees) of dancing-girls in a certain pagoda, and to be put in possession of the said mirāsi together with the honours and perquisites attached thereto, and to recover twenty-four rupees, being the value of said perquisites and honours for the year preceding. She alleged that the Dharmakarta of the pagoda and his agents wrongfully dismissed her from the office because she had refused to acquiesce in the admission by the Dharmakarta of new dancing-girls into the pagoda service, ofwhich she claimed the monopoly for herself and the then existing families of dancing-girls. The District Judge dismissed the suit, but the High Court ordered a re-investigation as to the question of the existence of an hereditary office with endowments or emoluments attached to it.32(g) A girl, aged seventeen, instituted a suit against the trustees of a pagoda. It was alleged that a woman who died some years previously was one of the dancing-women attached to the pagoda, and, as such, entitled to the benefit of one of the temple endowments; that she had taken in adoption the plaintiff, who was accordingly entitled to succeed to her office and the emoluments attached to it; that the plaintiff could not enter on the office until a bottu-tāli had been tied on her in the temple; and that the trustees did not permit this to be done. The prayer of the plaint was that the defendants be compelled to allow the tāli to be tied in the temple in view to the girl performing the dancing service, and enjoying the honours and endowments attached thereto. The Judge dismissed the suit on the ground that the claim was inadmissible, as being in effect a claim by the plaintiff to be enlisted as a public prostitute.33(h) On the death of a prostitute dancing-girl, her adopted niece, belonging to the same class, succeeds to her property, in whatever way it is acquired, in preference to a brother remaining in his caste. The general rule is that the legal relation between a prostitute dancing-girl and her undegraded relations remaining in caste be severed.34(i) A pauper sued his sister for the partition of property valued at Rs. 34,662. The parties belonged tothe Bōgam caste in the Godāvari district. The woman pleaded that the property had been acquired by her as a prostitute, and denied her brother’s claim to it. He obtained a decree for only Rs. 100, being a moiety of the property left by their mother. The High Court held, on the evidence as to the local custom of the caste, that the decree was right.35(j) The accused, a Mādiga of the Bellary district, dedicated his minor daughter as a Basavi by a form of marriage with an idol. It appeared that a Basavi is incapable of contracting a lawful marriage, and ordinarily practices promiscuous intercourse with men, and that her sons succeed to her father’s property. It was held that the accused had committed an offence under the Penal Code, which lays down that “whoever sells, lets to hire, or otherwise disposes of any minor under the age of sixteen years, with intent that such minor shall be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution, or for any unlawful and immoral purpose, shall be punished, etc.” The Sessions judge referred to evidence that it was not a matter of course for Basavis to prostitute themselves for money, and added: “The evidence is very clear that Basavis are made in accordance with a custom of the Mādiga caste. It is also in evidence that one of the effects of making a girl Basavi is that her male issue becomes a son of her father, and perpetuates his family, whereas, if she were married, he would perpetuate her husband’s family. In this particular case, the girl was made a Basavi that she might be heir to her aunt, who was a Basavi, but childless. Siddalingana Gowd says that they and their issue inherit the parents’ property. There is evidence that Basavisare made on a very large scale, and that they live in their parents’ houses. There is no evidence that they are regarded otherwise than as respectable members of the caste. It seems as if the Basavi is the Mādiga and Bēdar equivalent of the “appointed daughter” of Hindu law (Mitakshara, Chap. I, s. xi, 3). Upon the whole, the evidence seems to establish that, among the Mādigas, there is a widespread custom of performing, in a temple at Uchangidurgam, a marriage ceremony, the result of which is that the girl is married without possibility of widowhood or divorce; that she is at liberty to have intercourse with men at her pleasure; that her children are heirs to her father, and keep up his family; and that Basavi’s nieces, being made Basavis, become their heirs. The Basavis seem in some cases to become prostitutes, but the language used by the witnesses generally points only to free intercourse with men, and not necessarily to receipt of payment for use of their bodies. In fact, they seem to acquire the right of intercourse with men without more discredit than accrues to the men of their caste for intercourse with women who are not their wives.36It may be observed that Dēva-dāsis are the only class of women, who are, under Hindu law as administered in the British Courts, allowed to adopt girls to themselves. Amongst the other castes, a widow, for instance, cannot adopt to herself, but only to her husband, and she cannot adopt a daughter instead of a son. A recent attempt by a Brāhman at Poona to adopt a daughter, who should take the place of a natural-born daughter, was held to be invalid by general law, and not sanctioned by local usage.37The same would be held inMadras. “But among dancing-girls,” Mayne writes,38“it is customary in Madras and Western India to adopt girls to follow their adoptive mother’s profession, and the girls so adopted succeed to their property. No particular ceremonies are necessary, recognition alone being sufficient. In the absence, however, of a special custom, and on the analogy of an ordinary adoption, only one girl can be adopted.” In Calcutta and Bombay these adoptions by dancing-girls have been held invalid.39Of proverbs relating to dancing-girls, the following may be quoted:—(1) The dancing-girl who could not dance said that the hall was not big enough. The Rev. H. Jensen gives40as an equivalent “When the devil could not swim, he laid the blame on the water.”(2) If the dancing-girl be alive, and her mother dies, there will be beating of drums; but, if the dancing-girl dies, there will be no such display. This is explained by Jensen as meaning that, to secure the favour of a dancing-girl, many men will attend her mother’s funeral; but, if the dancing-girl herself dies, there is nothing to be gained by attending the funeral.(3) Like a dancing-girl wiping a child. Jensen remarks that a dancing-girl is supposed to have no children, so she does not know how to keep them clean. Said of one who tries to mend a matter, but lacks experience, and makes things worse than they were before.(4) As when a boy is born in a dancing-girl’s house. Jensen notes that, if dancing-girls have children, they desire to have girls, that they may be brought up to their own profession.(5) The dancing-girl, who was formerly more than filled with good food in the temple, now turns a somersault to get a poor man’s rice.(6) If a matron is chaste, she may live in the dancing-girl’s street,The insigne of courtesans, according to the Conjeeveram records, is a Cupid, that of a Christian, a curry-comb.41Dēvādiga.—The Dēvādigas are Canarese-speaking temple servants in South Canara, concerning whom Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows.42“This is a class of servants, chiefly musicians in Hindu temples. In the reign of Mayūra Varma, who built a number of new temples, it was found that Brāhmans could not perform all the services. It was, therefore, ordained by him that the pūja or worship alone should be performed by the Brāhmans, and that the Stanikas and Dēvādigas should perform the other services in the temples. They are also called Moili (or Moyili), but there is a caste called Kannada Moili which is quite distinct, and Dēvādigas will not eat with them. Some of them cultivate lands, and some are employed as peons and constables. They returned eleven sub-divisions, but only one (Tulu) is numerically important. They are Vaishnavites, and Tulu Brāhmans are their priests. As regards marriage, there is no fixed age. Remarriage of widows is permitted, but it is practiced only in the case of young widows. The dead are burned. They eat flesh, and drink liquor.”The Dēvādigas or Moilis speak Tulu, and are mainly agriculturists. Their traditional occupation, however, is said to be service in temples (slaves or servants of thedēva or god). A large number of them, both male and female, are engaged as domestic servants. Like the Bants, they follow the aliya santāna law of inheritance (in the female line), and they have the same balis (septs) as the Bants and Billavas. In their marriage ceremonies, they closely imitate the Bants. An interesting feature in connection therewith is that, during the dhāre ceremony, a screen is interposed between the bride and bridegroom at the time when the dhāre water is poured. As a sign of betrothal, a ring is given to the bride-elect, and she wears it on the little finger. The caste is a mixed one, and here and there Dēvādigas are seen to have the typical prominent cheek-bones and square face of the Jains.In the Census Report, 1901, Dakkera Dēvali, Padarti, and Vālagadava are returned as sub-divisions of Dēvādiga.Dēvala(belonging to God).—An exogamous sept of Oddē. The equivalent Dēvali has been recorded as a sub-caste of Dēvādiga, and Dēvalyal as a division of the Todas.43A division of the Irulas of the Nīlgiris, settled near the village of Dēvāla, is known by that name.Dēvānga.—The Dēvāngas are a caste of weavers, speaking Telugu or Canarese, who are found all over the Madras Presidency. Those whom I studied in the Bellary district connected my operations in a vague way with the pilāg (plague) tax, and collection of subscriptions for the Victoria Memorial. They were employed in weaving women’s sāris in pure cotton, or with a silk border, which were sold to rich merchants in the local bazaar, some of whom belong to the Dēvānga caste. They laughingly said that, though they areprofessional weavers, they find it cheapest to wear cloths of European manufacture.Dēvānga.Dēvānga.The Dēvāngas are also called Jādaru or Jāda (great men), Dēndra, Dēvara, Dēra, Sēniyan, and Sēdan. At Coimbatore, in the Tamil country, they are called Settukkāran (economical people).The following legend is narrated concerning the origin of the caste. Brahma, having created Manu, told him to weave clothes for Dēvas and men. Accordingly Manu continued to weave for some years, and reached heaven through his piety and virtuous life. There being no one left to weave for them, the Dēvas and men had to wear garments of leaves. Vexed at this, they prayed to Brahma that he would rescue them from their plight. Brahma took them to Siva, who at once created a lustrous spirit, and called him Dēvalan. Struck with the brilliancy thereof, all fled in confusion, excepting Parvati, who remained near Siva. Siva told her that Dēvalan was created to weave clothes, to cover the limbs and bodies of Dēvas and men, whose descendants are in consequence called Dēvāngas (Dēva angam, limb of god). Dēvalan was advised to obtain thread from the lotus stalks springing from the navel of Vishnu, and he secured them after a severe penance. On his way back, he met a Rākshasa, Vajradantan by name, who was doing penance at a hermitage, disguised as a Sanyāsi. Deceived by his appearance, Dēvalan paid homage to him, and determined to spend the night at the hermitage. But, towards the close of the day, the Rishi and his followers threw off their disguise, and appeared in their true colours as Asuras. Dēvalan sought the assistance of Vishnu, and a chakra was given to him, with which he attempted to overthrow the increasing number of Asuras. He then invoked the assistance of Chaudanāyaki orChaudēswari, who came riding on a lion, and the Asuras were killed off. The mighty Asuras who met their death were Vajradantan (diamond-toothed), Pugainethran (smoke-eyed), Pugaimugan (smoke-faced), Chithrasēnan (leader of armies) and Jeyadrathan (owner of a victory-securing car). The blood of these five was coloured respectively yellow, red, white, green, and black. For dyeing threads of different colours, Dēvalan dipped them in the blood. The Dēvāngas claim to be the descendants of Dēvalan, and say that they are Dēvānga Brāhmans, on the strength of the following stanza, which seems to have been composed by a Dēvānga priest, Sambalinga Murti by name:—Manu was born in the Brāhman caste.He was surely a Brāhman in the womb.There is no Sudraism in this caste.Dēvanga had the form of Brāhma.The legendary origin of the Dēvāngas is given as follows in the Baramahal Records.44“When Brahma the creator created the charam and acharam, or the animate and inanimate creation, the Dēvatas or gods, Rākshasas or evil demons, and the human race, were without a covering for their bodies, which displeasing the god Narada or reason, he waited upon Paramēshwara or the great Lord at his palace on the Kailāsa Parvata or mount of paradise, and represented the indecent state of the inhabitants of the universe, and prayed that he would be pleased to devise a covering for their nakedness. Paramēshwara saw the propriety of Narada’s request, and thought it was proper to grant it. While he was so thinking, a male sprang into existence from his body, whom he named Dēva angamor the body of God, in allusion to the manner of his birth. Dēva angam instantly asked his progenitor why he had created him. The God answered ‘Repair to the pāla samudram or sea of milk, where you will find Sri Maha Vishnu or the august mighty god Vishnu, and he will tell thee what to do.’ Dēva angam repaired to the presence of Sri Maha Vishnu, and represented that Paramēshwara had sent him, and begged to be favoured with Vishnu’s commands. Vishnu replied ‘Do you weave cloth to serve as a covering to the inhabitants of the universe.’ Vishnu then gave him some of the fibres of the lotus flower that grew from his navel, and taught him how to make it into cloth. Dēva angam wove a piece of cloth, and presented it to Vishnu, who accepted it, and ordered him to depart, and to take the fibres of trees, and make raiment for the inhabitants of the Vishnu loka or gods. Dēva angam created ten thousand weavers, who used to go to the forest and collect the fibre of trees, and make it into cloth for the Dēvatas or gods and the human race. One day, Dēva angam and his tribe went to a forest in the Bhuloka or earthly world, in order to collect the fibre of trees, when he was attacked by a race of Rākshasas or giants, on which he waxed wroth, and, unbending his jata or long plaited hair, gave it a twist, and struck it once on the ground. In that moment, a Shakti, or female goddess having eight hands, each grasping a warlike weapon, sprang from the earth, attacked the Rākshasas, and defeated them. Dēva anga named her Chudēshwari or goddess of the hair, and, as she delivered his tribe out of the hands of the Rākshasas, he made her his tutelary divinity.”The tribal goddess of the Dēvāngas is Chaudēswari, a form of Kāli or Durga, who is worshipped annuallyat a festival, in which the entire community takes part either at the temple, or at a house or grove specially prepared for the occasion. During the festival weaving operations cease; and those who take a prominent part in the rites fast, and avoid pollution. The first day is called alagu nilupadam (erecting, or fixing of the sword). The goddess is worshipped, and a sheep or goat sacrificed, unless the settlement is composed of vegetarian Dēvāngas. One man at least from each sept fasts, remains pure, and carries a sword. Inside the temple, or at the spot selected, the pūjari (priest) tries to balance a long sword on its point on the edge of the mouth of a pot, while the alagu men cut their chests with the swords. Failure to balance the sword is believed to be due to pollution brought by somebody to get rid of which the alagu men bathe. Cow’s urine and turmeric water are sprinkled over those assembled, and women are kept at a distance to prevent menstrual or other form of pollution. On the next day, called jothiārambam (jothi, light or splendour) as Chaudēswari is believed to have sprung from jothi, a big mass is made of rice flour, and a wick, fed with ghī (clarified butter) and lighted, is placed in a cavity scooped out therein. This flour lamp must be made by members of a pūjāri’s family assisted sometimes by the alagu boys. In its manufacture, a quantity of rice is steeped in water, and poured on a plantain leaf. Jaggery (crude sugar) is then mixed with it, and, when it is of the proper consistency, it is shaped into a cone, and placed on a silver or brass tray. On the third day, called pānaka pūja or mahānēvedyam, jaggery water is offered, and cocoanuts, and other offerings are laid before the goddess. The rice mass is divided up, and given to the pūjari, setti, alagu men and boys, and to thecommunity, to which small portions are doled out in a particular order, which must be strictly observed. For example, at Tindivānam the order is as follows:—Setti (headman).Dhondapu family.Bapatla family.Kosanam family.Modanam family.Fire-walking does not form part of the festival, as the goddess herself sprang from fire.In some places in the North Arcot district the festival lasts over ten days, and varies in some points from the above. On the first day, the people go in procession to a jammi (Prosopis spicigera) tree, and worship a decorated pot (kalasam), to which sheep and goats are sacrificed. From the second to the sixth day, the goddess and pot are worshipped daily. On the seventh day, the jammi tree is again visited, and a man carries on his back cooked rice, which may not be placed on the ground, except near the tree, or at the temple. If the rice is not set downen routethereto, it is accepted as a sign that the festival may be proceeded with. Otherwise they would be afraid to light the joti on the ninth day. This is a busy day, and the ceremonies of sandhulu kattadam (binding the corners), alagu erecting, lighting the flour mass, and pot worship are performed. Early in the morning, goats and sheep are killed, outside the village boundary, in the north, east, south, and west corners, and the blood is sprinkled on all sides to keep off all foreign ganams or saktis. The sword business, as already described, is gone through, and certain tests applied to see whether the joti may be lighted. A lime fruit is placed in the region of the navel of the idol, who should throw it down spontaneously. A bundle of betel leaves is cut across with a knife, and the cut ends should unite. If theomens are favourable, the joti is lighted, sheep and goats are killed, and pongal (rice) is offered to the joti. The day closes with worship of the pot. On the last day the rice mass is distributed. All Dēvānga guests from other villages have to be received and treated with respect according to the local rules, which are in force. For this purpose, the community divide their settlements into Sthalams, Pāyakattulu, Galugrāmatulu, Pētalu, and Kurugrāmālu, which have a definite order of precedence.Among the Dēvāngas the following endogamous sections occur:—(1) Telugu; (2) Canarese; (3) Hathinentu Manayavaru (eighteen house people); (4) Sivachara; (5) Ariya; (6) Kodekal Hatakararu (weavers).They are practically divided into two linguistic sections, Canarese and Telugu, of which the former have adopted the Brāhmanical ceremonials to a greater extent than the latter, who are more conservative. Those who wear the sacred thread seem to preponderate over the non-thread weavers in the Canarese section. To the thread is sometimes attached metal charm-cylinder to ward off evil spirits.The following are examples of exogamous septs in the Telugu section:—Ākāsam, sky.Anumala, seeds ofDolichos lablab.Boggula, charcoal.Bandla, rock or cart.Chintakai, tamarind fruit.Challa, buttermilk.Chapparam, pandal or booth.Dhoddi, cattle-pen, or courtyard.Dhuggāni, money.Yerra, red.Konda, mountain.Kaththi, knife.Bandāri (treasurer).Būsam, grain.Dhondapu (Cephalandra indica).Elugoti, assembly.Gattu, bank or mound.Paidam, money.Gonapala, old plough.Gosu, pride.Jigala, pith.Katta, a dam.Kompala, houses.Kōnangi, buffoon.Kātikala, collyrium.Kaththiri, scissors.Mōksham, heaven.Pasupala, turmeric.Pidakala, dried cow-dung cakes.Pōthula, male.Pachi powaku, green tobacco.Padavala, boat.Pouzala, a bird.Pammi, clay lamp.Thalakōka, female cloth.Thūtla, hole.Utla, ropes for hanging pots.Vasthrāla, cloths.Matam, monastery.Madira, liquor or heap of earth.Mēdam, fight.Māsila, dirt.Olikala, funeral pyre and ashes.Prithvi, earth.Peraka, tile.Punjala, cock or male.Pinjala, cotton-cleaning.Pichchiga, sparrow.Sika (kudumi: tuft of hair).Sandala, lanes.Santha, a fair.Sajje (Setaria italica).The majority of Dēvāngas are Saivites, and wear the lingam. They do not, however, wash the stone lingam with water, in which the feet of Jangams have been washed. They are not particular as to always keeping the lingam on the body, and give as an explanation that, when they are at work, they have to touch all kinds of people. Some said that merchants, when engaged in their business, should not wear the lingam, especially if made of spatikam (quartz), as they have to tell untruths as regards the value and quality of their goods, and ruin would follow if these were told while the lingam was on the body.In some parts of Ganjam, the country folk keep a large number of Brāhmini bulls. When one of these animals dies, very elaborate funeral ceremonies take place, and the dead beast is carried in procession by Dēvāngas, and buried by them. As the Dēvāngas are Lingāyats, they have a special reverence for Basavanna, the sacred bull, and the burying of the Brāhmini bull isregarded by them as a sacred and meritorious act. Other castes do not regard it as such, though they often set free sacred cows or calves.Dēvāngas and Padma Sālēs never live in the same street, and do not draw water from the same well. This is probably due to the fact that they belong to the left and right-hand factions respectively, and no love is lost between them. Like other left-hand castes, Dēvāngas have their own dancing-girls, called Jāthi-biddalu (children of the castes), whose male offspring do achchupani, printing-work on cloth, and occasionally go about begging from Dēvāngas. In the Madras Census Report, 1901, it is stated that “in Madura and Tinnevelly, the Dēvāngas, or Sēdans, consider themselves a shade superior to the Brāhmans, and never do namaskāram (obeisance or salutation) to them, or employ them as priests. In Madura and Coimbatore, the Sēdans have their own dancing-girls, who are called Dēvānga or Sēda Dāsis in the former, and Mānikkāttāl in the latter, and are strictly reserved for members of the caste under pain of excommunication or heavy fine.”Concerning the origin of the Dēvānga beggars, called Singamvādu, the following legend is current. When Chaudēswari and Dēvālan were engaged in combat with the Asuras, one of the Asuras hid himself behind the ear of the lion, on which the goddess was seated. When the fight was over, he came out, and asked for pardon. The goddess took pity on him, and ordered that his descendants should be called Singamvāllu, and asked Dēvālan to treat them as servants, and support them. Dēvāngas give money to these beggars, who have the privilege of locking the door, and carrying away the food, when the castemen take their meals. In assemblies of Dēvāngas, the hand of the beggar servesas a spittoon. He conveys the news of death, and has as the insignia of office a horn, called thuththari or singam.The office of headman, or Pattagar, is hereditary, and he is assisted by an official called Sesha-rāju or Umidisetti who is the servant of the community, and receives a small fee annually for each loom within his beat.Widow remarriage is permitted in some places, and forbidden in others. There may be intermarriage between the flesh-eating and vegetarian sections. But a girl who belongs to a flesh-eating family, and marries into a vegetarian family, must abstain from meat, and may not touch any vessel or food in her husband’s family till she has reached puberty. Before settling the marriage of a girl, some village goddess, or Chaudēswari, is consulted, and the omens are watched. A lizard chirping on the right is a good omen, and on the left bad. Sometimes, red and white flowers, wrapped up in green leaves, are thrown in front of the idol, and the omen considered good or bad according to the flower which a boy or girl picks up. At the marriage ceremony which commences with distribution of pān-supāri (betel) and Vignēswara worship, the bride is presented with a new cloth, and sits on a three-legged stool or cloth-roller (dhonige). The maternal uncle puts round her neck a bondhu (strings of unbleached cotton) dipped in turmeric. The ceremonies are carried out according to the Purānic ritual, except by those who consider themselves to be Dēvānga Brāhmans. On the first day the milk post is set up being made ofOdina Wodierin the Tamil, andMimusops hexandrain the Telugu country. Various rites are performed, which include tonsure, upanāyanam (wearing the sacred thread), pādapūja (washing the feet), Kāsiyātra (mock pilgrimage to Benares), dhārādhattam(giving away the bride), and māngalyadhāranam (tying the marriage badge, or bottu). The proceedings conclude with pot searching. A pap-bowl and ring are put into a pot. If the bride picks out the bowl, her first-born will be a girl, and if the bridegroom gets hold of the ring, it will be a boy. On the fifth day, a square design is made on the floor with coloured rice grains. Between the contracting couple and the square a row of lights is placed. Four pots are set, one at each corner of the square, and eight pots arranged along each side thereof. On the square itself, two pots representing Siva and Uma, are placed, with a row of seedling pots near them. A thread is wound nine times round the pots representing the god and goddess, and tied above to the pandal. After the pots have been worshipped, the thread is cut, and worn, with the sacred thread, for three months. This ceremony is called Nāgavali.When a girl reaches puberty, a twig ofAlangium Lamarckiiis placed in the menstrual hut to keep off devils.The dead are generally buried in a sitting posture. Before the grave is filled in, a string is tied to the kudumi (hair knot) of the corpse, and, by its means, the head is brought near the surface. Over it a lingam is set up, and worshipped daily throughout the death ceremonies.The following curious custom is described by Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. Once in twelve years, a Dēvānga leaves his home, and joins the Padma Sālēs. He begs from them, saying that he is the son of their caste, and as such entitled to be supported by them. If alms are not forthcoming, he enters the house, and carries off whatever he may be able to pick up. Sometimes, if he can get nothing else, he has been known to seize alighted cigar in the mouth of a Sālē, and run off with it. The origin of this custom is not certain, but it has been suggested that the Dēvāngas and Sālēs were originally one caste, and that the former separated from the latter when they became Lingāyats. A Dēvānga only becomes a Chinērigādu when he is advanced in years, and will eat the remnants of food left by Padma Sālēs on their plates. A Chinērigādu is, on his death, buried by the Sālēs.Many of the Dēvāngas are short of stature, light skinned, with sharp-cut features, light-brown iris, and delicate tapering fingers. Those at Hospet, in the Bellary district, carried thorn tweezers (for removing thorns ofAcacia arabicafrom the feet), tooth-pick and ear-scoop, suspended as a chatelaine from the loin-string. The more well-to-do had these articles made of silver, with the addition of a silver saw for paring the nails and cutting cheroots. The name Pampanna, which some of them bore, is connected with the nymph Pampa, who resides at Hampi, and asked Paramēswara to become her husband. He accordingly assumed the name of Pampāpathi, in whose honour there is a tank at Anagūndi, and temple at Hampi. He directed Pampa to live in a pond, and pass by the name of Pampasarovara.The Sēdans of Coimbatore, at the time of my visit in October, were hard at work making clothes for the Dīpāvali festival. It is at times of festivals and marriages, in years of prosperity among the people, that the weavers reap their richest harvest.In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bilimagga (white loom) and Atagāra (weavers and exorcists) are returned as sub-castes of Dēvānga. The usual title of the Dēvāngas is Chetti.The shortness of stature of some of the weaving classes which I have examined is brought out by the following average measurements:—

Petition of __________ aged about 17 or 18.I have agreed to become a Basavi, and get myself stamped by my guru (priest) according to the custom of my caste. I request that my proper age, which entitles me to be stamped, may be personally ascertained, and permission granted to be stamped.The stamping refers to branding with the emblems of the chank and chakram.Petition of _____ wife of _____.I have got two daughters, aged 15 and 12 respectively. As I have no male issues, I have got to necessarily celebrate the ceremony in the temple in connection with the tying of the goddess’s tāli to my two daughters under the orders of the guru, in accordance with the customs of my caste. I, therefore, submit this petition for fear that the authorities may raise any objection (under the Age of Consent Act). I, therefore, request that the Honourable Court may be pleased to give permission to the tying of the tāli to my daughters.Petition of two girls, aged 17 to 19.Our father and mother are dead. Now we wish to be like prostitutes, as we are not willing to be married, and thus establish our house-name. Our mother also was of this profession. We now request permission to be prostitutes according to our religion, after we are sent before the Medical Officer.The permission referred to in the above petitions bears reference to a decision of the High Court that, a girl who becomes a Basavi being incapable of contracting a legal marriage, her dedication when a minor is an offence under the Penal Code.At Adoni the dead body of a new-born infant was found in a ditch, and a Basavi, working with others in a cotton factory, was suspected of foul play. The station-house officer announced his intention of visiting the factory, and she who was in a state of lactation, and could produce no baby to account for her condition, would be the culprit. Writing concerning the Basavis of the Bellary district,20Mr. W. Francis tells us that “parents without male issue often, instead of adopting a son in the usual manner, dedicate a daughter by a simple ceremony to the god of some temple, and thenceforth, by immemorial custom, she may inherit her parents’ property, and perform their funeral rites as if she was a son. She does not marry, but lives in her parents’ house with any man of equal or higher caste whom she may select, and her children inherit her father’s name and bedagu (sept), and not those of their own father. If she has a son, he inherits her property; if she has only a daughter, that daughter again becomes a Basavi. Parents desiring male issue of their own, cure from sickness in themselves or their children, or relief from some calamity, will similarly dedicate their daughter. The children of a Basavi are legitimate, and neither they nor their mothers are treated as being in any way inferior to their fellows. A Basavi, indeed, from the fact that she can never be a widow, is a most welcome guest at weddings. Basavis differ from the ordinary dancing-girls dedicated at temples in that their duties in the temples (which are confined to the shrine of their dedication) are almost nominal, and that they do not prostitute themselves promiscuously for hire. A Basavi very usually lives faithfully with one man, who allows hera fixed sum weekly for her maintenance, and a fixed quantity of new raiment annually, and she works for her family as hard as any other woman. Basavis are outwardly indistinguishable from other women, and are for the most part coolies. In places there is a custom by which they are considered free to change their protectors once a year at the village car-festival or some similar anniversary, and they usually seize this opportunity of putting their partner’s affections to the test by suggesting that a new cloth and bodice would be a welcome present. So poor, as a rule, are the husbands that the police aver that the anniversaries are preceded by an unusual crop of petty thefts and burglaries committed by them in their efforts to provide their customary gifts.” A recent report of a Police Inspector in the Bellary district states that “crimes are committed here and there, as this is Nagarapanchami time. Nagarapanchami festival is to be celebrated at the next Ammavasya or new-moon day. It is at that time the people keeping the prostitutes should pay their dues on that day; otherwise they will have their new engagements.”In the Kurnool district, the Basavi system is practised by the Bōyas, but differs from that in vogue in Bellary and Mysore. The object of making a Basavi, in these two localities, is to perpetuate the family when there is no male heir. If the only issue in a family is a female, the family becomes extinct if she marries, as by marriage she changes her sept. To prevent this, she is not married, but dedicated as a Basavi, and continues to belong to her father’s sept, to which also any male issue which is born to her belongs. In the Kurnool district the motive in making Basavis is different. The girl is not wedded to an idol, but, on an auspicious day, is tied by means of a garland of flowers to the garuda kambham(lamp) of a Balija Dāsari. She is released either by the man who is to receive her first favours, or by her maternal uncle. A simple feast is held, and a string of black beads tied round the girl’s neck. She becomes a prostitute, and her children do not marry into respectable Bōya families.“Basava women,” Dr. E. Balfour writes,21“are sometimes married to a dagger, sometimes to an idol. In making a female child over to the service of the temple, she is taken and dedicated for life to some idol. A khanjar, or dagger, is placed on the ground, and the girl who is to undergo the ceremony puts a garland thereon. Her mother then puts rice on the girl’s forehead. The officiating priest then weds the girl to the dagger, just as if he was uniting her to a boy in marriage, by reciting the marriage stanzas, a curtain being held between the girl and the dagger.” In an account of the initiation ceremony of the Basavis of the Bellary district Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows.22“A sword with a lime stuck on its point is placed upright beside the novice, and held in her right hand. It represents the bridegroom, who, in the corresponding ceremony of Hindu marriage, sits on the bride’s right. A tray, on which are a kalasyam (vessel of water) and a lamp, is then produced, and moved thrice in front of the girl. She rises, and, carrying the sword in her right hand, places it in the god’s sanctuary. Among the dancing-girls very similar ceremonies are performed. With them, the girl’s spouse is represented by a drum instead of a sword, and she bows to it. Her insignia consist of a drum and bells.” In a further note on the dedication of Basavis, Mr. Fawcett writes23that “a tāli,on which is depicted the nāmam of Vishnu, fastened to a necklace of black beads, is tied round her neck. She is given by way of insignia a cane as a wand carried in the right hand, and a gopālam or begging basket, which is slung on the left arm. She is then branded with the emblems of the chank and chakra. In another account24of the marriage ceremony among dancing-girls, it is stated that the Bōgams, who are without exception prostitutes, though they are not allowed to marry, go through a marriage ceremony, which is rather a costly one. Sometimes a wealthy Native bears the expense, makes large presents to the bride, and receives her first favours. Where no such opportunity offers itself, a sword or other weapon represents the bridegroom, and an imaginary nuptial ceremony is performed. Should the Bōgam woman have no daughter, she invariably adopts one, usually paying a price for her, the Kaikōla (weaver) caste being the ordinary one from which to take a child.Among the Kaikōlan musicians of Coimbatore, at least one girl in every family should be set apart for the temple service, and she is instructed in music and dancing. At the tāli-tying ceremony she is decorated with jewels, and made to stand on a heap of paddy (unhusked rice). A folded cloth is held before her by two Dāsis, who also stand on heaps of paddy. The girl catches hold of the cloth, and her dancing master, who is seated behind her, grasping her legs, moves them up and down in time with the music which is played. In the evening she is taken, astride a pony, to the temple, where a new cloth for the idol, the tāli, and other articles required for doing pūja (worship) have been got ready. The girl is seated facingthe idol, and the officiating Brāhman gives sandal and flowers to her, and ties the tāli, which has been lying at the feet of the idol, round her neck. The tāli consists of a golden disc and black beads. She continues to learn music and dancing, and eventually goes through the form of a nuptial ceremony, The relations are invited on an auspicious day, and the maternal uncle, or his representative, ties a golden band on the girl’s forehead, and, carrying her, places her on a plank before the assembled guests. A Brāhman priest recites mantrams (prayers), and prepares the sacred fire (hōmam). For the actual nuptials a rich Brāhman, if possible, and, if not, a Brāhman of more lowly status is invited. A Brāhman is called in, as he is next in importance to, and the representative of, the idol. As a Dāsi can never become a widow, the beads in her tāli are considered to bring good luck to women who wear them. And some people send the tāli required for a marriage to a Dāsi, who prepares the string for it, and attaches to it black beads from her own tāli. A Dāsi is also deputed to walk at the head of Hindu marriage processions. Married women do not like to do this, as they are not proof against evil omens, which the procession may meet. And it is believed that Dāsis, to whom widowhood is unknown, possess the power of warding off the effects of inauspicious omens. It may be remarked,en passant, that Dāsis are not at the present day so much patronised at Hindu marriages as in olden times. Much is due in this direction to the progress of enlightened ideas, which have of late been strongly put forward by Hindu social reformers. When a Kaikōlan Dāsi dies, her body is covered with a new cloth removed from the idol, and flowers are supplied from the temple, to which she belonged. No pūja is performed in the temple till thecorpse is disposed of, as the idol, being her husband, has to observe pollution.“In former times, dancing-girls used to sleep three nights at the commencement of their career in the inner shrine of the Koppēsvara temple at Palivela in the Godāvari district, so as to be embraced by the god. But one of them, it is said, disappeared one night, and the practice has ceased. The funeral pyre of every girl of the dancing girl (Sāni) caste dying in the village should be lit with fire brought from the temple. The same practice is found in the Srīrangam temple near Trichinopoly.”25The following account of Dāsis in Travancore, where their total strength is only about four hundred, is taken from a note by Mr. N. Subramani Aiyer. “While the Dāsis of Kartikappalli, Ambalapuzha, and Shertallay belonged originally to the Konkan coast, those of Shenkottah belonged to the Pāndian country. But the South Travancore Dāsis are an indigenous class. The female members of the caste are, besides being known by the ordinary name of Tēvadiyāl and Dāsi, both meaning servant of God, called Kudikkar, meaning those belonging to the house (i.e., given rent free by the Sirkar), and Pendukal, or women, the former of these designations being more popular than the latter. Males are called Tēvadiyan, though many prefer to be known as Nanchināt Vellālas. Males, like these Vellālas, take the title of Pillai. In ancient days Dēva-dāsis, who became experts in singing and dancing, received the title of Rāyar (king) which appears to have been last conferred in 1847 A.D. The South Travancore Dāsis neither interdine nor intermarry with the dancing-girls of the Tamil-speaking districts. They adopt girls onlyfrom a particular division of the Nāyars, Tamil Padam, and dance only in temples. Unlike their sisters outside Travancore, they do not accept private engagements in houses on the occasion of marriage. The males, in a few houses, marry the Tamil Padam and Padamangalam Nāyars, while some Padamangalam Nāyars and Nanchināt Vellālas in their turn take their women as wives.“When a dancing-woman becomes too old or diseased, and thus unable to perform her usual temple duties, she applies to the temple authorities for permission to remove her ear-pendants (todus). The ceremony takes place at the palace of the Mahārāja. At the appointed spot the officers concerned assemble, and the woman, seated on a wooden plank, proceeds to unhook the pendants, and places them, with a nuzzur (gift) of twelve fanams (coins), on the plank. Directly after this she turns about, and walks away without casting a second glance at the ear-ornaments which have been laid down. She becomes immediately a taikkizhavi or old mother, and is supposed to lead a life of retirement and resignation. By way of distinction, a Dāsi in active service is referred to as ātumpātram. Though the ear-ornaments are at once returned to her from the palace, the woman is never again permitted to put them on, but only to wear the pampadam, or antiquated ear-ornament of Tamil Sūdra women. Her temple wages undergo a slight reduction, consequent on her proved incapacity.“In some temples, as at Kēralapuram, there are two divisions of dancing-girls, one known as the Murakkudi to attend to the daily routine, the other as the Chirappukuti to serve on special occasions. The special duties that may be required of the South Travancore Dāsis are:—(1) to attend the two Utsavas at SriPadmanābahswāmi’s temple, and the Dusserah at the capital; (2) to meet and escort members of the royal family at their respective village limits; (3) to undertake the prescribed fasts for the Apamargam ceremony in connection with the annual festival of the temple. On these days strict continence is enjoined, and they are fed at the temple, and allowed only one meal a day.“The principal deities of the dancing-girls are those to whom the temples, in which they are employed, are dedicated. They observe the new and full-moon days, and the last Friday of every month as important. The Onam, Sivarātri, Tye-Pongal, Dīpāvali, and Chitrapurnami are the best recognised religious festivals. Minor deities, such as Bhadrakāli, Yakshi, and Ghandarva are worshipped by the figure of a trident or sword being drawn on the wall of the house, to which food and sweetmeats are offered on Fridays. The priests on these occasions are Ōcchans. There are no recognized headmen in the caste. The services of Brāhmans are resorted to for the purpose of purification, of Nampiyans and Saiva Vellālas for the performance of funeral rites, and of Kurukkals on occasions of marriage, and for the final ceremonies on the sixteenth day after death.“Girls belonging to this caste may either be dedicated to temple service, or married to a male member of the caste. No woman can be dedicated to the temple after she has reached puberty. On the occasion of marriage, a sum of from fifty to a hundred and fifty rupees is given to the bride’s house, not as a bride-price, but for defraying the marriage expenses. There is a preliminary ceremony of betrothal, and the marriage is celebrated at an auspicious hour. The Kurukkal recites a few hymns, and the ceremonies, which include the tying of the tāli, continue for four days. The couplecommence joint life on the sixteenth day after the girl has reached puberty. It is easy enough to get a divorce, as this merely depends upon the will of one of the two parties, and the woman becomes free to receive clothes from another person in token of her having entered into a fresh matrimonial alliance.“All applications for the presentation of a girl to the temple are made to the temple authorities by the senior dancing-girl of the temple, the girl to be presented being in all cases from six to eight years of age. If she is closely related to the applicant, no enquiries regarding her status and claim need be made. In all other cases, formal investigations are instituted, and the records taken are submitted to the chief revenue officer of the division for orders. Some paddy (rice) and five fanams are given to the family from the temple funds towards the expenses of the ceremony. The practice at the Suchindrum temple is to convene, on an auspicious day, a yōga or meeting, composed of the Valiya Sri-kariyakkar, the Yogattil Potti, the Vattappalli Muttatu, and others, at which the preliminaries are arranged. The girl bathes, and goes to the temple on the morning of the selected day with two new cloths, betel leaves and nuts. The temple priest places the cloths and the tāli at the feet of the image, and sets apart one for the divine use. The tāli consists of a triangular bottu, bearing the image of Ganēsa, with a gold bead on either side. Taking the remaining cloth and the tāli, and sitting close to the girl, the priest, facing to the north, proceeds to officiate. The girl sits, facing the deity, in the inner sanctuary. The priest kindles the fire, and performs all the marriage ceremonies, following the custom of the Tirukkalyānam festival, when Siva is represented as marrying Parvati. He then teaches the girl the Panchakshara hymn if thetemple is Saivite, and Ashtakshara if it is Vaishnavite, presents her with the cloth, and ties the tāli round her neck. The Nattuvan, or dancing-master, instructs her for the first time in his art, and a quantity of raw rice is given to her by the temple authorities. The girl, thus married, is taken to her house, where the marriage festivities are celebrated for two or three days. As in Brāhmanical marriages, the rolling of a cocoanut to and fro is gone through, the temple priest or an elderly Dāsi, dressed in male attire, acting the part of the bridegroom. The girl is taken in procession through the streets.“The birth of male children is not made an occasion for rejoicing, and, as the proverb goes, the lamp on these occasions is only dimly lighted. Inheritance is in the female line, and women are the absolute owners of all property earned. When a dancing-girl dies, some paddy and five fanams are given from the temple to which she was attached, to defray the funeral expenses. The temple priest gives a garland, and a quantity of ashes for decorating the corpse. After this, a Nampiyan, an Ōcchan, some Vellāla headmen, and a Kudikkari, having no pollution, assemble at the house of the deceased. The Nampiyan consecrates a pot of water with prayers, the Ōcchan plays on his musical instrument, and the Vellālas and Kudikkari powder the turmeric to be smeared over the corpse. In the case of temple devotees, their dead bodies must be bathed with this substance by the priest, after which alone the funeral ceremonies may proceed. The Kartā (chief mourner), who is the nearest male relative, has to get his whole head shaved. When a temple priest dies, though he is a Brāhman, the dancing-girl, on whom he has performed the vicarious marriage rite, has to go to his death-bed, and prepare the turmeric powder to be dusted over his corpse. The anniversaryof the death of the mother and maternal uncle are invariably observed.“The adoption of a dancing-girl is a lengthy ceremony. The application to the temple authorities takes the form of a request that the girl to be adopted may be made heir to both kuti and pati, that is, to the house and temple service of the person adopting. The sanction of the authorities having been obtained, all concerned meet at the house of the person who is adopting, a document is executed, and a ceremony, of the nature of the Jātakarma, performed. The girl then goes through the marriage rite, and is handed over to the charge of the music teacher to be regularly trained in her profession.”As bearing on the initiation, laws of inheritance, etc., of Dēva-dāsis, the following cases, which have been argued in the Madras High Court, may be quoted26:—(a) In a charge against a dancing-girl of having purchased a young girl, aged five, with the intent that she would be used for the purpose of prostitution, or knowing it to be likely that she would be so used, evidence was given of the fact of purchase for sixty rupees, and that numerous other dancing-girls, residing in the neighbourhood, were in the habit of obtaining girls and bringing them up as dancing-girls or prostitutes, and that there were no instances of girls brought up by dancing-girls ever having been married. One witness stated that there were forty dancing-girls’ houses in the town (Adōni), and that their chief source of income was prostitution, and that the dancing-girls, who have no daughters of their own, get girls from others, bring them up, and eventually make them dancing-girls orprostitutes. He added that the dancing-girls get good incomes by bringing up girls in preference to boys. Another witness stated that dancing-girls, when they grow old, obtain girls and bring them up to follow their profession, and that good-looking girls are generally bought.27(b) The evidence showed that two of the prisoners were dancing-girls of a certain temple, that one of them took the two daughters of the remaining prisoner to the pagoda, to be marked as dancing-girls, and that they were so marked, and their names entered in the accounts of the pagoda. The first prisoner (the mother of the girls) disposed of the children to the third prisoner for the consideration of a neck ornament and thirty-five rupees. The children appeared to be of the ages of seven and two years, respectively. Evidence was taken, which tended to prove that dancing-girls gain their livelihood by the performance of certain offices in pagodas, by assisting in the performance of ceremonies in private houses, by dancing and singing upon the occasion of marriage, and by prostitution.28(c) The first prisoner presented an application for the enrolment of his daughter as a dancing-girl at one of the great pagodas. He stated her age to be thirteen. She attained puberty a month or two after her enrolment. Her father was the servant of a dancing-girl, the second prisoner, who had been teaching the minor dancing for some five years. The evidence showed that the second prisoner brought the girl to the pagoda, that both first and second prisoners were present when the bottu (or tāli) was tied, and other ceremonies of the dedication performed; that third prisoner, as Battar of the temple,was the person who actually tied the bottu, which denotes that the Dāsi is wedded to the idol. There was the usual evidence that dancing-girls live by prostitution, though occasionally kept by the same man for a year or more.29(d) The plaintiff, a Dēva-dāsi, complained that, when she brought offerings according to custom and placed them before the God at a certain festival, and asked the Archakas (officiating priests) to present the offerings to the God, burn incense, and then distribute them, they refused to take the offerings on the ground that the Dēva-dāsi had gone to a Kōmati’s house to dance. She claimed damages, Rs. 10, for the rejected offerings, and Rs. 40 for loss of honour, and a perpetual injunction to allow her to perform the mantapa hadi (sacrifice) at the Chittrai Vasanta festival. The priests pleaded that the dancing-girl had, for her bad conduct in having danced at a Kōmati’s house, and subsequently refused to expiate the deed by drinking panchagavyan (five products of the cow) according to the shastras, been expelled both from her caste and from the temple.30(e) In a certain temple two dancing-girls were dedicated by the Dharmakarta to the services of the temple without the consent of the existing body of dancing-girls, and the suit was instituted against the Dharmakarta and these two Dēva-dāsis, asking that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the Dēva-dāsis of the pagoda in regard (1) to the dedication of Dēva-dāsis, (2) to the Dharmakarta’s power to bind and suspend them; and that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the plaintiff, the existing Dēva-dāsis, as to the exclusion of all other Dēva-dāsis,save those who are related to or adopted by some one of the Dēva-dāsis for the time being, or those who, being approved by all, are elected and proposed to the Dharmakarta for dedication. That the new Dāsis may be declared to have been improperly dedicated, and not entitled to any of the rights of Dēva-dāsis, and restrained from attending the pagoda in that character, and from interfering with the duly dedicated Dēva-dāsis in the exercise of their office. That first defendant be restrained from stamping and dedicating other Dēva-dāsis but such as are duly approved. The Judge dismissed the case on the ground that it would be contrary to public policy to make the declaration prayed for, as, in so doing, the Court would be lending itself to bringing the parties under the criminal law. In the appeal, which was dismissed, one of the Judges remarked that the plaintiffs claimed a right exclusive to themselves and a few other dancing-women, professional prostitutes, to present infant female children for dedication to the temple as dancing-girls to be stamped as such, and so accredited to become at maturity professional prostitutes, private or public.31(f) A Dēva-dāsi sued to establish her right to the mirāsi (fees) of dancing-girls in a certain pagoda, and to be put in possession of the said mirāsi together with the honours and perquisites attached thereto, and to recover twenty-four rupees, being the value of said perquisites and honours for the year preceding. She alleged that the Dharmakarta of the pagoda and his agents wrongfully dismissed her from the office because she had refused to acquiesce in the admission by the Dharmakarta of new dancing-girls into the pagoda service, ofwhich she claimed the monopoly for herself and the then existing families of dancing-girls. The District Judge dismissed the suit, but the High Court ordered a re-investigation as to the question of the existence of an hereditary office with endowments or emoluments attached to it.32(g) A girl, aged seventeen, instituted a suit against the trustees of a pagoda. It was alleged that a woman who died some years previously was one of the dancing-women attached to the pagoda, and, as such, entitled to the benefit of one of the temple endowments; that she had taken in adoption the plaintiff, who was accordingly entitled to succeed to her office and the emoluments attached to it; that the plaintiff could not enter on the office until a bottu-tāli had been tied on her in the temple; and that the trustees did not permit this to be done. The prayer of the plaint was that the defendants be compelled to allow the tāli to be tied in the temple in view to the girl performing the dancing service, and enjoying the honours and endowments attached thereto. The Judge dismissed the suit on the ground that the claim was inadmissible, as being in effect a claim by the plaintiff to be enlisted as a public prostitute.33(h) On the death of a prostitute dancing-girl, her adopted niece, belonging to the same class, succeeds to her property, in whatever way it is acquired, in preference to a brother remaining in his caste. The general rule is that the legal relation between a prostitute dancing-girl and her undegraded relations remaining in caste be severed.34(i) A pauper sued his sister for the partition of property valued at Rs. 34,662. The parties belonged tothe Bōgam caste in the Godāvari district. The woman pleaded that the property had been acquired by her as a prostitute, and denied her brother’s claim to it. He obtained a decree for only Rs. 100, being a moiety of the property left by their mother. The High Court held, on the evidence as to the local custom of the caste, that the decree was right.35(j) The accused, a Mādiga of the Bellary district, dedicated his minor daughter as a Basavi by a form of marriage with an idol. It appeared that a Basavi is incapable of contracting a lawful marriage, and ordinarily practices promiscuous intercourse with men, and that her sons succeed to her father’s property. It was held that the accused had committed an offence under the Penal Code, which lays down that “whoever sells, lets to hire, or otherwise disposes of any minor under the age of sixteen years, with intent that such minor shall be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution, or for any unlawful and immoral purpose, shall be punished, etc.” The Sessions judge referred to evidence that it was not a matter of course for Basavis to prostitute themselves for money, and added: “The evidence is very clear that Basavis are made in accordance with a custom of the Mādiga caste. It is also in evidence that one of the effects of making a girl Basavi is that her male issue becomes a son of her father, and perpetuates his family, whereas, if she were married, he would perpetuate her husband’s family. In this particular case, the girl was made a Basavi that she might be heir to her aunt, who was a Basavi, but childless. Siddalingana Gowd says that they and their issue inherit the parents’ property. There is evidence that Basavisare made on a very large scale, and that they live in their parents’ houses. There is no evidence that they are regarded otherwise than as respectable members of the caste. It seems as if the Basavi is the Mādiga and Bēdar equivalent of the “appointed daughter” of Hindu law (Mitakshara, Chap. I, s. xi, 3). Upon the whole, the evidence seems to establish that, among the Mādigas, there is a widespread custom of performing, in a temple at Uchangidurgam, a marriage ceremony, the result of which is that the girl is married without possibility of widowhood or divorce; that she is at liberty to have intercourse with men at her pleasure; that her children are heirs to her father, and keep up his family; and that Basavi’s nieces, being made Basavis, become their heirs. The Basavis seem in some cases to become prostitutes, but the language used by the witnesses generally points only to free intercourse with men, and not necessarily to receipt of payment for use of their bodies. In fact, they seem to acquire the right of intercourse with men without more discredit than accrues to the men of their caste for intercourse with women who are not their wives.36It may be observed that Dēva-dāsis are the only class of women, who are, under Hindu law as administered in the British Courts, allowed to adopt girls to themselves. Amongst the other castes, a widow, for instance, cannot adopt to herself, but only to her husband, and she cannot adopt a daughter instead of a son. A recent attempt by a Brāhman at Poona to adopt a daughter, who should take the place of a natural-born daughter, was held to be invalid by general law, and not sanctioned by local usage.37The same would be held inMadras. “But among dancing-girls,” Mayne writes,38“it is customary in Madras and Western India to adopt girls to follow their adoptive mother’s profession, and the girls so adopted succeed to their property. No particular ceremonies are necessary, recognition alone being sufficient. In the absence, however, of a special custom, and on the analogy of an ordinary adoption, only one girl can be adopted.” In Calcutta and Bombay these adoptions by dancing-girls have been held invalid.39Of proverbs relating to dancing-girls, the following may be quoted:—(1) The dancing-girl who could not dance said that the hall was not big enough. The Rev. H. Jensen gives40as an equivalent “When the devil could not swim, he laid the blame on the water.”(2) If the dancing-girl be alive, and her mother dies, there will be beating of drums; but, if the dancing-girl dies, there will be no such display. This is explained by Jensen as meaning that, to secure the favour of a dancing-girl, many men will attend her mother’s funeral; but, if the dancing-girl herself dies, there is nothing to be gained by attending the funeral.(3) Like a dancing-girl wiping a child. Jensen remarks that a dancing-girl is supposed to have no children, so she does not know how to keep them clean. Said of one who tries to mend a matter, but lacks experience, and makes things worse than they were before.(4) As when a boy is born in a dancing-girl’s house. Jensen notes that, if dancing-girls have children, they desire to have girls, that they may be brought up to their own profession.(5) The dancing-girl, who was formerly more than filled with good food in the temple, now turns a somersault to get a poor man’s rice.(6) If a matron is chaste, she may live in the dancing-girl’s street,The insigne of courtesans, according to the Conjeeveram records, is a Cupid, that of a Christian, a curry-comb.41Dēvādiga.—The Dēvādigas are Canarese-speaking temple servants in South Canara, concerning whom Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows.42“This is a class of servants, chiefly musicians in Hindu temples. In the reign of Mayūra Varma, who built a number of new temples, it was found that Brāhmans could not perform all the services. It was, therefore, ordained by him that the pūja or worship alone should be performed by the Brāhmans, and that the Stanikas and Dēvādigas should perform the other services in the temples. They are also called Moili (or Moyili), but there is a caste called Kannada Moili which is quite distinct, and Dēvādigas will not eat with them. Some of them cultivate lands, and some are employed as peons and constables. They returned eleven sub-divisions, but only one (Tulu) is numerically important. They are Vaishnavites, and Tulu Brāhmans are their priests. As regards marriage, there is no fixed age. Remarriage of widows is permitted, but it is practiced only in the case of young widows. The dead are burned. They eat flesh, and drink liquor.”The Dēvādigas or Moilis speak Tulu, and are mainly agriculturists. Their traditional occupation, however, is said to be service in temples (slaves or servants of thedēva or god). A large number of them, both male and female, are engaged as domestic servants. Like the Bants, they follow the aliya santāna law of inheritance (in the female line), and they have the same balis (septs) as the Bants and Billavas. In their marriage ceremonies, they closely imitate the Bants. An interesting feature in connection therewith is that, during the dhāre ceremony, a screen is interposed between the bride and bridegroom at the time when the dhāre water is poured. As a sign of betrothal, a ring is given to the bride-elect, and she wears it on the little finger. The caste is a mixed one, and here and there Dēvādigas are seen to have the typical prominent cheek-bones and square face of the Jains.In the Census Report, 1901, Dakkera Dēvali, Padarti, and Vālagadava are returned as sub-divisions of Dēvādiga.Dēvala(belonging to God).—An exogamous sept of Oddē. The equivalent Dēvali has been recorded as a sub-caste of Dēvādiga, and Dēvalyal as a division of the Todas.43A division of the Irulas of the Nīlgiris, settled near the village of Dēvāla, is known by that name.Dēvānga.—The Dēvāngas are a caste of weavers, speaking Telugu or Canarese, who are found all over the Madras Presidency. Those whom I studied in the Bellary district connected my operations in a vague way with the pilāg (plague) tax, and collection of subscriptions for the Victoria Memorial. They were employed in weaving women’s sāris in pure cotton, or with a silk border, which were sold to rich merchants in the local bazaar, some of whom belong to the Dēvānga caste. They laughingly said that, though they areprofessional weavers, they find it cheapest to wear cloths of European manufacture.Dēvānga.Dēvānga.The Dēvāngas are also called Jādaru or Jāda (great men), Dēndra, Dēvara, Dēra, Sēniyan, and Sēdan. At Coimbatore, in the Tamil country, they are called Settukkāran (economical people).The following legend is narrated concerning the origin of the caste. Brahma, having created Manu, told him to weave clothes for Dēvas and men. Accordingly Manu continued to weave for some years, and reached heaven through his piety and virtuous life. There being no one left to weave for them, the Dēvas and men had to wear garments of leaves. Vexed at this, they prayed to Brahma that he would rescue them from their plight. Brahma took them to Siva, who at once created a lustrous spirit, and called him Dēvalan. Struck with the brilliancy thereof, all fled in confusion, excepting Parvati, who remained near Siva. Siva told her that Dēvalan was created to weave clothes, to cover the limbs and bodies of Dēvas and men, whose descendants are in consequence called Dēvāngas (Dēva angam, limb of god). Dēvalan was advised to obtain thread from the lotus stalks springing from the navel of Vishnu, and he secured them after a severe penance. On his way back, he met a Rākshasa, Vajradantan by name, who was doing penance at a hermitage, disguised as a Sanyāsi. Deceived by his appearance, Dēvalan paid homage to him, and determined to spend the night at the hermitage. But, towards the close of the day, the Rishi and his followers threw off their disguise, and appeared in their true colours as Asuras. Dēvalan sought the assistance of Vishnu, and a chakra was given to him, with which he attempted to overthrow the increasing number of Asuras. He then invoked the assistance of Chaudanāyaki orChaudēswari, who came riding on a lion, and the Asuras were killed off. The mighty Asuras who met their death were Vajradantan (diamond-toothed), Pugainethran (smoke-eyed), Pugaimugan (smoke-faced), Chithrasēnan (leader of armies) and Jeyadrathan (owner of a victory-securing car). The blood of these five was coloured respectively yellow, red, white, green, and black. For dyeing threads of different colours, Dēvalan dipped them in the blood. The Dēvāngas claim to be the descendants of Dēvalan, and say that they are Dēvānga Brāhmans, on the strength of the following stanza, which seems to have been composed by a Dēvānga priest, Sambalinga Murti by name:—Manu was born in the Brāhman caste.He was surely a Brāhman in the womb.There is no Sudraism in this caste.Dēvanga had the form of Brāhma.The legendary origin of the Dēvāngas is given as follows in the Baramahal Records.44“When Brahma the creator created the charam and acharam, or the animate and inanimate creation, the Dēvatas or gods, Rākshasas or evil demons, and the human race, were without a covering for their bodies, which displeasing the god Narada or reason, he waited upon Paramēshwara or the great Lord at his palace on the Kailāsa Parvata or mount of paradise, and represented the indecent state of the inhabitants of the universe, and prayed that he would be pleased to devise a covering for their nakedness. Paramēshwara saw the propriety of Narada’s request, and thought it was proper to grant it. While he was so thinking, a male sprang into existence from his body, whom he named Dēva angamor the body of God, in allusion to the manner of his birth. Dēva angam instantly asked his progenitor why he had created him. The God answered ‘Repair to the pāla samudram or sea of milk, where you will find Sri Maha Vishnu or the august mighty god Vishnu, and he will tell thee what to do.’ Dēva angam repaired to the presence of Sri Maha Vishnu, and represented that Paramēshwara had sent him, and begged to be favoured with Vishnu’s commands. Vishnu replied ‘Do you weave cloth to serve as a covering to the inhabitants of the universe.’ Vishnu then gave him some of the fibres of the lotus flower that grew from his navel, and taught him how to make it into cloth. Dēva angam wove a piece of cloth, and presented it to Vishnu, who accepted it, and ordered him to depart, and to take the fibres of trees, and make raiment for the inhabitants of the Vishnu loka or gods. Dēva angam created ten thousand weavers, who used to go to the forest and collect the fibre of trees, and make it into cloth for the Dēvatas or gods and the human race. One day, Dēva angam and his tribe went to a forest in the Bhuloka or earthly world, in order to collect the fibre of trees, when he was attacked by a race of Rākshasas or giants, on which he waxed wroth, and, unbending his jata or long plaited hair, gave it a twist, and struck it once on the ground. In that moment, a Shakti, or female goddess having eight hands, each grasping a warlike weapon, sprang from the earth, attacked the Rākshasas, and defeated them. Dēva anga named her Chudēshwari or goddess of the hair, and, as she delivered his tribe out of the hands of the Rākshasas, he made her his tutelary divinity.”The tribal goddess of the Dēvāngas is Chaudēswari, a form of Kāli or Durga, who is worshipped annuallyat a festival, in which the entire community takes part either at the temple, or at a house or grove specially prepared for the occasion. During the festival weaving operations cease; and those who take a prominent part in the rites fast, and avoid pollution. The first day is called alagu nilupadam (erecting, or fixing of the sword). The goddess is worshipped, and a sheep or goat sacrificed, unless the settlement is composed of vegetarian Dēvāngas. One man at least from each sept fasts, remains pure, and carries a sword. Inside the temple, or at the spot selected, the pūjari (priest) tries to balance a long sword on its point on the edge of the mouth of a pot, while the alagu men cut their chests with the swords. Failure to balance the sword is believed to be due to pollution brought by somebody to get rid of which the alagu men bathe. Cow’s urine and turmeric water are sprinkled over those assembled, and women are kept at a distance to prevent menstrual or other form of pollution. On the next day, called jothiārambam (jothi, light or splendour) as Chaudēswari is believed to have sprung from jothi, a big mass is made of rice flour, and a wick, fed with ghī (clarified butter) and lighted, is placed in a cavity scooped out therein. This flour lamp must be made by members of a pūjāri’s family assisted sometimes by the alagu boys. In its manufacture, a quantity of rice is steeped in water, and poured on a plantain leaf. Jaggery (crude sugar) is then mixed with it, and, when it is of the proper consistency, it is shaped into a cone, and placed on a silver or brass tray. On the third day, called pānaka pūja or mahānēvedyam, jaggery water is offered, and cocoanuts, and other offerings are laid before the goddess. The rice mass is divided up, and given to the pūjari, setti, alagu men and boys, and to thecommunity, to which small portions are doled out in a particular order, which must be strictly observed. For example, at Tindivānam the order is as follows:—Setti (headman).Dhondapu family.Bapatla family.Kosanam family.Modanam family.Fire-walking does not form part of the festival, as the goddess herself sprang from fire.In some places in the North Arcot district the festival lasts over ten days, and varies in some points from the above. On the first day, the people go in procession to a jammi (Prosopis spicigera) tree, and worship a decorated pot (kalasam), to which sheep and goats are sacrificed. From the second to the sixth day, the goddess and pot are worshipped daily. On the seventh day, the jammi tree is again visited, and a man carries on his back cooked rice, which may not be placed on the ground, except near the tree, or at the temple. If the rice is not set downen routethereto, it is accepted as a sign that the festival may be proceeded with. Otherwise they would be afraid to light the joti on the ninth day. This is a busy day, and the ceremonies of sandhulu kattadam (binding the corners), alagu erecting, lighting the flour mass, and pot worship are performed. Early in the morning, goats and sheep are killed, outside the village boundary, in the north, east, south, and west corners, and the blood is sprinkled on all sides to keep off all foreign ganams or saktis. The sword business, as already described, is gone through, and certain tests applied to see whether the joti may be lighted. A lime fruit is placed in the region of the navel of the idol, who should throw it down spontaneously. A bundle of betel leaves is cut across with a knife, and the cut ends should unite. If theomens are favourable, the joti is lighted, sheep and goats are killed, and pongal (rice) is offered to the joti. The day closes with worship of the pot. On the last day the rice mass is distributed. All Dēvānga guests from other villages have to be received and treated with respect according to the local rules, which are in force. For this purpose, the community divide their settlements into Sthalams, Pāyakattulu, Galugrāmatulu, Pētalu, and Kurugrāmālu, which have a definite order of precedence.Among the Dēvāngas the following endogamous sections occur:—(1) Telugu; (2) Canarese; (3) Hathinentu Manayavaru (eighteen house people); (4) Sivachara; (5) Ariya; (6) Kodekal Hatakararu (weavers).They are practically divided into two linguistic sections, Canarese and Telugu, of which the former have adopted the Brāhmanical ceremonials to a greater extent than the latter, who are more conservative. Those who wear the sacred thread seem to preponderate over the non-thread weavers in the Canarese section. To the thread is sometimes attached metal charm-cylinder to ward off evil spirits.The following are examples of exogamous septs in the Telugu section:—Ākāsam, sky.Anumala, seeds ofDolichos lablab.Boggula, charcoal.Bandla, rock or cart.Chintakai, tamarind fruit.Challa, buttermilk.Chapparam, pandal or booth.Dhoddi, cattle-pen, or courtyard.Dhuggāni, money.Yerra, red.Konda, mountain.Kaththi, knife.Bandāri (treasurer).Būsam, grain.Dhondapu (Cephalandra indica).Elugoti, assembly.Gattu, bank or mound.Paidam, money.Gonapala, old plough.Gosu, pride.Jigala, pith.Katta, a dam.Kompala, houses.Kōnangi, buffoon.Kātikala, collyrium.Kaththiri, scissors.Mōksham, heaven.Pasupala, turmeric.Pidakala, dried cow-dung cakes.Pōthula, male.Pachi powaku, green tobacco.Padavala, boat.Pouzala, a bird.Pammi, clay lamp.Thalakōka, female cloth.Thūtla, hole.Utla, ropes for hanging pots.Vasthrāla, cloths.Matam, monastery.Madira, liquor or heap of earth.Mēdam, fight.Māsila, dirt.Olikala, funeral pyre and ashes.Prithvi, earth.Peraka, tile.Punjala, cock or male.Pinjala, cotton-cleaning.Pichchiga, sparrow.Sika (kudumi: tuft of hair).Sandala, lanes.Santha, a fair.Sajje (Setaria italica).The majority of Dēvāngas are Saivites, and wear the lingam. They do not, however, wash the stone lingam with water, in which the feet of Jangams have been washed. They are not particular as to always keeping the lingam on the body, and give as an explanation that, when they are at work, they have to touch all kinds of people. Some said that merchants, when engaged in their business, should not wear the lingam, especially if made of spatikam (quartz), as they have to tell untruths as regards the value and quality of their goods, and ruin would follow if these were told while the lingam was on the body.In some parts of Ganjam, the country folk keep a large number of Brāhmini bulls. When one of these animals dies, very elaborate funeral ceremonies take place, and the dead beast is carried in procession by Dēvāngas, and buried by them. As the Dēvāngas are Lingāyats, they have a special reverence for Basavanna, the sacred bull, and the burying of the Brāhmini bull isregarded by them as a sacred and meritorious act. Other castes do not regard it as such, though they often set free sacred cows or calves.Dēvāngas and Padma Sālēs never live in the same street, and do not draw water from the same well. This is probably due to the fact that they belong to the left and right-hand factions respectively, and no love is lost between them. Like other left-hand castes, Dēvāngas have their own dancing-girls, called Jāthi-biddalu (children of the castes), whose male offspring do achchupani, printing-work on cloth, and occasionally go about begging from Dēvāngas. In the Madras Census Report, 1901, it is stated that “in Madura and Tinnevelly, the Dēvāngas, or Sēdans, consider themselves a shade superior to the Brāhmans, and never do namaskāram (obeisance or salutation) to them, or employ them as priests. In Madura and Coimbatore, the Sēdans have their own dancing-girls, who are called Dēvānga or Sēda Dāsis in the former, and Mānikkāttāl in the latter, and are strictly reserved for members of the caste under pain of excommunication or heavy fine.”Concerning the origin of the Dēvānga beggars, called Singamvādu, the following legend is current. When Chaudēswari and Dēvālan were engaged in combat with the Asuras, one of the Asuras hid himself behind the ear of the lion, on which the goddess was seated. When the fight was over, he came out, and asked for pardon. The goddess took pity on him, and ordered that his descendants should be called Singamvāllu, and asked Dēvālan to treat them as servants, and support them. Dēvāngas give money to these beggars, who have the privilege of locking the door, and carrying away the food, when the castemen take their meals. In assemblies of Dēvāngas, the hand of the beggar servesas a spittoon. He conveys the news of death, and has as the insignia of office a horn, called thuththari or singam.The office of headman, or Pattagar, is hereditary, and he is assisted by an official called Sesha-rāju or Umidisetti who is the servant of the community, and receives a small fee annually for each loom within his beat.Widow remarriage is permitted in some places, and forbidden in others. There may be intermarriage between the flesh-eating and vegetarian sections. But a girl who belongs to a flesh-eating family, and marries into a vegetarian family, must abstain from meat, and may not touch any vessel or food in her husband’s family till she has reached puberty. Before settling the marriage of a girl, some village goddess, or Chaudēswari, is consulted, and the omens are watched. A lizard chirping on the right is a good omen, and on the left bad. Sometimes, red and white flowers, wrapped up in green leaves, are thrown in front of the idol, and the omen considered good or bad according to the flower which a boy or girl picks up. At the marriage ceremony which commences with distribution of pān-supāri (betel) and Vignēswara worship, the bride is presented with a new cloth, and sits on a three-legged stool or cloth-roller (dhonige). The maternal uncle puts round her neck a bondhu (strings of unbleached cotton) dipped in turmeric. The ceremonies are carried out according to the Purānic ritual, except by those who consider themselves to be Dēvānga Brāhmans. On the first day the milk post is set up being made ofOdina Wodierin the Tamil, andMimusops hexandrain the Telugu country. Various rites are performed, which include tonsure, upanāyanam (wearing the sacred thread), pādapūja (washing the feet), Kāsiyātra (mock pilgrimage to Benares), dhārādhattam(giving away the bride), and māngalyadhāranam (tying the marriage badge, or bottu). The proceedings conclude with pot searching. A pap-bowl and ring are put into a pot. If the bride picks out the bowl, her first-born will be a girl, and if the bridegroom gets hold of the ring, it will be a boy. On the fifth day, a square design is made on the floor with coloured rice grains. Between the contracting couple and the square a row of lights is placed. Four pots are set, one at each corner of the square, and eight pots arranged along each side thereof. On the square itself, two pots representing Siva and Uma, are placed, with a row of seedling pots near them. A thread is wound nine times round the pots representing the god and goddess, and tied above to the pandal. After the pots have been worshipped, the thread is cut, and worn, with the sacred thread, for three months. This ceremony is called Nāgavali.When a girl reaches puberty, a twig ofAlangium Lamarckiiis placed in the menstrual hut to keep off devils.The dead are generally buried in a sitting posture. Before the grave is filled in, a string is tied to the kudumi (hair knot) of the corpse, and, by its means, the head is brought near the surface. Over it a lingam is set up, and worshipped daily throughout the death ceremonies.The following curious custom is described by Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. Once in twelve years, a Dēvānga leaves his home, and joins the Padma Sālēs. He begs from them, saying that he is the son of their caste, and as such entitled to be supported by them. If alms are not forthcoming, he enters the house, and carries off whatever he may be able to pick up. Sometimes, if he can get nothing else, he has been known to seize alighted cigar in the mouth of a Sālē, and run off with it. The origin of this custom is not certain, but it has been suggested that the Dēvāngas and Sālēs were originally one caste, and that the former separated from the latter when they became Lingāyats. A Dēvānga only becomes a Chinērigādu when he is advanced in years, and will eat the remnants of food left by Padma Sālēs on their plates. A Chinērigādu is, on his death, buried by the Sālēs.Many of the Dēvāngas are short of stature, light skinned, with sharp-cut features, light-brown iris, and delicate tapering fingers. Those at Hospet, in the Bellary district, carried thorn tweezers (for removing thorns ofAcacia arabicafrom the feet), tooth-pick and ear-scoop, suspended as a chatelaine from the loin-string. The more well-to-do had these articles made of silver, with the addition of a silver saw for paring the nails and cutting cheroots. The name Pampanna, which some of them bore, is connected with the nymph Pampa, who resides at Hampi, and asked Paramēswara to become her husband. He accordingly assumed the name of Pampāpathi, in whose honour there is a tank at Anagūndi, and temple at Hampi. He directed Pampa to live in a pond, and pass by the name of Pampasarovara.The Sēdans of Coimbatore, at the time of my visit in October, were hard at work making clothes for the Dīpāvali festival. It is at times of festivals and marriages, in years of prosperity among the people, that the weavers reap their richest harvest.In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bilimagga (white loom) and Atagāra (weavers and exorcists) are returned as sub-castes of Dēvānga. The usual title of the Dēvāngas is Chetti.The shortness of stature of some of the weaving classes which I have examined is brought out by the following average measurements:—

Petition of __________ aged about 17 or 18.I have agreed to become a Basavi, and get myself stamped by my guru (priest) according to the custom of my caste. I request that my proper age, which entitles me to be stamped, may be personally ascertained, and permission granted to be stamped.The stamping refers to branding with the emblems of the chank and chakram.Petition of _____ wife of _____.I have got two daughters, aged 15 and 12 respectively. As I have no male issues, I have got to necessarily celebrate the ceremony in the temple in connection with the tying of the goddess’s tāli to my two daughters under the orders of the guru, in accordance with the customs of my caste. I, therefore, submit this petition for fear that the authorities may raise any objection (under the Age of Consent Act). I, therefore, request that the Honourable Court may be pleased to give permission to the tying of the tāli to my daughters.Petition of two girls, aged 17 to 19.Our father and mother are dead. Now we wish to be like prostitutes, as we are not willing to be married, and thus establish our house-name. Our mother also was of this profession. We now request permission to be prostitutes according to our religion, after we are sent before the Medical Officer.The permission referred to in the above petitions bears reference to a decision of the High Court that, a girl who becomes a Basavi being incapable of contracting a legal marriage, her dedication when a minor is an offence under the Penal Code.At Adoni the dead body of a new-born infant was found in a ditch, and a Basavi, working with others in a cotton factory, was suspected of foul play. The station-house officer announced his intention of visiting the factory, and she who was in a state of lactation, and could produce no baby to account for her condition, would be the culprit. Writing concerning the Basavis of the Bellary district,20Mr. W. Francis tells us that “parents without male issue often, instead of adopting a son in the usual manner, dedicate a daughter by a simple ceremony to the god of some temple, and thenceforth, by immemorial custom, she may inherit her parents’ property, and perform their funeral rites as if she was a son. She does not marry, but lives in her parents’ house with any man of equal or higher caste whom she may select, and her children inherit her father’s name and bedagu (sept), and not those of their own father. If she has a son, he inherits her property; if she has only a daughter, that daughter again becomes a Basavi. Parents desiring male issue of their own, cure from sickness in themselves or their children, or relief from some calamity, will similarly dedicate their daughter. The children of a Basavi are legitimate, and neither they nor their mothers are treated as being in any way inferior to their fellows. A Basavi, indeed, from the fact that she can never be a widow, is a most welcome guest at weddings. Basavis differ from the ordinary dancing-girls dedicated at temples in that their duties in the temples (which are confined to the shrine of their dedication) are almost nominal, and that they do not prostitute themselves promiscuously for hire. A Basavi very usually lives faithfully with one man, who allows hera fixed sum weekly for her maintenance, and a fixed quantity of new raiment annually, and she works for her family as hard as any other woman. Basavis are outwardly indistinguishable from other women, and are for the most part coolies. In places there is a custom by which they are considered free to change their protectors once a year at the village car-festival or some similar anniversary, and they usually seize this opportunity of putting their partner’s affections to the test by suggesting that a new cloth and bodice would be a welcome present. So poor, as a rule, are the husbands that the police aver that the anniversaries are preceded by an unusual crop of petty thefts and burglaries committed by them in their efforts to provide their customary gifts.” A recent report of a Police Inspector in the Bellary district states that “crimes are committed here and there, as this is Nagarapanchami time. Nagarapanchami festival is to be celebrated at the next Ammavasya or new-moon day. It is at that time the people keeping the prostitutes should pay their dues on that day; otherwise they will have their new engagements.”In the Kurnool district, the Basavi system is practised by the Bōyas, but differs from that in vogue in Bellary and Mysore. The object of making a Basavi, in these two localities, is to perpetuate the family when there is no male heir. If the only issue in a family is a female, the family becomes extinct if she marries, as by marriage she changes her sept. To prevent this, she is not married, but dedicated as a Basavi, and continues to belong to her father’s sept, to which also any male issue which is born to her belongs. In the Kurnool district the motive in making Basavis is different. The girl is not wedded to an idol, but, on an auspicious day, is tied by means of a garland of flowers to the garuda kambham(lamp) of a Balija Dāsari. She is released either by the man who is to receive her first favours, or by her maternal uncle. A simple feast is held, and a string of black beads tied round the girl’s neck. She becomes a prostitute, and her children do not marry into respectable Bōya families.“Basava women,” Dr. E. Balfour writes,21“are sometimes married to a dagger, sometimes to an idol. In making a female child over to the service of the temple, she is taken and dedicated for life to some idol. A khanjar, or dagger, is placed on the ground, and the girl who is to undergo the ceremony puts a garland thereon. Her mother then puts rice on the girl’s forehead. The officiating priest then weds the girl to the dagger, just as if he was uniting her to a boy in marriage, by reciting the marriage stanzas, a curtain being held between the girl and the dagger.” In an account of the initiation ceremony of the Basavis of the Bellary district Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows.22“A sword with a lime stuck on its point is placed upright beside the novice, and held in her right hand. It represents the bridegroom, who, in the corresponding ceremony of Hindu marriage, sits on the bride’s right. A tray, on which are a kalasyam (vessel of water) and a lamp, is then produced, and moved thrice in front of the girl. She rises, and, carrying the sword in her right hand, places it in the god’s sanctuary. Among the dancing-girls very similar ceremonies are performed. With them, the girl’s spouse is represented by a drum instead of a sword, and she bows to it. Her insignia consist of a drum and bells.” In a further note on the dedication of Basavis, Mr. Fawcett writes23that “a tāli,on which is depicted the nāmam of Vishnu, fastened to a necklace of black beads, is tied round her neck. She is given by way of insignia a cane as a wand carried in the right hand, and a gopālam or begging basket, which is slung on the left arm. She is then branded with the emblems of the chank and chakra. In another account24of the marriage ceremony among dancing-girls, it is stated that the Bōgams, who are without exception prostitutes, though they are not allowed to marry, go through a marriage ceremony, which is rather a costly one. Sometimes a wealthy Native bears the expense, makes large presents to the bride, and receives her first favours. Where no such opportunity offers itself, a sword or other weapon represents the bridegroom, and an imaginary nuptial ceremony is performed. Should the Bōgam woman have no daughter, she invariably adopts one, usually paying a price for her, the Kaikōla (weaver) caste being the ordinary one from which to take a child.Among the Kaikōlan musicians of Coimbatore, at least one girl in every family should be set apart for the temple service, and she is instructed in music and dancing. At the tāli-tying ceremony she is decorated with jewels, and made to stand on a heap of paddy (unhusked rice). A folded cloth is held before her by two Dāsis, who also stand on heaps of paddy. The girl catches hold of the cloth, and her dancing master, who is seated behind her, grasping her legs, moves them up and down in time with the music which is played. In the evening she is taken, astride a pony, to the temple, where a new cloth for the idol, the tāli, and other articles required for doing pūja (worship) have been got ready. The girl is seated facingthe idol, and the officiating Brāhman gives sandal and flowers to her, and ties the tāli, which has been lying at the feet of the idol, round her neck. The tāli consists of a golden disc and black beads. She continues to learn music and dancing, and eventually goes through the form of a nuptial ceremony, The relations are invited on an auspicious day, and the maternal uncle, or his representative, ties a golden band on the girl’s forehead, and, carrying her, places her on a plank before the assembled guests. A Brāhman priest recites mantrams (prayers), and prepares the sacred fire (hōmam). For the actual nuptials a rich Brāhman, if possible, and, if not, a Brāhman of more lowly status is invited. A Brāhman is called in, as he is next in importance to, and the representative of, the idol. As a Dāsi can never become a widow, the beads in her tāli are considered to bring good luck to women who wear them. And some people send the tāli required for a marriage to a Dāsi, who prepares the string for it, and attaches to it black beads from her own tāli. A Dāsi is also deputed to walk at the head of Hindu marriage processions. Married women do not like to do this, as they are not proof against evil omens, which the procession may meet. And it is believed that Dāsis, to whom widowhood is unknown, possess the power of warding off the effects of inauspicious omens. It may be remarked,en passant, that Dāsis are not at the present day so much patronised at Hindu marriages as in olden times. Much is due in this direction to the progress of enlightened ideas, which have of late been strongly put forward by Hindu social reformers. When a Kaikōlan Dāsi dies, her body is covered with a new cloth removed from the idol, and flowers are supplied from the temple, to which she belonged. No pūja is performed in the temple till thecorpse is disposed of, as the idol, being her husband, has to observe pollution.“In former times, dancing-girls used to sleep three nights at the commencement of their career in the inner shrine of the Koppēsvara temple at Palivela in the Godāvari district, so as to be embraced by the god. But one of them, it is said, disappeared one night, and the practice has ceased. The funeral pyre of every girl of the dancing girl (Sāni) caste dying in the village should be lit with fire brought from the temple. The same practice is found in the Srīrangam temple near Trichinopoly.”25The following account of Dāsis in Travancore, where their total strength is only about four hundred, is taken from a note by Mr. N. Subramani Aiyer. “While the Dāsis of Kartikappalli, Ambalapuzha, and Shertallay belonged originally to the Konkan coast, those of Shenkottah belonged to the Pāndian country. But the South Travancore Dāsis are an indigenous class. The female members of the caste are, besides being known by the ordinary name of Tēvadiyāl and Dāsi, both meaning servant of God, called Kudikkar, meaning those belonging to the house (i.e., given rent free by the Sirkar), and Pendukal, or women, the former of these designations being more popular than the latter. Males are called Tēvadiyan, though many prefer to be known as Nanchināt Vellālas. Males, like these Vellālas, take the title of Pillai. In ancient days Dēva-dāsis, who became experts in singing and dancing, received the title of Rāyar (king) which appears to have been last conferred in 1847 A.D. The South Travancore Dāsis neither interdine nor intermarry with the dancing-girls of the Tamil-speaking districts. They adopt girls onlyfrom a particular division of the Nāyars, Tamil Padam, and dance only in temples. Unlike their sisters outside Travancore, they do not accept private engagements in houses on the occasion of marriage. The males, in a few houses, marry the Tamil Padam and Padamangalam Nāyars, while some Padamangalam Nāyars and Nanchināt Vellālas in their turn take their women as wives.“When a dancing-woman becomes too old or diseased, and thus unable to perform her usual temple duties, she applies to the temple authorities for permission to remove her ear-pendants (todus). The ceremony takes place at the palace of the Mahārāja. At the appointed spot the officers concerned assemble, and the woman, seated on a wooden plank, proceeds to unhook the pendants, and places them, with a nuzzur (gift) of twelve fanams (coins), on the plank. Directly after this she turns about, and walks away without casting a second glance at the ear-ornaments which have been laid down. She becomes immediately a taikkizhavi or old mother, and is supposed to lead a life of retirement and resignation. By way of distinction, a Dāsi in active service is referred to as ātumpātram. Though the ear-ornaments are at once returned to her from the palace, the woman is never again permitted to put them on, but only to wear the pampadam, or antiquated ear-ornament of Tamil Sūdra women. Her temple wages undergo a slight reduction, consequent on her proved incapacity.“In some temples, as at Kēralapuram, there are two divisions of dancing-girls, one known as the Murakkudi to attend to the daily routine, the other as the Chirappukuti to serve on special occasions. The special duties that may be required of the South Travancore Dāsis are:—(1) to attend the two Utsavas at SriPadmanābahswāmi’s temple, and the Dusserah at the capital; (2) to meet and escort members of the royal family at their respective village limits; (3) to undertake the prescribed fasts for the Apamargam ceremony in connection with the annual festival of the temple. On these days strict continence is enjoined, and they are fed at the temple, and allowed only one meal a day.“The principal deities of the dancing-girls are those to whom the temples, in which they are employed, are dedicated. They observe the new and full-moon days, and the last Friday of every month as important. The Onam, Sivarātri, Tye-Pongal, Dīpāvali, and Chitrapurnami are the best recognised religious festivals. Minor deities, such as Bhadrakāli, Yakshi, and Ghandarva are worshipped by the figure of a trident or sword being drawn on the wall of the house, to which food and sweetmeats are offered on Fridays. The priests on these occasions are Ōcchans. There are no recognized headmen in the caste. The services of Brāhmans are resorted to for the purpose of purification, of Nampiyans and Saiva Vellālas for the performance of funeral rites, and of Kurukkals on occasions of marriage, and for the final ceremonies on the sixteenth day after death.“Girls belonging to this caste may either be dedicated to temple service, or married to a male member of the caste. No woman can be dedicated to the temple after she has reached puberty. On the occasion of marriage, a sum of from fifty to a hundred and fifty rupees is given to the bride’s house, not as a bride-price, but for defraying the marriage expenses. There is a preliminary ceremony of betrothal, and the marriage is celebrated at an auspicious hour. The Kurukkal recites a few hymns, and the ceremonies, which include the tying of the tāli, continue for four days. The couplecommence joint life on the sixteenth day after the girl has reached puberty. It is easy enough to get a divorce, as this merely depends upon the will of one of the two parties, and the woman becomes free to receive clothes from another person in token of her having entered into a fresh matrimonial alliance.“All applications for the presentation of a girl to the temple are made to the temple authorities by the senior dancing-girl of the temple, the girl to be presented being in all cases from six to eight years of age. If she is closely related to the applicant, no enquiries regarding her status and claim need be made. In all other cases, formal investigations are instituted, and the records taken are submitted to the chief revenue officer of the division for orders. Some paddy (rice) and five fanams are given to the family from the temple funds towards the expenses of the ceremony. The practice at the Suchindrum temple is to convene, on an auspicious day, a yōga or meeting, composed of the Valiya Sri-kariyakkar, the Yogattil Potti, the Vattappalli Muttatu, and others, at which the preliminaries are arranged. The girl bathes, and goes to the temple on the morning of the selected day with two new cloths, betel leaves and nuts. The temple priest places the cloths and the tāli at the feet of the image, and sets apart one for the divine use. The tāli consists of a triangular bottu, bearing the image of Ganēsa, with a gold bead on either side. Taking the remaining cloth and the tāli, and sitting close to the girl, the priest, facing to the north, proceeds to officiate. The girl sits, facing the deity, in the inner sanctuary. The priest kindles the fire, and performs all the marriage ceremonies, following the custom of the Tirukkalyānam festival, when Siva is represented as marrying Parvati. He then teaches the girl the Panchakshara hymn if thetemple is Saivite, and Ashtakshara if it is Vaishnavite, presents her with the cloth, and ties the tāli round her neck. The Nattuvan, or dancing-master, instructs her for the first time in his art, and a quantity of raw rice is given to her by the temple authorities. The girl, thus married, is taken to her house, where the marriage festivities are celebrated for two or three days. As in Brāhmanical marriages, the rolling of a cocoanut to and fro is gone through, the temple priest or an elderly Dāsi, dressed in male attire, acting the part of the bridegroom. The girl is taken in procession through the streets.“The birth of male children is not made an occasion for rejoicing, and, as the proverb goes, the lamp on these occasions is only dimly lighted. Inheritance is in the female line, and women are the absolute owners of all property earned. When a dancing-girl dies, some paddy and five fanams are given from the temple to which she was attached, to defray the funeral expenses. The temple priest gives a garland, and a quantity of ashes for decorating the corpse. After this, a Nampiyan, an Ōcchan, some Vellāla headmen, and a Kudikkari, having no pollution, assemble at the house of the deceased. The Nampiyan consecrates a pot of water with prayers, the Ōcchan plays on his musical instrument, and the Vellālas and Kudikkari powder the turmeric to be smeared over the corpse. In the case of temple devotees, their dead bodies must be bathed with this substance by the priest, after which alone the funeral ceremonies may proceed. The Kartā (chief mourner), who is the nearest male relative, has to get his whole head shaved. When a temple priest dies, though he is a Brāhman, the dancing-girl, on whom he has performed the vicarious marriage rite, has to go to his death-bed, and prepare the turmeric powder to be dusted over his corpse. The anniversaryof the death of the mother and maternal uncle are invariably observed.“The adoption of a dancing-girl is a lengthy ceremony. The application to the temple authorities takes the form of a request that the girl to be adopted may be made heir to both kuti and pati, that is, to the house and temple service of the person adopting. The sanction of the authorities having been obtained, all concerned meet at the house of the person who is adopting, a document is executed, and a ceremony, of the nature of the Jātakarma, performed. The girl then goes through the marriage rite, and is handed over to the charge of the music teacher to be regularly trained in her profession.”As bearing on the initiation, laws of inheritance, etc., of Dēva-dāsis, the following cases, which have been argued in the Madras High Court, may be quoted26:—(a) In a charge against a dancing-girl of having purchased a young girl, aged five, with the intent that she would be used for the purpose of prostitution, or knowing it to be likely that she would be so used, evidence was given of the fact of purchase for sixty rupees, and that numerous other dancing-girls, residing in the neighbourhood, were in the habit of obtaining girls and bringing them up as dancing-girls or prostitutes, and that there were no instances of girls brought up by dancing-girls ever having been married. One witness stated that there were forty dancing-girls’ houses in the town (Adōni), and that their chief source of income was prostitution, and that the dancing-girls, who have no daughters of their own, get girls from others, bring them up, and eventually make them dancing-girls orprostitutes. He added that the dancing-girls get good incomes by bringing up girls in preference to boys. Another witness stated that dancing-girls, when they grow old, obtain girls and bring them up to follow their profession, and that good-looking girls are generally bought.27(b) The evidence showed that two of the prisoners were dancing-girls of a certain temple, that one of them took the two daughters of the remaining prisoner to the pagoda, to be marked as dancing-girls, and that they were so marked, and their names entered in the accounts of the pagoda. The first prisoner (the mother of the girls) disposed of the children to the third prisoner for the consideration of a neck ornament and thirty-five rupees. The children appeared to be of the ages of seven and two years, respectively. Evidence was taken, which tended to prove that dancing-girls gain their livelihood by the performance of certain offices in pagodas, by assisting in the performance of ceremonies in private houses, by dancing and singing upon the occasion of marriage, and by prostitution.28(c) The first prisoner presented an application for the enrolment of his daughter as a dancing-girl at one of the great pagodas. He stated her age to be thirteen. She attained puberty a month or two after her enrolment. Her father was the servant of a dancing-girl, the second prisoner, who had been teaching the minor dancing for some five years. The evidence showed that the second prisoner brought the girl to the pagoda, that both first and second prisoners were present when the bottu (or tāli) was tied, and other ceremonies of the dedication performed; that third prisoner, as Battar of the temple,was the person who actually tied the bottu, which denotes that the Dāsi is wedded to the idol. There was the usual evidence that dancing-girls live by prostitution, though occasionally kept by the same man for a year or more.29(d) The plaintiff, a Dēva-dāsi, complained that, when she brought offerings according to custom and placed them before the God at a certain festival, and asked the Archakas (officiating priests) to present the offerings to the God, burn incense, and then distribute them, they refused to take the offerings on the ground that the Dēva-dāsi had gone to a Kōmati’s house to dance. She claimed damages, Rs. 10, for the rejected offerings, and Rs. 40 for loss of honour, and a perpetual injunction to allow her to perform the mantapa hadi (sacrifice) at the Chittrai Vasanta festival. The priests pleaded that the dancing-girl had, for her bad conduct in having danced at a Kōmati’s house, and subsequently refused to expiate the deed by drinking panchagavyan (five products of the cow) according to the shastras, been expelled both from her caste and from the temple.30(e) In a certain temple two dancing-girls were dedicated by the Dharmakarta to the services of the temple without the consent of the existing body of dancing-girls, and the suit was instituted against the Dharmakarta and these two Dēva-dāsis, asking that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the Dēva-dāsis of the pagoda in regard (1) to the dedication of Dēva-dāsis, (2) to the Dharmakarta’s power to bind and suspend them; and that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the plaintiff, the existing Dēva-dāsis, as to the exclusion of all other Dēva-dāsis,save those who are related to or adopted by some one of the Dēva-dāsis for the time being, or those who, being approved by all, are elected and proposed to the Dharmakarta for dedication. That the new Dāsis may be declared to have been improperly dedicated, and not entitled to any of the rights of Dēva-dāsis, and restrained from attending the pagoda in that character, and from interfering with the duly dedicated Dēva-dāsis in the exercise of their office. That first defendant be restrained from stamping and dedicating other Dēva-dāsis but such as are duly approved. The Judge dismissed the case on the ground that it would be contrary to public policy to make the declaration prayed for, as, in so doing, the Court would be lending itself to bringing the parties under the criminal law. In the appeal, which was dismissed, one of the Judges remarked that the plaintiffs claimed a right exclusive to themselves and a few other dancing-women, professional prostitutes, to present infant female children for dedication to the temple as dancing-girls to be stamped as such, and so accredited to become at maturity professional prostitutes, private or public.31(f) A Dēva-dāsi sued to establish her right to the mirāsi (fees) of dancing-girls in a certain pagoda, and to be put in possession of the said mirāsi together with the honours and perquisites attached thereto, and to recover twenty-four rupees, being the value of said perquisites and honours for the year preceding. She alleged that the Dharmakarta of the pagoda and his agents wrongfully dismissed her from the office because she had refused to acquiesce in the admission by the Dharmakarta of new dancing-girls into the pagoda service, ofwhich she claimed the monopoly for herself and the then existing families of dancing-girls. The District Judge dismissed the suit, but the High Court ordered a re-investigation as to the question of the existence of an hereditary office with endowments or emoluments attached to it.32(g) A girl, aged seventeen, instituted a suit against the trustees of a pagoda. It was alleged that a woman who died some years previously was one of the dancing-women attached to the pagoda, and, as such, entitled to the benefit of one of the temple endowments; that she had taken in adoption the plaintiff, who was accordingly entitled to succeed to her office and the emoluments attached to it; that the plaintiff could not enter on the office until a bottu-tāli had been tied on her in the temple; and that the trustees did not permit this to be done. The prayer of the plaint was that the defendants be compelled to allow the tāli to be tied in the temple in view to the girl performing the dancing service, and enjoying the honours and endowments attached thereto. The Judge dismissed the suit on the ground that the claim was inadmissible, as being in effect a claim by the plaintiff to be enlisted as a public prostitute.33(h) On the death of a prostitute dancing-girl, her adopted niece, belonging to the same class, succeeds to her property, in whatever way it is acquired, in preference to a brother remaining in his caste. The general rule is that the legal relation between a prostitute dancing-girl and her undegraded relations remaining in caste be severed.34(i) A pauper sued his sister for the partition of property valued at Rs. 34,662. The parties belonged tothe Bōgam caste in the Godāvari district. The woman pleaded that the property had been acquired by her as a prostitute, and denied her brother’s claim to it. He obtained a decree for only Rs. 100, being a moiety of the property left by their mother. The High Court held, on the evidence as to the local custom of the caste, that the decree was right.35(j) The accused, a Mādiga of the Bellary district, dedicated his minor daughter as a Basavi by a form of marriage with an idol. It appeared that a Basavi is incapable of contracting a lawful marriage, and ordinarily practices promiscuous intercourse with men, and that her sons succeed to her father’s property. It was held that the accused had committed an offence under the Penal Code, which lays down that “whoever sells, lets to hire, or otherwise disposes of any minor under the age of sixteen years, with intent that such minor shall be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution, or for any unlawful and immoral purpose, shall be punished, etc.” The Sessions judge referred to evidence that it was not a matter of course for Basavis to prostitute themselves for money, and added: “The evidence is very clear that Basavis are made in accordance with a custom of the Mādiga caste. It is also in evidence that one of the effects of making a girl Basavi is that her male issue becomes a son of her father, and perpetuates his family, whereas, if she were married, he would perpetuate her husband’s family. In this particular case, the girl was made a Basavi that she might be heir to her aunt, who was a Basavi, but childless. Siddalingana Gowd says that they and their issue inherit the parents’ property. There is evidence that Basavisare made on a very large scale, and that they live in their parents’ houses. There is no evidence that they are regarded otherwise than as respectable members of the caste. It seems as if the Basavi is the Mādiga and Bēdar equivalent of the “appointed daughter” of Hindu law (Mitakshara, Chap. I, s. xi, 3). Upon the whole, the evidence seems to establish that, among the Mādigas, there is a widespread custom of performing, in a temple at Uchangidurgam, a marriage ceremony, the result of which is that the girl is married without possibility of widowhood or divorce; that she is at liberty to have intercourse with men at her pleasure; that her children are heirs to her father, and keep up his family; and that Basavi’s nieces, being made Basavis, become their heirs. The Basavis seem in some cases to become prostitutes, but the language used by the witnesses generally points only to free intercourse with men, and not necessarily to receipt of payment for use of their bodies. In fact, they seem to acquire the right of intercourse with men without more discredit than accrues to the men of their caste for intercourse with women who are not their wives.36It may be observed that Dēva-dāsis are the only class of women, who are, under Hindu law as administered in the British Courts, allowed to adopt girls to themselves. Amongst the other castes, a widow, for instance, cannot adopt to herself, but only to her husband, and she cannot adopt a daughter instead of a son. A recent attempt by a Brāhman at Poona to adopt a daughter, who should take the place of a natural-born daughter, was held to be invalid by general law, and not sanctioned by local usage.37The same would be held inMadras. “But among dancing-girls,” Mayne writes,38“it is customary in Madras and Western India to adopt girls to follow their adoptive mother’s profession, and the girls so adopted succeed to their property. No particular ceremonies are necessary, recognition alone being sufficient. In the absence, however, of a special custom, and on the analogy of an ordinary adoption, only one girl can be adopted.” In Calcutta and Bombay these adoptions by dancing-girls have been held invalid.39Of proverbs relating to dancing-girls, the following may be quoted:—(1) The dancing-girl who could not dance said that the hall was not big enough. The Rev. H. Jensen gives40as an equivalent “When the devil could not swim, he laid the blame on the water.”(2) If the dancing-girl be alive, and her mother dies, there will be beating of drums; but, if the dancing-girl dies, there will be no such display. This is explained by Jensen as meaning that, to secure the favour of a dancing-girl, many men will attend her mother’s funeral; but, if the dancing-girl herself dies, there is nothing to be gained by attending the funeral.(3) Like a dancing-girl wiping a child. Jensen remarks that a dancing-girl is supposed to have no children, so she does not know how to keep them clean. Said of one who tries to mend a matter, but lacks experience, and makes things worse than they were before.(4) As when a boy is born in a dancing-girl’s house. Jensen notes that, if dancing-girls have children, they desire to have girls, that they may be brought up to their own profession.(5) The dancing-girl, who was formerly more than filled with good food in the temple, now turns a somersault to get a poor man’s rice.(6) If a matron is chaste, she may live in the dancing-girl’s street,The insigne of courtesans, according to the Conjeeveram records, is a Cupid, that of a Christian, a curry-comb.41Dēvādiga.—The Dēvādigas are Canarese-speaking temple servants in South Canara, concerning whom Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows.42“This is a class of servants, chiefly musicians in Hindu temples. In the reign of Mayūra Varma, who built a number of new temples, it was found that Brāhmans could not perform all the services. It was, therefore, ordained by him that the pūja or worship alone should be performed by the Brāhmans, and that the Stanikas and Dēvādigas should perform the other services in the temples. They are also called Moili (or Moyili), but there is a caste called Kannada Moili which is quite distinct, and Dēvādigas will not eat with them. Some of them cultivate lands, and some are employed as peons and constables. They returned eleven sub-divisions, but only one (Tulu) is numerically important. They are Vaishnavites, and Tulu Brāhmans are their priests. As regards marriage, there is no fixed age. Remarriage of widows is permitted, but it is practiced only in the case of young widows. The dead are burned. They eat flesh, and drink liquor.”The Dēvādigas or Moilis speak Tulu, and are mainly agriculturists. Their traditional occupation, however, is said to be service in temples (slaves or servants of thedēva or god). A large number of them, both male and female, are engaged as domestic servants. Like the Bants, they follow the aliya santāna law of inheritance (in the female line), and they have the same balis (septs) as the Bants and Billavas. In their marriage ceremonies, they closely imitate the Bants. An interesting feature in connection therewith is that, during the dhāre ceremony, a screen is interposed between the bride and bridegroom at the time when the dhāre water is poured. As a sign of betrothal, a ring is given to the bride-elect, and she wears it on the little finger. The caste is a mixed one, and here and there Dēvādigas are seen to have the typical prominent cheek-bones and square face of the Jains.In the Census Report, 1901, Dakkera Dēvali, Padarti, and Vālagadava are returned as sub-divisions of Dēvādiga.Dēvala(belonging to God).—An exogamous sept of Oddē. The equivalent Dēvali has been recorded as a sub-caste of Dēvādiga, and Dēvalyal as a division of the Todas.43A division of the Irulas of the Nīlgiris, settled near the village of Dēvāla, is known by that name.Dēvānga.—The Dēvāngas are a caste of weavers, speaking Telugu or Canarese, who are found all over the Madras Presidency. Those whom I studied in the Bellary district connected my operations in a vague way with the pilāg (plague) tax, and collection of subscriptions for the Victoria Memorial. They were employed in weaving women’s sāris in pure cotton, or with a silk border, which were sold to rich merchants in the local bazaar, some of whom belong to the Dēvānga caste. They laughingly said that, though they areprofessional weavers, they find it cheapest to wear cloths of European manufacture.Dēvānga.Dēvānga.The Dēvāngas are also called Jādaru or Jāda (great men), Dēndra, Dēvara, Dēra, Sēniyan, and Sēdan. At Coimbatore, in the Tamil country, they are called Settukkāran (economical people).The following legend is narrated concerning the origin of the caste. Brahma, having created Manu, told him to weave clothes for Dēvas and men. Accordingly Manu continued to weave for some years, and reached heaven through his piety and virtuous life. There being no one left to weave for them, the Dēvas and men had to wear garments of leaves. Vexed at this, they prayed to Brahma that he would rescue them from their plight. Brahma took them to Siva, who at once created a lustrous spirit, and called him Dēvalan. Struck with the brilliancy thereof, all fled in confusion, excepting Parvati, who remained near Siva. Siva told her that Dēvalan was created to weave clothes, to cover the limbs and bodies of Dēvas and men, whose descendants are in consequence called Dēvāngas (Dēva angam, limb of god). Dēvalan was advised to obtain thread from the lotus stalks springing from the navel of Vishnu, and he secured them after a severe penance. On his way back, he met a Rākshasa, Vajradantan by name, who was doing penance at a hermitage, disguised as a Sanyāsi. Deceived by his appearance, Dēvalan paid homage to him, and determined to spend the night at the hermitage. But, towards the close of the day, the Rishi and his followers threw off their disguise, and appeared in their true colours as Asuras. Dēvalan sought the assistance of Vishnu, and a chakra was given to him, with which he attempted to overthrow the increasing number of Asuras. He then invoked the assistance of Chaudanāyaki orChaudēswari, who came riding on a lion, and the Asuras were killed off. The mighty Asuras who met their death were Vajradantan (diamond-toothed), Pugainethran (smoke-eyed), Pugaimugan (smoke-faced), Chithrasēnan (leader of armies) and Jeyadrathan (owner of a victory-securing car). The blood of these five was coloured respectively yellow, red, white, green, and black. For dyeing threads of different colours, Dēvalan dipped them in the blood. The Dēvāngas claim to be the descendants of Dēvalan, and say that they are Dēvānga Brāhmans, on the strength of the following stanza, which seems to have been composed by a Dēvānga priest, Sambalinga Murti by name:—Manu was born in the Brāhman caste.He was surely a Brāhman in the womb.There is no Sudraism in this caste.Dēvanga had the form of Brāhma.The legendary origin of the Dēvāngas is given as follows in the Baramahal Records.44“When Brahma the creator created the charam and acharam, or the animate and inanimate creation, the Dēvatas or gods, Rākshasas or evil demons, and the human race, were without a covering for their bodies, which displeasing the god Narada or reason, he waited upon Paramēshwara or the great Lord at his palace on the Kailāsa Parvata or mount of paradise, and represented the indecent state of the inhabitants of the universe, and prayed that he would be pleased to devise a covering for their nakedness. Paramēshwara saw the propriety of Narada’s request, and thought it was proper to grant it. While he was so thinking, a male sprang into existence from his body, whom he named Dēva angamor the body of God, in allusion to the manner of his birth. Dēva angam instantly asked his progenitor why he had created him. The God answered ‘Repair to the pāla samudram or sea of milk, where you will find Sri Maha Vishnu or the august mighty god Vishnu, and he will tell thee what to do.’ Dēva angam repaired to the presence of Sri Maha Vishnu, and represented that Paramēshwara had sent him, and begged to be favoured with Vishnu’s commands. Vishnu replied ‘Do you weave cloth to serve as a covering to the inhabitants of the universe.’ Vishnu then gave him some of the fibres of the lotus flower that grew from his navel, and taught him how to make it into cloth. Dēva angam wove a piece of cloth, and presented it to Vishnu, who accepted it, and ordered him to depart, and to take the fibres of trees, and make raiment for the inhabitants of the Vishnu loka or gods. Dēva angam created ten thousand weavers, who used to go to the forest and collect the fibre of trees, and make it into cloth for the Dēvatas or gods and the human race. One day, Dēva angam and his tribe went to a forest in the Bhuloka or earthly world, in order to collect the fibre of trees, when he was attacked by a race of Rākshasas or giants, on which he waxed wroth, and, unbending his jata or long plaited hair, gave it a twist, and struck it once on the ground. In that moment, a Shakti, or female goddess having eight hands, each grasping a warlike weapon, sprang from the earth, attacked the Rākshasas, and defeated them. Dēva anga named her Chudēshwari or goddess of the hair, and, as she delivered his tribe out of the hands of the Rākshasas, he made her his tutelary divinity.”The tribal goddess of the Dēvāngas is Chaudēswari, a form of Kāli or Durga, who is worshipped annuallyat a festival, in which the entire community takes part either at the temple, or at a house or grove specially prepared for the occasion. During the festival weaving operations cease; and those who take a prominent part in the rites fast, and avoid pollution. The first day is called alagu nilupadam (erecting, or fixing of the sword). The goddess is worshipped, and a sheep or goat sacrificed, unless the settlement is composed of vegetarian Dēvāngas. One man at least from each sept fasts, remains pure, and carries a sword. Inside the temple, or at the spot selected, the pūjari (priest) tries to balance a long sword on its point on the edge of the mouth of a pot, while the alagu men cut their chests with the swords. Failure to balance the sword is believed to be due to pollution brought by somebody to get rid of which the alagu men bathe. Cow’s urine and turmeric water are sprinkled over those assembled, and women are kept at a distance to prevent menstrual or other form of pollution. On the next day, called jothiārambam (jothi, light or splendour) as Chaudēswari is believed to have sprung from jothi, a big mass is made of rice flour, and a wick, fed with ghī (clarified butter) and lighted, is placed in a cavity scooped out therein. This flour lamp must be made by members of a pūjāri’s family assisted sometimes by the alagu boys. In its manufacture, a quantity of rice is steeped in water, and poured on a plantain leaf. Jaggery (crude sugar) is then mixed with it, and, when it is of the proper consistency, it is shaped into a cone, and placed on a silver or brass tray. On the third day, called pānaka pūja or mahānēvedyam, jaggery water is offered, and cocoanuts, and other offerings are laid before the goddess. The rice mass is divided up, and given to the pūjari, setti, alagu men and boys, and to thecommunity, to which small portions are doled out in a particular order, which must be strictly observed. For example, at Tindivānam the order is as follows:—Setti (headman).Dhondapu family.Bapatla family.Kosanam family.Modanam family.Fire-walking does not form part of the festival, as the goddess herself sprang from fire.In some places in the North Arcot district the festival lasts over ten days, and varies in some points from the above. On the first day, the people go in procession to a jammi (Prosopis spicigera) tree, and worship a decorated pot (kalasam), to which sheep and goats are sacrificed. From the second to the sixth day, the goddess and pot are worshipped daily. On the seventh day, the jammi tree is again visited, and a man carries on his back cooked rice, which may not be placed on the ground, except near the tree, or at the temple. If the rice is not set downen routethereto, it is accepted as a sign that the festival may be proceeded with. Otherwise they would be afraid to light the joti on the ninth day. This is a busy day, and the ceremonies of sandhulu kattadam (binding the corners), alagu erecting, lighting the flour mass, and pot worship are performed. Early in the morning, goats and sheep are killed, outside the village boundary, in the north, east, south, and west corners, and the blood is sprinkled on all sides to keep off all foreign ganams or saktis. The sword business, as already described, is gone through, and certain tests applied to see whether the joti may be lighted. A lime fruit is placed in the region of the navel of the idol, who should throw it down spontaneously. A bundle of betel leaves is cut across with a knife, and the cut ends should unite. If theomens are favourable, the joti is lighted, sheep and goats are killed, and pongal (rice) is offered to the joti. The day closes with worship of the pot. On the last day the rice mass is distributed. All Dēvānga guests from other villages have to be received and treated with respect according to the local rules, which are in force. For this purpose, the community divide their settlements into Sthalams, Pāyakattulu, Galugrāmatulu, Pētalu, and Kurugrāmālu, which have a definite order of precedence.Among the Dēvāngas the following endogamous sections occur:—(1) Telugu; (2) Canarese; (3) Hathinentu Manayavaru (eighteen house people); (4) Sivachara; (5) Ariya; (6) Kodekal Hatakararu (weavers).They are practically divided into two linguistic sections, Canarese and Telugu, of which the former have adopted the Brāhmanical ceremonials to a greater extent than the latter, who are more conservative. Those who wear the sacred thread seem to preponderate over the non-thread weavers in the Canarese section. To the thread is sometimes attached metal charm-cylinder to ward off evil spirits.The following are examples of exogamous septs in the Telugu section:—Ākāsam, sky.Anumala, seeds ofDolichos lablab.Boggula, charcoal.Bandla, rock or cart.Chintakai, tamarind fruit.Challa, buttermilk.Chapparam, pandal or booth.Dhoddi, cattle-pen, or courtyard.Dhuggāni, money.Yerra, red.Konda, mountain.Kaththi, knife.Bandāri (treasurer).Būsam, grain.Dhondapu (Cephalandra indica).Elugoti, assembly.Gattu, bank or mound.Paidam, money.Gonapala, old plough.Gosu, pride.Jigala, pith.Katta, a dam.Kompala, houses.Kōnangi, buffoon.Kātikala, collyrium.Kaththiri, scissors.Mōksham, heaven.Pasupala, turmeric.Pidakala, dried cow-dung cakes.Pōthula, male.Pachi powaku, green tobacco.Padavala, boat.Pouzala, a bird.Pammi, clay lamp.Thalakōka, female cloth.Thūtla, hole.Utla, ropes for hanging pots.Vasthrāla, cloths.Matam, monastery.Madira, liquor or heap of earth.Mēdam, fight.Māsila, dirt.Olikala, funeral pyre and ashes.Prithvi, earth.Peraka, tile.Punjala, cock or male.Pinjala, cotton-cleaning.Pichchiga, sparrow.Sika (kudumi: tuft of hair).Sandala, lanes.Santha, a fair.Sajje (Setaria italica).The majority of Dēvāngas are Saivites, and wear the lingam. They do not, however, wash the stone lingam with water, in which the feet of Jangams have been washed. They are not particular as to always keeping the lingam on the body, and give as an explanation that, when they are at work, they have to touch all kinds of people. Some said that merchants, when engaged in their business, should not wear the lingam, especially if made of spatikam (quartz), as they have to tell untruths as regards the value and quality of their goods, and ruin would follow if these were told while the lingam was on the body.In some parts of Ganjam, the country folk keep a large number of Brāhmini bulls. When one of these animals dies, very elaborate funeral ceremonies take place, and the dead beast is carried in procession by Dēvāngas, and buried by them. As the Dēvāngas are Lingāyats, they have a special reverence for Basavanna, the sacred bull, and the burying of the Brāhmini bull isregarded by them as a sacred and meritorious act. Other castes do not regard it as such, though they often set free sacred cows or calves.Dēvāngas and Padma Sālēs never live in the same street, and do not draw water from the same well. This is probably due to the fact that they belong to the left and right-hand factions respectively, and no love is lost between them. Like other left-hand castes, Dēvāngas have their own dancing-girls, called Jāthi-biddalu (children of the castes), whose male offspring do achchupani, printing-work on cloth, and occasionally go about begging from Dēvāngas. In the Madras Census Report, 1901, it is stated that “in Madura and Tinnevelly, the Dēvāngas, or Sēdans, consider themselves a shade superior to the Brāhmans, and never do namaskāram (obeisance or salutation) to them, or employ them as priests. In Madura and Coimbatore, the Sēdans have their own dancing-girls, who are called Dēvānga or Sēda Dāsis in the former, and Mānikkāttāl in the latter, and are strictly reserved for members of the caste under pain of excommunication or heavy fine.”Concerning the origin of the Dēvānga beggars, called Singamvādu, the following legend is current. When Chaudēswari and Dēvālan were engaged in combat with the Asuras, one of the Asuras hid himself behind the ear of the lion, on which the goddess was seated. When the fight was over, he came out, and asked for pardon. The goddess took pity on him, and ordered that his descendants should be called Singamvāllu, and asked Dēvālan to treat them as servants, and support them. Dēvāngas give money to these beggars, who have the privilege of locking the door, and carrying away the food, when the castemen take their meals. In assemblies of Dēvāngas, the hand of the beggar servesas a spittoon. He conveys the news of death, and has as the insignia of office a horn, called thuththari or singam.The office of headman, or Pattagar, is hereditary, and he is assisted by an official called Sesha-rāju or Umidisetti who is the servant of the community, and receives a small fee annually for each loom within his beat.Widow remarriage is permitted in some places, and forbidden in others. There may be intermarriage between the flesh-eating and vegetarian sections. But a girl who belongs to a flesh-eating family, and marries into a vegetarian family, must abstain from meat, and may not touch any vessel or food in her husband’s family till she has reached puberty. Before settling the marriage of a girl, some village goddess, or Chaudēswari, is consulted, and the omens are watched. A lizard chirping on the right is a good omen, and on the left bad. Sometimes, red and white flowers, wrapped up in green leaves, are thrown in front of the idol, and the omen considered good or bad according to the flower which a boy or girl picks up. At the marriage ceremony which commences with distribution of pān-supāri (betel) and Vignēswara worship, the bride is presented with a new cloth, and sits on a three-legged stool or cloth-roller (dhonige). The maternal uncle puts round her neck a bondhu (strings of unbleached cotton) dipped in turmeric. The ceremonies are carried out according to the Purānic ritual, except by those who consider themselves to be Dēvānga Brāhmans. On the first day the milk post is set up being made ofOdina Wodierin the Tamil, andMimusops hexandrain the Telugu country. Various rites are performed, which include tonsure, upanāyanam (wearing the sacred thread), pādapūja (washing the feet), Kāsiyātra (mock pilgrimage to Benares), dhārādhattam(giving away the bride), and māngalyadhāranam (tying the marriage badge, or bottu). The proceedings conclude with pot searching. A pap-bowl and ring are put into a pot. If the bride picks out the bowl, her first-born will be a girl, and if the bridegroom gets hold of the ring, it will be a boy. On the fifth day, a square design is made on the floor with coloured rice grains. Between the contracting couple and the square a row of lights is placed. Four pots are set, one at each corner of the square, and eight pots arranged along each side thereof. On the square itself, two pots representing Siva and Uma, are placed, with a row of seedling pots near them. A thread is wound nine times round the pots representing the god and goddess, and tied above to the pandal. After the pots have been worshipped, the thread is cut, and worn, with the sacred thread, for three months. This ceremony is called Nāgavali.When a girl reaches puberty, a twig ofAlangium Lamarckiiis placed in the menstrual hut to keep off devils.The dead are generally buried in a sitting posture. Before the grave is filled in, a string is tied to the kudumi (hair knot) of the corpse, and, by its means, the head is brought near the surface. Over it a lingam is set up, and worshipped daily throughout the death ceremonies.The following curious custom is described by Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. Once in twelve years, a Dēvānga leaves his home, and joins the Padma Sālēs. He begs from them, saying that he is the son of their caste, and as such entitled to be supported by them. If alms are not forthcoming, he enters the house, and carries off whatever he may be able to pick up. Sometimes, if he can get nothing else, he has been known to seize alighted cigar in the mouth of a Sālē, and run off with it. The origin of this custom is not certain, but it has been suggested that the Dēvāngas and Sālēs were originally one caste, and that the former separated from the latter when they became Lingāyats. A Dēvānga only becomes a Chinērigādu when he is advanced in years, and will eat the remnants of food left by Padma Sālēs on their plates. A Chinērigādu is, on his death, buried by the Sālēs.Many of the Dēvāngas are short of stature, light skinned, with sharp-cut features, light-brown iris, and delicate tapering fingers. Those at Hospet, in the Bellary district, carried thorn tweezers (for removing thorns ofAcacia arabicafrom the feet), tooth-pick and ear-scoop, suspended as a chatelaine from the loin-string. The more well-to-do had these articles made of silver, with the addition of a silver saw for paring the nails and cutting cheroots. The name Pampanna, which some of them bore, is connected with the nymph Pampa, who resides at Hampi, and asked Paramēswara to become her husband. He accordingly assumed the name of Pampāpathi, in whose honour there is a tank at Anagūndi, and temple at Hampi. He directed Pampa to live in a pond, and pass by the name of Pampasarovara.The Sēdans of Coimbatore, at the time of my visit in October, were hard at work making clothes for the Dīpāvali festival. It is at times of festivals and marriages, in years of prosperity among the people, that the weavers reap their richest harvest.In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bilimagga (white loom) and Atagāra (weavers and exorcists) are returned as sub-castes of Dēvānga. The usual title of the Dēvāngas is Chetti.The shortness of stature of some of the weaving classes which I have examined is brought out by the following average measurements:—

Petition of __________ aged about 17 or 18.I have agreed to become a Basavi, and get myself stamped by my guru (priest) according to the custom of my caste. I request that my proper age, which entitles me to be stamped, may be personally ascertained, and permission granted to be stamped.

Petition of __________ aged about 17 or 18.

I have agreed to become a Basavi, and get myself stamped by my guru (priest) according to the custom of my caste. I request that my proper age, which entitles me to be stamped, may be personally ascertained, and permission granted to be stamped.

The stamping refers to branding with the emblems of the chank and chakram.

Petition of _____ wife of _____.I have got two daughters, aged 15 and 12 respectively. As I have no male issues, I have got to necessarily celebrate the ceremony in the temple in connection with the tying of the goddess’s tāli to my two daughters under the orders of the guru, in accordance with the customs of my caste. I, therefore, submit this petition for fear that the authorities may raise any objection (under the Age of Consent Act). I, therefore, request that the Honourable Court may be pleased to give permission to the tying of the tāli to my daughters.

Petition of _____ wife of _____.

I have got two daughters, aged 15 and 12 respectively. As I have no male issues, I have got to necessarily celebrate the ceremony in the temple in connection with the tying of the goddess’s tāli to my two daughters under the orders of the guru, in accordance with the customs of my caste. I, therefore, submit this petition for fear that the authorities may raise any objection (under the Age of Consent Act). I, therefore, request that the Honourable Court may be pleased to give permission to the tying of the tāli to my daughters.

Petition of two girls, aged 17 to 19.Our father and mother are dead. Now we wish to be like prostitutes, as we are not willing to be married, and thus establish our house-name. Our mother also was of this profession. We now request permission to be prostitutes according to our religion, after we are sent before the Medical Officer.

Petition of two girls, aged 17 to 19.

Our father and mother are dead. Now we wish to be like prostitutes, as we are not willing to be married, and thus establish our house-name. Our mother also was of this profession. We now request permission to be prostitutes according to our religion, after we are sent before the Medical Officer.

The permission referred to in the above petitions bears reference to a decision of the High Court that, a girl who becomes a Basavi being incapable of contracting a legal marriage, her dedication when a minor is an offence under the Penal Code.

At Adoni the dead body of a new-born infant was found in a ditch, and a Basavi, working with others in a cotton factory, was suspected of foul play. The station-house officer announced his intention of visiting the factory, and she who was in a state of lactation, and could produce no baby to account for her condition, would be the culprit. Writing concerning the Basavis of the Bellary district,20Mr. W. Francis tells us that “parents without male issue often, instead of adopting a son in the usual manner, dedicate a daughter by a simple ceremony to the god of some temple, and thenceforth, by immemorial custom, she may inherit her parents’ property, and perform their funeral rites as if she was a son. She does not marry, but lives in her parents’ house with any man of equal or higher caste whom she may select, and her children inherit her father’s name and bedagu (sept), and not those of their own father. If she has a son, he inherits her property; if she has only a daughter, that daughter again becomes a Basavi. Parents desiring male issue of their own, cure from sickness in themselves or their children, or relief from some calamity, will similarly dedicate their daughter. The children of a Basavi are legitimate, and neither they nor their mothers are treated as being in any way inferior to their fellows. A Basavi, indeed, from the fact that she can never be a widow, is a most welcome guest at weddings. Basavis differ from the ordinary dancing-girls dedicated at temples in that their duties in the temples (which are confined to the shrine of their dedication) are almost nominal, and that they do not prostitute themselves promiscuously for hire. A Basavi very usually lives faithfully with one man, who allows hera fixed sum weekly for her maintenance, and a fixed quantity of new raiment annually, and she works for her family as hard as any other woman. Basavis are outwardly indistinguishable from other women, and are for the most part coolies. In places there is a custom by which they are considered free to change their protectors once a year at the village car-festival or some similar anniversary, and they usually seize this opportunity of putting their partner’s affections to the test by suggesting that a new cloth and bodice would be a welcome present. So poor, as a rule, are the husbands that the police aver that the anniversaries are preceded by an unusual crop of petty thefts and burglaries committed by them in their efforts to provide their customary gifts.” A recent report of a Police Inspector in the Bellary district states that “crimes are committed here and there, as this is Nagarapanchami time. Nagarapanchami festival is to be celebrated at the next Ammavasya or new-moon day. It is at that time the people keeping the prostitutes should pay their dues on that day; otherwise they will have their new engagements.”

In the Kurnool district, the Basavi system is practised by the Bōyas, but differs from that in vogue in Bellary and Mysore. The object of making a Basavi, in these two localities, is to perpetuate the family when there is no male heir. If the only issue in a family is a female, the family becomes extinct if she marries, as by marriage she changes her sept. To prevent this, she is not married, but dedicated as a Basavi, and continues to belong to her father’s sept, to which also any male issue which is born to her belongs. In the Kurnool district the motive in making Basavis is different. The girl is not wedded to an idol, but, on an auspicious day, is tied by means of a garland of flowers to the garuda kambham(lamp) of a Balija Dāsari. She is released either by the man who is to receive her first favours, or by her maternal uncle. A simple feast is held, and a string of black beads tied round the girl’s neck. She becomes a prostitute, and her children do not marry into respectable Bōya families.

“Basava women,” Dr. E. Balfour writes,21“are sometimes married to a dagger, sometimes to an idol. In making a female child over to the service of the temple, she is taken and dedicated for life to some idol. A khanjar, or dagger, is placed on the ground, and the girl who is to undergo the ceremony puts a garland thereon. Her mother then puts rice on the girl’s forehead. The officiating priest then weds the girl to the dagger, just as if he was uniting her to a boy in marriage, by reciting the marriage stanzas, a curtain being held between the girl and the dagger.” In an account of the initiation ceremony of the Basavis of the Bellary district Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows.22“A sword with a lime stuck on its point is placed upright beside the novice, and held in her right hand. It represents the bridegroom, who, in the corresponding ceremony of Hindu marriage, sits on the bride’s right. A tray, on which are a kalasyam (vessel of water) and a lamp, is then produced, and moved thrice in front of the girl. She rises, and, carrying the sword in her right hand, places it in the god’s sanctuary. Among the dancing-girls very similar ceremonies are performed. With them, the girl’s spouse is represented by a drum instead of a sword, and she bows to it. Her insignia consist of a drum and bells.” In a further note on the dedication of Basavis, Mr. Fawcett writes23that “a tāli,on which is depicted the nāmam of Vishnu, fastened to a necklace of black beads, is tied round her neck. She is given by way of insignia a cane as a wand carried in the right hand, and a gopālam or begging basket, which is slung on the left arm. She is then branded with the emblems of the chank and chakra. In another account24of the marriage ceremony among dancing-girls, it is stated that the Bōgams, who are without exception prostitutes, though they are not allowed to marry, go through a marriage ceremony, which is rather a costly one. Sometimes a wealthy Native bears the expense, makes large presents to the bride, and receives her first favours. Where no such opportunity offers itself, a sword or other weapon represents the bridegroom, and an imaginary nuptial ceremony is performed. Should the Bōgam woman have no daughter, she invariably adopts one, usually paying a price for her, the Kaikōla (weaver) caste being the ordinary one from which to take a child.

Among the Kaikōlan musicians of Coimbatore, at least one girl in every family should be set apart for the temple service, and she is instructed in music and dancing. At the tāli-tying ceremony she is decorated with jewels, and made to stand on a heap of paddy (unhusked rice). A folded cloth is held before her by two Dāsis, who also stand on heaps of paddy. The girl catches hold of the cloth, and her dancing master, who is seated behind her, grasping her legs, moves them up and down in time with the music which is played. In the evening she is taken, astride a pony, to the temple, where a new cloth for the idol, the tāli, and other articles required for doing pūja (worship) have been got ready. The girl is seated facingthe idol, and the officiating Brāhman gives sandal and flowers to her, and ties the tāli, which has been lying at the feet of the idol, round her neck. The tāli consists of a golden disc and black beads. She continues to learn music and dancing, and eventually goes through the form of a nuptial ceremony, The relations are invited on an auspicious day, and the maternal uncle, or his representative, ties a golden band on the girl’s forehead, and, carrying her, places her on a plank before the assembled guests. A Brāhman priest recites mantrams (prayers), and prepares the sacred fire (hōmam). For the actual nuptials a rich Brāhman, if possible, and, if not, a Brāhman of more lowly status is invited. A Brāhman is called in, as he is next in importance to, and the representative of, the idol. As a Dāsi can never become a widow, the beads in her tāli are considered to bring good luck to women who wear them. And some people send the tāli required for a marriage to a Dāsi, who prepares the string for it, and attaches to it black beads from her own tāli. A Dāsi is also deputed to walk at the head of Hindu marriage processions. Married women do not like to do this, as they are not proof against evil omens, which the procession may meet. And it is believed that Dāsis, to whom widowhood is unknown, possess the power of warding off the effects of inauspicious omens. It may be remarked,en passant, that Dāsis are not at the present day so much patronised at Hindu marriages as in olden times. Much is due in this direction to the progress of enlightened ideas, which have of late been strongly put forward by Hindu social reformers. When a Kaikōlan Dāsi dies, her body is covered with a new cloth removed from the idol, and flowers are supplied from the temple, to which she belonged. No pūja is performed in the temple till thecorpse is disposed of, as the idol, being her husband, has to observe pollution.

“In former times, dancing-girls used to sleep three nights at the commencement of their career in the inner shrine of the Koppēsvara temple at Palivela in the Godāvari district, so as to be embraced by the god. But one of them, it is said, disappeared one night, and the practice has ceased. The funeral pyre of every girl of the dancing girl (Sāni) caste dying in the village should be lit with fire brought from the temple. The same practice is found in the Srīrangam temple near Trichinopoly.”25

The following account of Dāsis in Travancore, where their total strength is only about four hundred, is taken from a note by Mr. N. Subramani Aiyer. “While the Dāsis of Kartikappalli, Ambalapuzha, and Shertallay belonged originally to the Konkan coast, those of Shenkottah belonged to the Pāndian country. But the South Travancore Dāsis are an indigenous class. The female members of the caste are, besides being known by the ordinary name of Tēvadiyāl and Dāsi, both meaning servant of God, called Kudikkar, meaning those belonging to the house (i.e., given rent free by the Sirkar), and Pendukal, or women, the former of these designations being more popular than the latter. Males are called Tēvadiyan, though many prefer to be known as Nanchināt Vellālas. Males, like these Vellālas, take the title of Pillai. In ancient days Dēva-dāsis, who became experts in singing and dancing, received the title of Rāyar (king) which appears to have been last conferred in 1847 A.D. The South Travancore Dāsis neither interdine nor intermarry with the dancing-girls of the Tamil-speaking districts. They adopt girls onlyfrom a particular division of the Nāyars, Tamil Padam, and dance only in temples. Unlike their sisters outside Travancore, they do not accept private engagements in houses on the occasion of marriage. The males, in a few houses, marry the Tamil Padam and Padamangalam Nāyars, while some Padamangalam Nāyars and Nanchināt Vellālas in their turn take their women as wives.

“When a dancing-woman becomes too old or diseased, and thus unable to perform her usual temple duties, she applies to the temple authorities for permission to remove her ear-pendants (todus). The ceremony takes place at the palace of the Mahārāja. At the appointed spot the officers concerned assemble, and the woman, seated on a wooden plank, proceeds to unhook the pendants, and places them, with a nuzzur (gift) of twelve fanams (coins), on the plank. Directly after this she turns about, and walks away without casting a second glance at the ear-ornaments which have been laid down. She becomes immediately a taikkizhavi or old mother, and is supposed to lead a life of retirement and resignation. By way of distinction, a Dāsi in active service is referred to as ātumpātram. Though the ear-ornaments are at once returned to her from the palace, the woman is never again permitted to put them on, but only to wear the pampadam, or antiquated ear-ornament of Tamil Sūdra women. Her temple wages undergo a slight reduction, consequent on her proved incapacity.

“In some temples, as at Kēralapuram, there are two divisions of dancing-girls, one known as the Murakkudi to attend to the daily routine, the other as the Chirappukuti to serve on special occasions. The special duties that may be required of the South Travancore Dāsis are:—(1) to attend the two Utsavas at SriPadmanābahswāmi’s temple, and the Dusserah at the capital; (2) to meet and escort members of the royal family at their respective village limits; (3) to undertake the prescribed fasts for the Apamargam ceremony in connection with the annual festival of the temple. On these days strict continence is enjoined, and they are fed at the temple, and allowed only one meal a day.

“The principal deities of the dancing-girls are those to whom the temples, in which they are employed, are dedicated. They observe the new and full-moon days, and the last Friday of every month as important. The Onam, Sivarātri, Tye-Pongal, Dīpāvali, and Chitrapurnami are the best recognised religious festivals. Minor deities, such as Bhadrakāli, Yakshi, and Ghandarva are worshipped by the figure of a trident or sword being drawn on the wall of the house, to which food and sweetmeats are offered on Fridays. The priests on these occasions are Ōcchans. There are no recognized headmen in the caste. The services of Brāhmans are resorted to for the purpose of purification, of Nampiyans and Saiva Vellālas for the performance of funeral rites, and of Kurukkals on occasions of marriage, and for the final ceremonies on the sixteenth day after death.

“Girls belonging to this caste may either be dedicated to temple service, or married to a male member of the caste. No woman can be dedicated to the temple after she has reached puberty. On the occasion of marriage, a sum of from fifty to a hundred and fifty rupees is given to the bride’s house, not as a bride-price, but for defraying the marriage expenses. There is a preliminary ceremony of betrothal, and the marriage is celebrated at an auspicious hour. The Kurukkal recites a few hymns, and the ceremonies, which include the tying of the tāli, continue for four days. The couplecommence joint life on the sixteenth day after the girl has reached puberty. It is easy enough to get a divorce, as this merely depends upon the will of one of the two parties, and the woman becomes free to receive clothes from another person in token of her having entered into a fresh matrimonial alliance.

“All applications for the presentation of a girl to the temple are made to the temple authorities by the senior dancing-girl of the temple, the girl to be presented being in all cases from six to eight years of age. If she is closely related to the applicant, no enquiries regarding her status and claim need be made. In all other cases, formal investigations are instituted, and the records taken are submitted to the chief revenue officer of the division for orders. Some paddy (rice) and five fanams are given to the family from the temple funds towards the expenses of the ceremony. The practice at the Suchindrum temple is to convene, on an auspicious day, a yōga or meeting, composed of the Valiya Sri-kariyakkar, the Yogattil Potti, the Vattappalli Muttatu, and others, at which the preliminaries are arranged. The girl bathes, and goes to the temple on the morning of the selected day with two new cloths, betel leaves and nuts. The temple priest places the cloths and the tāli at the feet of the image, and sets apart one for the divine use. The tāli consists of a triangular bottu, bearing the image of Ganēsa, with a gold bead on either side. Taking the remaining cloth and the tāli, and sitting close to the girl, the priest, facing to the north, proceeds to officiate. The girl sits, facing the deity, in the inner sanctuary. The priest kindles the fire, and performs all the marriage ceremonies, following the custom of the Tirukkalyānam festival, when Siva is represented as marrying Parvati. He then teaches the girl the Panchakshara hymn if thetemple is Saivite, and Ashtakshara if it is Vaishnavite, presents her with the cloth, and ties the tāli round her neck. The Nattuvan, or dancing-master, instructs her for the first time in his art, and a quantity of raw rice is given to her by the temple authorities. The girl, thus married, is taken to her house, where the marriage festivities are celebrated for two or three days. As in Brāhmanical marriages, the rolling of a cocoanut to and fro is gone through, the temple priest or an elderly Dāsi, dressed in male attire, acting the part of the bridegroom. The girl is taken in procession through the streets.

“The birth of male children is not made an occasion for rejoicing, and, as the proverb goes, the lamp on these occasions is only dimly lighted. Inheritance is in the female line, and women are the absolute owners of all property earned. When a dancing-girl dies, some paddy and five fanams are given from the temple to which she was attached, to defray the funeral expenses. The temple priest gives a garland, and a quantity of ashes for decorating the corpse. After this, a Nampiyan, an Ōcchan, some Vellāla headmen, and a Kudikkari, having no pollution, assemble at the house of the deceased. The Nampiyan consecrates a pot of water with prayers, the Ōcchan plays on his musical instrument, and the Vellālas and Kudikkari powder the turmeric to be smeared over the corpse. In the case of temple devotees, their dead bodies must be bathed with this substance by the priest, after which alone the funeral ceremonies may proceed. The Kartā (chief mourner), who is the nearest male relative, has to get his whole head shaved. When a temple priest dies, though he is a Brāhman, the dancing-girl, on whom he has performed the vicarious marriage rite, has to go to his death-bed, and prepare the turmeric powder to be dusted over his corpse. The anniversaryof the death of the mother and maternal uncle are invariably observed.

“The adoption of a dancing-girl is a lengthy ceremony. The application to the temple authorities takes the form of a request that the girl to be adopted may be made heir to both kuti and pati, that is, to the house and temple service of the person adopting. The sanction of the authorities having been obtained, all concerned meet at the house of the person who is adopting, a document is executed, and a ceremony, of the nature of the Jātakarma, performed. The girl then goes through the marriage rite, and is handed over to the charge of the music teacher to be regularly trained in her profession.”

As bearing on the initiation, laws of inheritance, etc., of Dēva-dāsis, the following cases, which have been argued in the Madras High Court, may be quoted26:—

(a) In a charge against a dancing-girl of having purchased a young girl, aged five, with the intent that she would be used for the purpose of prostitution, or knowing it to be likely that she would be so used, evidence was given of the fact of purchase for sixty rupees, and that numerous other dancing-girls, residing in the neighbourhood, were in the habit of obtaining girls and bringing them up as dancing-girls or prostitutes, and that there were no instances of girls brought up by dancing-girls ever having been married. One witness stated that there were forty dancing-girls’ houses in the town (Adōni), and that their chief source of income was prostitution, and that the dancing-girls, who have no daughters of their own, get girls from others, bring them up, and eventually make them dancing-girls orprostitutes. He added that the dancing-girls get good incomes by bringing up girls in preference to boys. Another witness stated that dancing-girls, when they grow old, obtain girls and bring them up to follow their profession, and that good-looking girls are generally bought.27

(b) The evidence showed that two of the prisoners were dancing-girls of a certain temple, that one of them took the two daughters of the remaining prisoner to the pagoda, to be marked as dancing-girls, and that they were so marked, and their names entered in the accounts of the pagoda. The first prisoner (the mother of the girls) disposed of the children to the third prisoner for the consideration of a neck ornament and thirty-five rupees. The children appeared to be of the ages of seven and two years, respectively. Evidence was taken, which tended to prove that dancing-girls gain their livelihood by the performance of certain offices in pagodas, by assisting in the performance of ceremonies in private houses, by dancing and singing upon the occasion of marriage, and by prostitution.28

(c) The first prisoner presented an application for the enrolment of his daughter as a dancing-girl at one of the great pagodas. He stated her age to be thirteen. She attained puberty a month or two after her enrolment. Her father was the servant of a dancing-girl, the second prisoner, who had been teaching the minor dancing for some five years. The evidence showed that the second prisoner brought the girl to the pagoda, that both first and second prisoners were present when the bottu (or tāli) was tied, and other ceremonies of the dedication performed; that third prisoner, as Battar of the temple,was the person who actually tied the bottu, which denotes that the Dāsi is wedded to the idol. There was the usual evidence that dancing-girls live by prostitution, though occasionally kept by the same man for a year or more.29

(d) The plaintiff, a Dēva-dāsi, complained that, when she brought offerings according to custom and placed them before the God at a certain festival, and asked the Archakas (officiating priests) to present the offerings to the God, burn incense, and then distribute them, they refused to take the offerings on the ground that the Dēva-dāsi had gone to a Kōmati’s house to dance. She claimed damages, Rs. 10, for the rejected offerings, and Rs. 40 for loss of honour, and a perpetual injunction to allow her to perform the mantapa hadi (sacrifice) at the Chittrai Vasanta festival. The priests pleaded that the dancing-girl had, for her bad conduct in having danced at a Kōmati’s house, and subsequently refused to expiate the deed by drinking panchagavyan (five products of the cow) according to the shastras, been expelled both from her caste and from the temple.30

(e) In a certain temple two dancing-girls were dedicated by the Dharmakarta to the services of the temple without the consent of the existing body of dancing-girls, and the suit was instituted against the Dharmakarta and these two Dēva-dāsis, asking that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the Dēva-dāsis of the pagoda in regard (1) to the dedication of Dēva-dāsis, (2) to the Dharmakarta’s power to bind and suspend them; and that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the plaintiff, the existing Dēva-dāsis, as to the exclusion of all other Dēva-dāsis,save those who are related to or adopted by some one of the Dēva-dāsis for the time being, or those who, being approved by all, are elected and proposed to the Dharmakarta for dedication. That the new Dāsis may be declared to have been improperly dedicated, and not entitled to any of the rights of Dēva-dāsis, and restrained from attending the pagoda in that character, and from interfering with the duly dedicated Dēva-dāsis in the exercise of their office. That first defendant be restrained from stamping and dedicating other Dēva-dāsis but such as are duly approved. The Judge dismissed the case on the ground that it would be contrary to public policy to make the declaration prayed for, as, in so doing, the Court would be lending itself to bringing the parties under the criminal law. In the appeal, which was dismissed, one of the Judges remarked that the plaintiffs claimed a right exclusive to themselves and a few other dancing-women, professional prostitutes, to present infant female children for dedication to the temple as dancing-girls to be stamped as such, and so accredited to become at maturity professional prostitutes, private or public.31

(f) A Dēva-dāsi sued to establish her right to the mirāsi (fees) of dancing-girls in a certain pagoda, and to be put in possession of the said mirāsi together with the honours and perquisites attached thereto, and to recover twenty-four rupees, being the value of said perquisites and honours for the year preceding. She alleged that the Dharmakarta of the pagoda and his agents wrongfully dismissed her from the office because she had refused to acquiesce in the admission by the Dharmakarta of new dancing-girls into the pagoda service, ofwhich she claimed the monopoly for herself and the then existing families of dancing-girls. The District Judge dismissed the suit, but the High Court ordered a re-investigation as to the question of the existence of an hereditary office with endowments or emoluments attached to it.32

(g) A girl, aged seventeen, instituted a suit against the trustees of a pagoda. It was alleged that a woman who died some years previously was one of the dancing-women attached to the pagoda, and, as such, entitled to the benefit of one of the temple endowments; that she had taken in adoption the plaintiff, who was accordingly entitled to succeed to her office and the emoluments attached to it; that the plaintiff could not enter on the office until a bottu-tāli had been tied on her in the temple; and that the trustees did not permit this to be done. The prayer of the plaint was that the defendants be compelled to allow the tāli to be tied in the temple in view to the girl performing the dancing service, and enjoying the honours and endowments attached thereto. The Judge dismissed the suit on the ground that the claim was inadmissible, as being in effect a claim by the plaintiff to be enlisted as a public prostitute.33

(h) On the death of a prostitute dancing-girl, her adopted niece, belonging to the same class, succeeds to her property, in whatever way it is acquired, in preference to a brother remaining in his caste. The general rule is that the legal relation between a prostitute dancing-girl and her undegraded relations remaining in caste be severed.34

(i) A pauper sued his sister for the partition of property valued at Rs. 34,662. The parties belonged tothe Bōgam caste in the Godāvari district. The woman pleaded that the property had been acquired by her as a prostitute, and denied her brother’s claim to it. He obtained a decree for only Rs. 100, being a moiety of the property left by their mother. The High Court held, on the evidence as to the local custom of the caste, that the decree was right.35

(j) The accused, a Mādiga of the Bellary district, dedicated his minor daughter as a Basavi by a form of marriage with an idol. It appeared that a Basavi is incapable of contracting a lawful marriage, and ordinarily practices promiscuous intercourse with men, and that her sons succeed to her father’s property. It was held that the accused had committed an offence under the Penal Code, which lays down that “whoever sells, lets to hire, or otherwise disposes of any minor under the age of sixteen years, with intent that such minor shall be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution, or for any unlawful and immoral purpose, shall be punished, etc.” The Sessions judge referred to evidence that it was not a matter of course for Basavis to prostitute themselves for money, and added: “The evidence is very clear that Basavis are made in accordance with a custom of the Mādiga caste. It is also in evidence that one of the effects of making a girl Basavi is that her male issue becomes a son of her father, and perpetuates his family, whereas, if she were married, he would perpetuate her husband’s family. In this particular case, the girl was made a Basavi that she might be heir to her aunt, who was a Basavi, but childless. Siddalingana Gowd says that they and their issue inherit the parents’ property. There is evidence that Basavisare made on a very large scale, and that they live in their parents’ houses. There is no evidence that they are regarded otherwise than as respectable members of the caste. It seems as if the Basavi is the Mādiga and Bēdar equivalent of the “appointed daughter” of Hindu law (Mitakshara, Chap. I, s. xi, 3). Upon the whole, the evidence seems to establish that, among the Mādigas, there is a widespread custom of performing, in a temple at Uchangidurgam, a marriage ceremony, the result of which is that the girl is married without possibility of widowhood or divorce; that she is at liberty to have intercourse with men at her pleasure; that her children are heirs to her father, and keep up his family; and that Basavi’s nieces, being made Basavis, become their heirs. The Basavis seem in some cases to become prostitutes, but the language used by the witnesses generally points only to free intercourse with men, and not necessarily to receipt of payment for use of their bodies. In fact, they seem to acquire the right of intercourse with men without more discredit than accrues to the men of their caste for intercourse with women who are not their wives.36

It may be observed that Dēva-dāsis are the only class of women, who are, under Hindu law as administered in the British Courts, allowed to adopt girls to themselves. Amongst the other castes, a widow, for instance, cannot adopt to herself, but only to her husband, and she cannot adopt a daughter instead of a son. A recent attempt by a Brāhman at Poona to adopt a daughter, who should take the place of a natural-born daughter, was held to be invalid by general law, and not sanctioned by local usage.37The same would be held inMadras. “But among dancing-girls,” Mayne writes,38“it is customary in Madras and Western India to adopt girls to follow their adoptive mother’s profession, and the girls so adopted succeed to their property. No particular ceremonies are necessary, recognition alone being sufficient. In the absence, however, of a special custom, and on the analogy of an ordinary adoption, only one girl can be adopted.” In Calcutta and Bombay these adoptions by dancing-girls have been held invalid.39

Of proverbs relating to dancing-girls, the following may be quoted:—

(1) The dancing-girl who could not dance said that the hall was not big enough. The Rev. H. Jensen gives40as an equivalent “When the devil could not swim, he laid the blame on the water.”

(2) If the dancing-girl be alive, and her mother dies, there will be beating of drums; but, if the dancing-girl dies, there will be no such display. This is explained by Jensen as meaning that, to secure the favour of a dancing-girl, many men will attend her mother’s funeral; but, if the dancing-girl herself dies, there is nothing to be gained by attending the funeral.

(3) Like a dancing-girl wiping a child. Jensen remarks that a dancing-girl is supposed to have no children, so she does not know how to keep them clean. Said of one who tries to mend a matter, but lacks experience, and makes things worse than they were before.

(4) As when a boy is born in a dancing-girl’s house. Jensen notes that, if dancing-girls have children, they desire to have girls, that they may be brought up to their own profession.

(5) The dancing-girl, who was formerly more than filled with good food in the temple, now turns a somersault to get a poor man’s rice.

(6) If a matron is chaste, she may live in the dancing-girl’s street,

The insigne of courtesans, according to the Conjeeveram records, is a Cupid, that of a Christian, a curry-comb.41

Dēvādiga.—The Dēvādigas are Canarese-speaking temple servants in South Canara, concerning whom Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows.42“This is a class of servants, chiefly musicians in Hindu temples. In the reign of Mayūra Varma, who built a number of new temples, it was found that Brāhmans could not perform all the services. It was, therefore, ordained by him that the pūja or worship alone should be performed by the Brāhmans, and that the Stanikas and Dēvādigas should perform the other services in the temples. They are also called Moili (or Moyili), but there is a caste called Kannada Moili which is quite distinct, and Dēvādigas will not eat with them. Some of them cultivate lands, and some are employed as peons and constables. They returned eleven sub-divisions, but only one (Tulu) is numerically important. They are Vaishnavites, and Tulu Brāhmans are their priests. As regards marriage, there is no fixed age. Remarriage of widows is permitted, but it is practiced only in the case of young widows. The dead are burned. They eat flesh, and drink liquor.”

The Dēvādigas or Moilis speak Tulu, and are mainly agriculturists. Their traditional occupation, however, is said to be service in temples (slaves or servants of thedēva or god). A large number of them, both male and female, are engaged as domestic servants. Like the Bants, they follow the aliya santāna law of inheritance (in the female line), and they have the same balis (septs) as the Bants and Billavas. In their marriage ceremonies, they closely imitate the Bants. An interesting feature in connection therewith is that, during the dhāre ceremony, a screen is interposed between the bride and bridegroom at the time when the dhāre water is poured. As a sign of betrothal, a ring is given to the bride-elect, and she wears it on the little finger. The caste is a mixed one, and here and there Dēvādigas are seen to have the typical prominent cheek-bones and square face of the Jains.

In the Census Report, 1901, Dakkera Dēvali, Padarti, and Vālagadava are returned as sub-divisions of Dēvādiga.

Dēvala(belonging to God).—An exogamous sept of Oddē. The equivalent Dēvali has been recorded as a sub-caste of Dēvādiga, and Dēvalyal as a division of the Todas.43A division of the Irulas of the Nīlgiris, settled near the village of Dēvāla, is known by that name.

Dēvānga.—The Dēvāngas are a caste of weavers, speaking Telugu or Canarese, who are found all over the Madras Presidency. Those whom I studied in the Bellary district connected my operations in a vague way with the pilāg (plague) tax, and collection of subscriptions for the Victoria Memorial. They were employed in weaving women’s sāris in pure cotton, or with a silk border, which were sold to rich merchants in the local bazaar, some of whom belong to the Dēvānga caste. They laughingly said that, though they areprofessional weavers, they find it cheapest to wear cloths of European manufacture.

Dēvānga.Dēvānga.

Dēvānga.

The Dēvāngas are also called Jādaru or Jāda (great men), Dēndra, Dēvara, Dēra, Sēniyan, and Sēdan. At Coimbatore, in the Tamil country, they are called Settukkāran (economical people).

The following legend is narrated concerning the origin of the caste. Brahma, having created Manu, told him to weave clothes for Dēvas and men. Accordingly Manu continued to weave for some years, and reached heaven through his piety and virtuous life. There being no one left to weave for them, the Dēvas and men had to wear garments of leaves. Vexed at this, they prayed to Brahma that he would rescue them from their plight. Brahma took them to Siva, who at once created a lustrous spirit, and called him Dēvalan. Struck with the brilliancy thereof, all fled in confusion, excepting Parvati, who remained near Siva. Siva told her that Dēvalan was created to weave clothes, to cover the limbs and bodies of Dēvas and men, whose descendants are in consequence called Dēvāngas (Dēva angam, limb of god). Dēvalan was advised to obtain thread from the lotus stalks springing from the navel of Vishnu, and he secured them after a severe penance. On his way back, he met a Rākshasa, Vajradantan by name, who was doing penance at a hermitage, disguised as a Sanyāsi. Deceived by his appearance, Dēvalan paid homage to him, and determined to spend the night at the hermitage. But, towards the close of the day, the Rishi and his followers threw off their disguise, and appeared in their true colours as Asuras. Dēvalan sought the assistance of Vishnu, and a chakra was given to him, with which he attempted to overthrow the increasing number of Asuras. He then invoked the assistance of Chaudanāyaki orChaudēswari, who came riding on a lion, and the Asuras were killed off. The mighty Asuras who met their death were Vajradantan (diamond-toothed), Pugainethran (smoke-eyed), Pugaimugan (smoke-faced), Chithrasēnan (leader of armies) and Jeyadrathan (owner of a victory-securing car). The blood of these five was coloured respectively yellow, red, white, green, and black. For dyeing threads of different colours, Dēvalan dipped them in the blood. The Dēvāngas claim to be the descendants of Dēvalan, and say that they are Dēvānga Brāhmans, on the strength of the following stanza, which seems to have been composed by a Dēvānga priest, Sambalinga Murti by name:—

Manu was born in the Brāhman caste.He was surely a Brāhman in the womb.There is no Sudraism in this caste.Dēvanga had the form of Brāhma.

Manu was born in the Brāhman caste.

He was surely a Brāhman in the womb.

There is no Sudraism in this caste.

Dēvanga had the form of Brāhma.

The legendary origin of the Dēvāngas is given as follows in the Baramahal Records.44“When Brahma the creator created the charam and acharam, or the animate and inanimate creation, the Dēvatas or gods, Rākshasas or evil demons, and the human race, were without a covering for their bodies, which displeasing the god Narada or reason, he waited upon Paramēshwara or the great Lord at his palace on the Kailāsa Parvata or mount of paradise, and represented the indecent state of the inhabitants of the universe, and prayed that he would be pleased to devise a covering for their nakedness. Paramēshwara saw the propriety of Narada’s request, and thought it was proper to grant it. While he was so thinking, a male sprang into existence from his body, whom he named Dēva angamor the body of God, in allusion to the manner of his birth. Dēva angam instantly asked his progenitor why he had created him. The God answered ‘Repair to the pāla samudram or sea of milk, where you will find Sri Maha Vishnu or the august mighty god Vishnu, and he will tell thee what to do.’ Dēva angam repaired to the presence of Sri Maha Vishnu, and represented that Paramēshwara had sent him, and begged to be favoured with Vishnu’s commands. Vishnu replied ‘Do you weave cloth to serve as a covering to the inhabitants of the universe.’ Vishnu then gave him some of the fibres of the lotus flower that grew from his navel, and taught him how to make it into cloth. Dēva angam wove a piece of cloth, and presented it to Vishnu, who accepted it, and ordered him to depart, and to take the fibres of trees, and make raiment for the inhabitants of the Vishnu loka or gods. Dēva angam created ten thousand weavers, who used to go to the forest and collect the fibre of trees, and make it into cloth for the Dēvatas or gods and the human race. One day, Dēva angam and his tribe went to a forest in the Bhuloka or earthly world, in order to collect the fibre of trees, when he was attacked by a race of Rākshasas or giants, on which he waxed wroth, and, unbending his jata or long plaited hair, gave it a twist, and struck it once on the ground. In that moment, a Shakti, or female goddess having eight hands, each grasping a warlike weapon, sprang from the earth, attacked the Rākshasas, and defeated them. Dēva anga named her Chudēshwari or goddess of the hair, and, as she delivered his tribe out of the hands of the Rākshasas, he made her his tutelary divinity.”

The tribal goddess of the Dēvāngas is Chaudēswari, a form of Kāli or Durga, who is worshipped annuallyat a festival, in which the entire community takes part either at the temple, or at a house or grove specially prepared for the occasion. During the festival weaving operations cease; and those who take a prominent part in the rites fast, and avoid pollution. The first day is called alagu nilupadam (erecting, or fixing of the sword). The goddess is worshipped, and a sheep or goat sacrificed, unless the settlement is composed of vegetarian Dēvāngas. One man at least from each sept fasts, remains pure, and carries a sword. Inside the temple, or at the spot selected, the pūjari (priest) tries to balance a long sword on its point on the edge of the mouth of a pot, while the alagu men cut their chests with the swords. Failure to balance the sword is believed to be due to pollution brought by somebody to get rid of which the alagu men bathe. Cow’s urine and turmeric water are sprinkled over those assembled, and women are kept at a distance to prevent menstrual or other form of pollution. On the next day, called jothiārambam (jothi, light or splendour) as Chaudēswari is believed to have sprung from jothi, a big mass is made of rice flour, and a wick, fed with ghī (clarified butter) and lighted, is placed in a cavity scooped out therein. This flour lamp must be made by members of a pūjāri’s family assisted sometimes by the alagu boys. In its manufacture, a quantity of rice is steeped in water, and poured on a plantain leaf. Jaggery (crude sugar) is then mixed with it, and, when it is of the proper consistency, it is shaped into a cone, and placed on a silver or brass tray. On the third day, called pānaka pūja or mahānēvedyam, jaggery water is offered, and cocoanuts, and other offerings are laid before the goddess. The rice mass is divided up, and given to the pūjari, setti, alagu men and boys, and to thecommunity, to which small portions are doled out in a particular order, which must be strictly observed. For example, at Tindivānam the order is as follows:—

Fire-walking does not form part of the festival, as the goddess herself sprang from fire.

In some places in the North Arcot district the festival lasts over ten days, and varies in some points from the above. On the first day, the people go in procession to a jammi (Prosopis spicigera) tree, and worship a decorated pot (kalasam), to which sheep and goats are sacrificed. From the second to the sixth day, the goddess and pot are worshipped daily. On the seventh day, the jammi tree is again visited, and a man carries on his back cooked rice, which may not be placed on the ground, except near the tree, or at the temple. If the rice is not set downen routethereto, it is accepted as a sign that the festival may be proceeded with. Otherwise they would be afraid to light the joti on the ninth day. This is a busy day, and the ceremonies of sandhulu kattadam (binding the corners), alagu erecting, lighting the flour mass, and pot worship are performed. Early in the morning, goats and sheep are killed, outside the village boundary, in the north, east, south, and west corners, and the blood is sprinkled on all sides to keep off all foreign ganams or saktis. The sword business, as already described, is gone through, and certain tests applied to see whether the joti may be lighted. A lime fruit is placed in the region of the navel of the idol, who should throw it down spontaneously. A bundle of betel leaves is cut across with a knife, and the cut ends should unite. If theomens are favourable, the joti is lighted, sheep and goats are killed, and pongal (rice) is offered to the joti. The day closes with worship of the pot. On the last day the rice mass is distributed. All Dēvānga guests from other villages have to be received and treated with respect according to the local rules, which are in force. For this purpose, the community divide their settlements into Sthalams, Pāyakattulu, Galugrāmatulu, Pētalu, and Kurugrāmālu, which have a definite order of precedence.

Among the Dēvāngas the following endogamous sections occur:—(1) Telugu; (2) Canarese; (3) Hathinentu Manayavaru (eighteen house people); (4) Sivachara; (5) Ariya; (6) Kodekal Hatakararu (weavers).

They are practically divided into two linguistic sections, Canarese and Telugu, of which the former have adopted the Brāhmanical ceremonials to a greater extent than the latter, who are more conservative. Those who wear the sacred thread seem to preponderate over the non-thread weavers in the Canarese section. To the thread is sometimes attached metal charm-cylinder to ward off evil spirits.

The following are examples of exogamous septs in the Telugu section:—

The majority of Dēvāngas are Saivites, and wear the lingam. They do not, however, wash the stone lingam with water, in which the feet of Jangams have been washed. They are not particular as to always keeping the lingam on the body, and give as an explanation that, when they are at work, they have to touch all kinds of people. Some said that merchants, when engaged in their business, should not wear the lingam, especially if made of spatikam (quartz), as they have to tell untruths as regards the value and quality of their goods, and ruin would follow if these were told while the lingam was on the body.

In some parts of Ganjam, the country folk keep a large number of Brāhmini bulls. When one of these animals dies, very elaborate funeral ceremonies take place, and the dead beast is carried in procession by Dēvāngas, and buried by them. As the Dēvāngas are Lingāyats, they have a special reverence for Basavanna, the sacred bull, and the burying of the Brāhmini bull isregarded by them as a sacred and meritorious act. Other castes do not regard it as such, though they often set free sacred cows or calves.

Dēvāngas and Padma Sālēs never live in the same street, and do not draw water from the same well. This is probably due to the fact that they belong to the left and right-hand factions respectively, and no love is lost between them. Like other left-hand castes, Dēvāngas have their own dancing-girls, called Jāthi-biddalu (children of the castes), whose male offspring do achchupani, printing-work on cloth, and occasionally go about begging from Dēvāngas. In the Madras Census Report, 1901, it is stated that “in Madura and Tinnevelly, the Dēvāngas, or Sēdans, consider themselves a shade superior to the Brāhmans, and never do namaskāram (obeisance or salutation) to them, or employ them as priests. In Madura and Coimbatore, the Sēdans have their own dancing-girls, who are called Dēvānga or Sēda Dāsis in the former, and Mānikkāttāl in the latter, and are strictly reserved for members of the caste under pain of excommunication or heavy fine.”

Concerning the origin of the Dēvānga beggars, called Singamvādu, the following legend is current. When Chaudēswari and Dēvālan were engaged in combat with the Asuras, one of the Asuras hid himself behind the ear of the lion, on which the goddess was seated. When the fight was over, he came out, and asked for pardon. The goddess took pity on him, and ordered that his descendants should be called Singamvāllu, and asked Dēvālan to treat them as servants, and support them. Dēvāngas give money to these beggars, who have the privilege of locking the door, and carrying away the food, when the castemen take their meals. In assemblies of Dēvāngas, the hand of the beggar servesas a spittoon. He conveys the news of death, and has as the insignia of office a horn, called thuththari or singam.

The office of headman, or Pattagar, is hereditary, and he is assisted by an official called Sesha-rāju or Umidisetti who is the servant of the community, and receives a small fee annually for each loom within his beat.

Widow remarriage is permitted in some places, and forbidden in others. There may be intermarriage between the flesh-eating and vegetarian sections. But a girl who belongs to a flesh-eating family, and marries into a vegetarian family, must abstain from meat, and may not touch any vessel or food in her husband’s family till she has reached puberty. Before settling the marriage of a girl, some village goddess, or Chaudēswari, is consulted, and the omens are watched. A lizard chirping on the right is a good omen, and on the left bad. Sometimes, red and white flowers, wrapped up in green leaves, are thrown in front of the idol, and the omen considered good or bad according to the flower which a boy or girl picks up. At the marriage ceremony which commences with distribution of pān-supāri (betel) and Vignēswara worship, the bride is presented with a new cloth, and sits on a three-legged stool or cloth-roller (dhonige). The maternal uncle puts round her neck a bondhu (strings of unbleached cotton) dipped in turmeric. The ceremonies are carried out according to the Purānic ritual, except by those who consider themselves to be Dēvānga Brāhmans. On the first day the milk post is set up being made ofOdina Wodierin the Tamil, andMimusops hexandrain the Telugu country. Various rites are performed, which include tonsure, upanāyanam (wearing the sacred thread), pādapūja (washing the feet), Kāsiyātra (mock pilgrimage to Benares), dhārādhattam(giving away the bride), and māngalyadhāranam (tying the marriage badge, or bottu). The proceedings conclude with pot searching. A pap-bowl and ring are put into a pot. If the bride picks out the bowl, her first-born will be a girl, and if the bridegroom gets hold of the ring, it will be a boy. On the fifth day, a square design is made on the floor with coloured rice grains. Between the contracting couple and the square a row of lights is placed. Four pots are set, one at each corner of the square, and eight pots arranged along each side thereof. On the square itself, two pots representing Siva and Uma, are placed, with a row of seedling pots near them. A thread is wound nine times round the pots representing the god and goddess, and tied above to the pandal. After the pots have been worshipped, the thread is cut, and worn, with the sacred thread, for three months. This ceremony is called Nāgavali.

When a girl reaches puberty, a twig ofAlangium Lamarckiiis placed in the menstrual hut to keep off devils.

The dead are generally buried in a sitting posture. Before the grave is filled in, a string is tied to the kudumi (hair knot) of the corpse, and, by its means, the head is brought near the surface. Over it a lingam is set up, and worshipped daily throughout the death ceremonies.

The following curious custom is described by Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. Once in twelve years, a Dēvānga leaves his home, and joins the Padma Sālēs. He begs from them, saying that he is the son of their caste, and as such entitled to be supported by them. If alms are not forthcoming, he enters the house, and carries off whatever he may be able to pick up. Sometimes, if he can get nothing else, he has been known to seize alighted cigar in the mouth of a Sālē, and run off with it. The origin of this custom is not certain, but it has been suggested that the Dēvāngas and Sālēs were originally one caste, and that the former separated from the latter when they became Lingāyats. A Dēvānga only becomes a Chinērigādu when he is advanced in years, and will eat the remnants of food left by Padma Sālēs on their plates. A Chinērigādu is, on his death, buried by the Sālēs.

Many of the Dēvāngas are short of stature, light skinned, with sharp-cut features, light-brown iris, and delicate tapering fingers. Those at Hospet, in the Bellary district, carried thorn tweezers (for removing thorns ofAcacia arabicafrom the feet), tooth-pick and ear-scoop, suspended as a chatelaine from the loin-string. The more well-to-do had these articles made of silver, with the addition of a silver saw for paring the nails and cutting cheroots. The name Pampanna, which some of them bore, is connected with the nymph Pampa, who resides at Hampi, and asked Paramēswara to become her husband. He accordingly assumed the name of Pampāpathi, in whose honour there is a tank at Anagūndi, and temple at Hampi. He directed Pampa to live in a pond, and pass by the name of Pampasarovara.

The Sēdans of Coimbatore, at the time of my visit in October, were hard at work making clothes for the Dīpāvali festival. It is at times of festivals and marriages, in years of prosperity among the people, that the weavers reap their richest harvest.

In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bilimagga (white loom) and Atagāra (weavers and exorcists) are returned as sub-castes of Dēvānga. The usual title of the Dēvāngas is Chetti.

The shortness of stature of some of the weaving classes which I have examined is brought out by the following average measurements:—

Back to IndexNext