Chapter 10

(7) Dūr Poroja, also, it is said, known as Didāyi Poroja, who speak Oriya.Among the Bārang Jhōdias, the gidda (vulture), bāgh (tiger), and nāg (cobra) are regarded as totems. Among the Pengu, Kōndhi and Dūr divisions, the two last are apparently regarded as such, and, in addition to them, the Bonda Porojas have mandi (cow).In the Bārang Jhodia, Pengu, and Kōndhi divisions, it is customary for a man to marry his paternal aunt’s daughter, but he cannot claim her as a matter of right, for the principle of free love is recognised among them. The dhangada and dhangadi basa system, according to which bachelors and unmarried girls sleep in separate quarters in a village, is in force among the Porojas.When a marriage is contemplated among the Bārang Jhodias, the parents of the young man carry two pots of liquor and some rice to the parents of the girl, who accept the present, if they are favourable to the match. If it is accepted, the future bridegroom’s party renew the proposal a year later by bringing five kunchams of rice, a new female cloth, seven uddas of liquor, and a sum of money ranging from fifteen to fifty rupees. On the following evening, the bride, accompanied by her relations, goes to the village of the bridegroom. Outside his house two poles have been set up, and joined together at the top by a string, from which a gourd (Cucurbita maxima) is suspended. As soon as the contracting couple come before the house, a tall man cuts the gourd with his tangi (axe) and it falls to the ground. The pair then enter the house, and the bride is presented with a new cloth by the parents of the bridegroom. Opposite the bridegroom’s house is asquare fence, forming an enclosure, from which the bride’s party watch the proceedings. They are joined by the bride and bridegroom, and the parents of the latter distribute rāgi (Eleusine Corocana) liquor and ippa (Bassia) liquor. A dance, in which both males and females take part, is kept up till the small hours, and, on the following day, a feast is held. About midday, the bride is formally handed over to the bridegroom, in the presence of the Janni and Mudili (caste elders). She remains a week at her new home, and then, even though she has reached puberty, returns to her father’s house, where she remains for a year, before finally joining her husband. In another form of marriage among the Bārang Jhodias, the bride is brought to the house of the bridegroom, in front of which a pandal (booth), made of six poles, is set up. The central pole is cut from the nērēdi chettu (Eugenia Jambolana). At the auspicious moment, which is fixed by the Disāri, the maternal uncle of the bridegroom sits with the bridegroom on his lap, and the bride at his feet. Castor-oil is then applied by the bridegroom’s father, first to the bridegroom, and then to the bride. A feast follows, at which fowls and liquor are consumed. On the following day, the newly-married couple bathe, and the ceremonies are at an end.I am informed by Mr. H. C. Daniel that there is a custom among the Porojas, and other classes in Vizagapatam (e.g., Gadabas, Ghāsis, and Mālis), according to which a man gives his services as a goti for a specified time to another, in return for a small original loan. His master has to keep him supplied with food, and to pay him about two rupees at the Dussera festival, as well as making him a present of a cloth and a pair of sandals. The servant must do whatever he is told, and ispractically a slave until the specified time is over. A man may give his son as a goti, instead of himself. It is also fairly common to find a man serving his prospective father-in-law for a specified time, in order to secure his daughter. Men from the plains, usually of the Kōmati caste, who have come to the hills for the purpose of trade, go by the local name of Sundi. They are the chief upholders of the goti system, by which they get labour cheap. Mr. Daniel has never heard of a goti refusing to do his work, the contract being by both sides considered quite inviolable. But a case was recently tried in a Munsiff’s Court, in which a goti absconded from his original master, and took service with another, thereby securing a fresh loan. The original master sued him for the balance of labour due.The language of the Bonda Porojas, as already indicated, connects them closely with the Gadabas, but any such connection is stoutly denied by them. The names Bonda and Nanga mean naked, and bear reference to the fact that the only clothing of the women is a strip of cloth made from sētukudi or ankudi chettu, or kareng fibre. In a note on the Bhondas of Jaipūr, Mr. J. A. May informs us109that the female attire “consists of just a piece of cloth, either made of kerong bark and manufactured by themselves, or purchased from the weavers, about a foot square, and only sufficient to cover a part of one hip. It is attached to their waists by a string, on which it runs, and can be shifted round to any side. A most ludicrous sight has often been presented to me by a stampede among a number of these women, when I have happened to enter a village unexpectedly. On my approach, one and all hurried to their respectivedwellings, and, as they ran in all directions, endeavoured to shift this rag round to the part most likely to be exposed to me.” The Bonda women have glass bead and brass ornaments hung round their necks, and covering their bosoms. The legend, which accounts for the scanty clothing of the Bondas, runs to the effect that, when Sīta, the wife of Rāma, was bathing in a river, she was seen by women of this tribe, who laughed at and mocked her. Thereon, she cursed them, and ordained that, in future, all the women should shave their heads, and wear no clothing except a small covering for decency’s sake. There is a further tradition that, if the Bonda women were to abandon their primitive costume, the whole tribe would be destroyed by tigers. The shaving of the women’s heads is carried out, with a knife lent by the village Komāro (blacksmith), by a member of the tribe. Round the head, the women wear a piece of bamboo tied behind with strings.In one form of marriage, as carried out by the Bondas, a young man, with some of his friends, goes to the sleeping apartment of the maidens, where each of them selects a maid for himself. The young men and maidens then indulge in a singing contest, in which impromptu allusions to physical attributes, and bantering and repartee take place. If a girl decides to accept a young man as her suitor, he takes a burning stick from the night fire, and touches her breast with it. He then withdraws, and sends one of his friends to the girl with a brass bangle, which, after some questioning as to who sent it, she accepts. Some months later, the man’s parents go to the girl’s home, and ask for her hand on behalf of their son. A feast follows, and the girl, with a couple of girls of about her own age, goes with the man’s parents to their home. They send five kunchamsof rice to the parents of the girl, and present the two girls with a similar quantity. The three girls then return to their homes. Again several months elapse, and then the man’s parents go to fetch the bride, and a feast and dance take place. The pair are then man and wife.In another account of the marriage customs of the Nanga Porojas, it is stated that pits are dug in the ground, in which, during the cold season, the children are put at night, to keep them warm. The pit is about nine feet in diameter. In the spring, all the marriageable girls of a settlement are put into one pit, and a young man, who has really selected his bride with the consent of his parents, comes and proposes to her. If she refuses him, he tries one after another till he is accepted. On one occasion, a leopard jumped into the pit, and killed some of the maidens. In a note on Bhonda marriage, Mr. May writes110that “a number of youths, candidates for matrimony, start off to a village, where they hope to find a corresponding number of young women, and make known their wishes to the elders, who receive them with all due ceremony. The juice of the salop (sago palm) in a fermented state is in great requisition, as nothing can be done without the exhilarating effects of their favourite beverage. They then proceed to excavate an underground chamber (if one is not already prepared), having an aperture at the top, admitting of the entrance of one at a time. Into this the young gentlemen, with a corresponding number of young girls, are introduced, when they grope about and make their selection, after which they ascend out of it, each holding the young lady of his choice by theforefinger of one of her hands. Bracelets (the equivalent of the wedding ring) are now put on her arms by the elders, and two of the young men stand as sponsors for each bridegroom. The couples are then led to their respective parents, who approve and give their consent. After another application of salop and sundry greetings, the bridegroom is permitted to take his bride home, where she lives with him for a week, and then, returning to her parents, is not allowed to see her husband for a period of one year, at the expiration of which she is finally made over to him.” In a still further account of marriage among the Bondas, I am informed that a young man and a maid retire to the jungle, and light a fire. Then the maid, taking a burning stick, applies it to the man’s gluteal region. If he cries out Am! Am! Am! he is unworthy of her, and she remains a maid. If he does not, the marriage is at once consummated. The application of the brand is probably light or severe according to the girl’s feelings towards the young man. According to another version, the girl goes off to the jungle with several men, and the scene has been described as being like a figure in the cotillion, as they come up to be switched with the brand.Widow remarriage is permitted among all the divisions of the Porojas, and a younger brother usually marries his elder brother’s widow.The Jhodia, Pengu, and Kondhi divisions worship Bhūmi Dēvata (the earth goddess), who is also known as Jākar Dēvata, once in three years. Each village offers a cow, goat, pig, and pigeon to her as a sacrifice. She is represented by a stone under a tree outside the village. A casteman acts as pūjāri (priest), and all the villagers, including the Janni and Mūdili, are present at the festival, which winds up with a feast and drink.The Bondas worship Tākurāni in the months of Chaitra and Māgho, and the festival includes the sacrifice of animals. “Their religious ceremonies,” Mr. May writes, “consist in offerings to some nameless deity, or to the memory of deceased relations. At each of the principal villages, the Bhondas congregate once a year in some spot conveniently situated for their orgies, when a chicken, a few eggs, and a pig or goat are offered, after which they retire to their houses, and next day assemble again, when the salop juice is freely imbibed till the intoxicating effects have thoroughly roused their pugnacity. The process of cudgelling one another with the branches of the salop now begins, and they apply them indiscriminately without the smallest regard for each other’s feelings. This, with the attendant drums and shrieks, would give one the impression of a host of maniacs suddenly set at liberty. This amusement is continued till bruises, contusions, and bleeding heads and backs have reduced them to a comparatively sober state, and, I imagine, old scores are paid off, when they return to their several houses.”The dead are, as a rule, burnt. By some of the Jhodia Porojas, the ashes are subsequently buried in a pit a few feet deep, near the burning-ground, and the grave is marked by a heap of stones. A pole is set up in this heap, and water poured on it for twelve days. On the fourth day, cooked rice and fish are set on the way leading to the spot where the corpse was burned. The celebrants of the death rite then take mango bark, paint it with cow-dung, and sprinkle themselves with it. The ceremony concludes with a bath, feast, and drink. Among the Bonda Porojas, some of the jewelry of the deceased person is burnt with the corpse, and the remainder given to the daughter or daughter-in-law.They observe pollution for three days, during which they do not enter their fields. On the fourth day, they anoint themselves with castor-oil and turmeric, and bathe.Mr. G. F. Paddison informs me that he once gave medicine to the Porojas during an epidemic of cholera in a village. They all took it eagerly, but, as he was going away, asked whether it would not be quicker cure to put the witch in the next village, who had brought on the cholera, into jail.A Bonda Poroja dance is said to be very humourous. The young men tie a string of bells round their legs, and do the active part of the dance. The women stand in a cluster, with faces to the middle, clap their hands, and scream at intervals, while the men hop and stamp, and whirl round them on their own axes. The following account of a dance by the Jhōdia Poroja girls of the Koraput and Nandapuram country is given by Mr. W. Francis.111“Picturesque in the extreme,” he writes, “is a dancing party of these cheery maidens, dressed all exactly alike in clean white cloths with cerise borders or checks, reaching barely half way to the knee; great rings on their fingers; brass bells on their toes; their substantial but shapely arms and legs tattooed from wrist to shoulder, and from ankle to knee; their left forearms hidden under a score of heavy brass bangles; and their feet loaded with chased brass anklets weighing perhaps a dozen pounds. The orchestra, which consists solely of drums of assorted shapes and sizes, dashes into an overture, and the girls quickly group themselves into a couple ofcorps de ballet, each under the leadership of apremière danseuse, who marks thetime with a long baton of peacock’s feathers. Suddenly, the drums drop to a muffled beat, and each group strings out into a long line, headed by the leader with the feathers, each maiden passing her right hand behind the next girl’s back, and grasping the left elbow of the next but one. Thus linked, and in time with the drums (which now break intoallegro crescendo), the long chain of girls—dancing in perfect step, following the leader with her swaying baton, marking the time by clinking their anklets (right, left, right, clink; left, clink; right, left, right, clink; and soda capo), chanting the while (quite tunefully) in unison a refrain in a minor key ending on a sustained falling note—weave themselves into sinuous lines, curves, spirals, figures-of-eight, and back into lines again; wind in and out like some brightly-coloured snake; never halting for a moment, now backwards, now forwards, first slowly and decorously, then, as the drums quicken, faster and faster, with more and more abandon, and longer and longer steps, until suddenly some one gets out of step, and the chain snaps amid peals of breathless laughter.”For the following supplementary note on the Bonda Porojas, I am indebted to Mr. C. A. Henderson.These people live in the western portion of Malkanagiri tāluk, along the edge of the hills, probably penetrating some distance into them. The elder men are not in any way distinguishable from their neighbours. Young unmarried men, however, tie a strip of palmyra leaf round their heads in the same way as the women of their own tribe, or of the Gadabas. The women are very distinctly dressed. They all shave their heads once a month or so, and fasten a little fillet, made of beads or plaited grass, round them. The neck and chest are covered with a mass of ornaments, by whichthe breasts are almost concealed. These consist, for the most part, of bead necklaces, but they have also one or more very heavy brass necklaces of various designs, some being merely collections of rings on a connecting circlet, some massive hinged devices tied together at the end with string. They wear also small ear-studs of lead. Apart from these ornaments, they are naked to the waist. Round the loins, a small thick cloth is worn. This is woven from the fibre of the ringa (Oriya sītkodai gotsho). This cloth measures about two feet by eight inches, and is of thick texture like gunny, and variously coloured. Owing to its exiguity, its wearers are compelled, for decency’s sake, to sit on their heels with their knees together, instead of squatting in the ordinary native posture. This little cloth is supported round the waist by a thread, or light chain of tin and beads, but not totally confined thereby. The upper edge of the cloth behind is free from the chain, and bulges out, exposing the upper portion of the buttocks, the thread or chain lying in the small of the back. It is noted by Mr. Sandell that “the cloth at present used is of comparatively recent introduction, and seems to be a slight infringement of the tabu. The original cloth and supporting string were undoubtedly made of jungle fibre, and the modern colouring is brought about with cotton thread. Similarly, the Bonda Poroja necklaces of cheap beads, blue and white, must be modern, and most obviously so the fragments of tin that they work into their chains. The women are said to wear cloths in their houses, but to leave them off when they go outside. It seems that the tabu is directed against appearing in public fully clothed, and not against wearing decent sized cloths, as such. The party I saw were mostly unmarried girls, but one of them had beenmarried for a year. When not posing for the camera, or dancing, she tied a small piece of cloth round her neck, so as to hang over the shoulders. This, as far as I could make out, was not because she was married, but simply because she was more shy than the rest.“Two houses are kept in the village, for the unmarried girls and young men respectively. Apparently marriages are matters of inclination, the parents having no say in the matter. The young couple having contracted friendship (by word of mouth, and not by deed, as it was explained to me), inform their parents of it. The young man goes to make his demand of the girl’s parents, apparently without at the time making any presents to them, contrary to the custom of the Kondhs and others. Then there seem to be a series of promises on the part of the parents to give the girl. But the witnesses were rather confused on the point. I gather that the sort of final betrothal takes place in Dyali (the month after Dusserah), and the marriage in Magha. At the time of marriage, the girl’s parents are presented with a pair of bulls, a cloth, and a pot of landa (sago-palm toddy). But no return is made for them. The father gives the girl some ornaments. The married woman, whom I saw, had been given a bracelet by her husband, but it was not a conspicuously valuable one, and in no way indicative of her status.” In connection with marriage, Mr. Sandell adds that “a youth of one village does not marry a maiden of the same village, as they are regarded as brother and sister. The marriage pit is still in use, and may last all through the cold weather. A number of small villages will club together, and have one big pit.” In the case observed by Mr. Sandell, three of the localmaidens were shut up in the pit at night, and five stranger youths admitted. The pit may be twelve feet across, and is covered with tatties (mats) and earth, a trap-door being left.“After childbirth, the mother is unclean for some days. The time is, I gather, reckoned by the dropping of the navel-string, and is given as eight to sixteen days. During that period, the woman is not allowed to cook, or even touch her meals.“These people say that they have no pūja (worship). But at the time of sowing seed, they sacrifice one egg (for the whole village) to Matēra Hundi, the goddess of harvest, who is represented by a branch of the kusi or jāmo (guava) tree planted in the village. The people have no pūjāris, and, in this case, the priest was a Mattia by caste. He plants the branch, and performs the sacrifice. At the time of Nua Khāu (new eating; first fruits) a sacrifice of an animal of some kind is also made to Matēra Hundi. Her aid is, they say, sought against the perils of the jungle, but primarily she is wanted to give them a good crop. The Bonda Porojas are quite ready to tell the old story of Sīta (whom they call Mahā Lakshmi), and her curse upon their women, whereby they shave their heads, and may not wear cloths. It is stated by Mr. May that a Government Agent once insisted on a young woman being properly clothed, and she survived the change only three days. I understand that this case has been somewhat misrepresented. The cloth is believed not to have been forced upon the girl, but offered to, and greatly appreciated by her. Her death shortly afterwards was apparently not the result of violation of the tabu, but accidental, and due, it is believed, to small-pox. The people whom I saw had not heard of this episode, but said that awoman who wore a cloth out of doors would fall sick, not die. But the possibility of any woman of theirs wearing a cloth obviously seemed to them very remote. The Bonda Porojas have a sort of belief in ghosts—not altogether devils apparently, but the spirits of the departed (sayirē). These may appear in dreams, influence life and health, and vaguely exercise a helpful influence over the crops. I did not find out if they were propitiated in any way.“A dead body is washed, tied to a tatty (mat) hurdle, taken outside the village, and burnt. After eight days (said to be four in the case of rich men), the corpse-bearers, and the family, sit down to a funeral feast, at which drinking is not allowed. A pig, fowl, or goat, according to the circumstances of the family, forms the meal. This is done in some way for the sake of the departed, but how is not quite clear.“The Bonda Porojas live by cultivation, keep cattle, pigs, etc., and eat beef, and even the domestic pig. They pride themselves, as against their Hindu neighbours, in that their women eat with the men, and not of their leavings, and do not leave their village. The women, however, go to shandies (markets).”Pothoria.—Pothoria or Pothriya, meaning stone, is the name of a small class of Oriya stone-cutters in Ganjam, who are addicted to snaring antelopes by means of tame bucks, which they keep for the purpose of decoying the wild ones. They employ Brāhmans as purōhits. Marriage is infant, and remarriage of widows is permitted. The females wear glass bangles.Pōthu.—Pōthu or Pōthula, meaning male, occurs as an exogamous sept of Dēvānga, Mēdara, and Padma Sālē; and Pōthula, in the sense of a male buffalo, as a sept of Mādiga.Potia.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Oriya mat-makers. They are said to be immigrants from Potia in Orissa, who call themselves Doluvas. The Doluvas, however, do not recognise them, and neither eat nor intermarry with them.Potta(abdomen).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Potti(Tamil, worshipful).—Stated, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, to be the name applied to all Kērala Brāhmans, who do not come under the specific designation of Nambūtiris.Pouzu(quail).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Powāku(tobacco).—An exogamous sept of Māla.Poyilethānnāya(one who removes the evil eye).—An exogamous sept of Bant.Pradhāno(chief).—A title of Aruva, Benāiyto, Odia, Kālingi, Kēvuto, and Sāmantiya.Prānōpakāri(one who helps souls).—A name for barbers in Travancore. In the early settlement records, Pranu occurs as a corruption thereof.Prathamasākha.—It is recorded,112in connection with the village of Kōiltirumālam or Tiru-ambamahālam, that “a new temple has been recently built, and richly endowed by Nāttukōttai Chettis. There is, however, an old story connected with the place, which is enacted at the largely attended festival here, and in many popular dramas. This relates that the god of the Tiruvālūr temple was entreated by a pūjāri (priest) of this place to be present in the village at a sacrifice in his (the god’s) honour. The deity consented at length, but gave warning that he would come in a very unwelcome shape. He appeared as a Paraiyan with beef on his back and followed by the four Vēdas in the form of dogs, and tookhis part in the sacrifice thus accoutred and attended. All the Brāhmans who were present ran away, and the god was so incensed that he condemned them to be Paraiyans for one hour in the day, from noon till 1P.M.ever afterwards. There is a class of Brāhmans called Midday Brāhmans, who are found in several districts, and a colony of whom reside at Sēdanipuram, five miles west of Nannilam. It is believed throughout the Tanjore district that the Midday Paraiyans are the descendants of the Brāhmans thus cursed by the god. They are supposed to expiate their defilement by staying outside their houses for an hour and a half every day at midday, and to bathe afterwards; and, if they do this, they are much respected. Few of them, however, observe this rule, and orthodox persons will not eat with them, because of this omission to remove the defilement. They call themselves the Prathamasākha.”Prithvi(earth).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Puchcha.—Puccha or Puchcha Kāya (fruit ofCitrullus Colocynthis) is the name of a gōtra or sept of Bōyas, Kōmatis, and Vīramushtis, who are a class of mendicants attached to the Kōmatis. The same name, or picchi kāya, denoting the water-melonCitrullus vulgaris, occurs as a sept or house-name of Panta Reddis and Sēniyans (Dēvāngas), the members of which may not eat the fruit. The name Desimarada has been recently substituted by the Sēniyans for picchi kāya.Pudamuri(pudaya, a woman’s cloth; muri, cuttings).—Defined by Mr. Wigram as a so-called ‘marriage’ ceremony performed among the Nāyars in North Malabar. (SeeNāyar.)Pudu Nāttān(new country).—A sub-division of Idaiyan.Pū Islām.—SeePūtiya Islām.Pūjāri.—Pūjāri is an occupational title, meaning priest, or performer of pūja (worship). It is described by Mr. H. A. Stuart113as “a name applied to a class of priests, who mostly preside in the temples of the female deities—the Grāma Dēvatas or Ūr Ammas—and not in those of Vishnu or Siva. They do not wear the sacred thread, except on solemn occasions.” Pūjāri has been recorded as a title of Billavas as they officiate as priests at bhūtasthānas (devil shrines), and of Halēpaiks, and Pūjāli as a title of some Irulas. Some families of Kusavans (potters), who manufacture clay idols, are also known as pūjāri. Pūja occurs as a sub-division of the Gollas. Some criminal Koravas travel in the guise of Pūjāris, and style themselves Korava Pūjāris.Pula.—A sub-division of Cheruman.Pūla(flowers).—An exogamous sept of Bōya, Padma Sālē and Yerukala.Pūlān.—Barbers of Tamil origin, who have settled in Travancore.Pulavar.—A title of Ōcchan and Panisavan.Pulayan.—See Cheruman and Thanda Pulayan.Puli(tiger).—Recorded as an exogamous sept or gōtra of Balija, Golla, Kamma, and Mēdara. The equivalent Puliattanāya occurs as an exogamous sept of Bant.Puliakōdan.—A class of carpenters in Malabar, whose traditional occupation is to construct oil mills.Pūliāsāri.—A division of Malabar Kammālans, the members of which do mason’s work (pūli, earth). Paravas who are engaged in a similar calling are, in like manner, called Pūli Kollan.Pulikkal.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.Puliyan.—A sub-division of Nāyar.Puliyattu.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as synonymous with Pulikkappanikkan, a sub-division of Nāyar.Pullakūra(pot-herbs).—An exogamous sept of Īdiga.Pulluvan.—The Pulluvans of Malabar are astrologers, medicine-men, priests and singers in snake groves. The name is fancifully derived from pullu, a hawk, because the Pulluvan is clever in curing the disorders which pregnant women and babies suffer from through the evil influence of these birds. The Pulluvans are sometimes called Vaidyans (physicians).As regards the origin of the caste, the following tradition is narrated.114Agni, the fire god, had made several desperate but vain efforts to destroy the great primeval forest of Gāndava. The eight serpents which had their home in the forest were the chosen friends of Indra, who sent down a deluge, and destroyed, every time, the fire which Agni kindled in order to burn down the forest. Eventually Agni resorted to a stratagem, and, appearing before Arjunan in the guise of a Brāhman, contrived to exact a promise to do him any favour he might desire. Agni then sought the help of Arjunan in destroying the forest, and the latter created a wonderful bow and arrows, which cut off every drop of rain sent by Indra for the preservation of the forest. The birds, beasts, and other creatures which lived therein, fled in terror, but most of them were overtaken by the flames, and were burnt to cinders. Several of the serpents also were overtaken and destroyed, but one of them was rescued by the maid-servant of a Brāhman, who securedthe sacred reptile in a pot, which she deposited in a jasmine bower. When the Brāhman came to hear of this, he had the serpent removed, and turned the maid-servant adrift, expelling at the same time a man-servant, so that the woman might not be alone and friendless. The two exiles prospered under the protection of the serpent, which the woman had rescued from the flames, and became the founders of the Pulluvans. According to another story, when the great Gāndava forest was in conflagration, the snakes therein were destroyed in the flames. A large five-hooded snake, scorched and burnt by the fire, flew away in agony, and alighted at Kuttanād, which is said to have been on the site of the modern town of Alleppey. Two women were at the time on their way to draw water from a well. The snake asked them to pour seven potfuls of water over him, to alleviate his pain, and to turn the pot sideways, so that he could get into it. His request was complied with, and, having entered the pot, he would not leave it. He then desired one of the women to take him home, and place him in a room on the west side of the house. This she refused to do for fear of the snake, and she was advised to cover the mouth of the pot with a cloth. The room, in which the snake was placed, was ordered to be closed for a week. The woman’s husband, who did not know what had occurred, tried to open the door, and only succeeded by exerting all his strength. On entering the room, to his surprise he found an ant-hill, and disturbed it. Thereon the snake issued forth from it, and bit him. As the result of the bite, the man died, and his widow was left without means of support. The snake consoled her, and devised a plan, by which she could maintain herself. She was to go from house to house, and cry out “Give me alms, and be saved fromsnake poisoning.” The inmates would give, and the snakes, which were troubling their houses, would cease from annoying them. For this reason, a Pulluvan and his wife, when they go with their pulluva kudam (pot-drum) to a house, are asked to sing, and given money.The Pulluvar females, Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar writes,115“take a pretty large pitcher, and close its opening by means of a small circular piece of thin leather, which is fastened on to the vessel by means of strings strongly tied round its neck. Another string is adjusted to the leather cover, which, when played on by means of the fingers, produces a hoarse note, which is said to please the gods’ ears, pacify their anger, and lull them to sleep.” In the Malabar Gazetteer, this instrument is thus described. “It consists of an earthenware chatty with its bottom removed, and entirely covered, except the mouth, with leather. The portion of the leather which is stretched over the bottom of the vessel thus forms a sort of drum, to the centre of which a string is attached. The other end of the string is fixed in the cleft of a stick. The performer sits cross-legged, holding the chatty mouth downwards with his right hand, on his right knee. The stick is held firmly under the right foot, resting on the left leg. The performer strums on the string, which is thus stretched tight, with a rude plectrum of horn, or other substance. The vibrations communicated by the string to the tympanum produce a curious sonorous note, the pitch of which can be varied by increasing or relaxing the tension of the string.” This musical instrument is carried from house to house in the daytime by these Pulluvarfemales; and, placing the vessel in a particular position on the ground, and sitting in a particular fashion in relation to the vessel, they play on the string, which then produces a very pleasant musical note. Then they sing ballads to the accompaniment of these notes. After continuing this for some time, they stop, and, getting their customary dues from the family, go their own way. It is believed that the music, and the ballads, are peculiarly pleasing to the serpent gods, who bless those for whose sakes the music has been rendered.” The Pulluvans also play on a lute with snakes painted on the reptile skin, which is used in lieu of parchment. The skin, in a specimen at the Madras Museum, is apparently that of the big lizardVaranus bengalensis. The lute is played with a bow, to which a metal bell is attached.The dwelling-houses of the Pulluvans are like those of the Izhuvans or Cherumas. They are generally mud huts, with thatched roof, and a verandah in front.When a girl attains maturity, she is placed apart in a room. On the seventh day, she is anointed by seven young women, who give an offering to the demons, if she is possessed by any. This consists of the bark of a plantain tree made into the form of a triangle, on which small bits of tender cocoanuts and little torches are fixed. This is waved round the girl’s head, and floated away on water. As regards marriage, the Pulluvans observe both tāli-kettu and sambandham. In the vicinity of Palghat, members of the caste in the same village intermarry, and have a prejudice against contracting alliances outside it. Thus, the Pulluvans of Palghat do not intermarry with those of Mundūr and Kanghat, which are four and ten miles distant. It is said that, in former days, intercourse between brother and sister waspermitted. But, when questioned on this point, the Pulluvans absolutely deny it. It is, however, possible that something of the kind was once the case, for, when a man belonging to another caste is suspected of incest, it is said that he is like the Pulluvans. Should the parents of a married woman have no objection to her being divorced, they give her husband a piece of cloth called murikotukkuka. This signifies that the cloth which he gave is returned, and divorce is effected.Pulluvan casting out devils.Pulluvan casting out devils.The Pulluvans follow the makkathāyam law of inheritance (from father to son). But they seldom have any property to leave, except their hut and a few earthen pots. They have their caste assemblies (parichas), which adjudicate on adultery, theft, and other offences.They believe firmly in magic and sorcery, and every kind of sickness is attributed to the influence of some demon. Abortion, death of a new-born baby, prolonged labour, or the death of the woman, fever, want of milk in the breasts, and other misfortunes, are attributed to malignant influences. When pregnant women, or even children, walk out alone at midday, they are possessed by them, and may fall in convulsions. Any slight dereliction, or indifference with regard to the offering of sacrifices, is attended by domestic calamities, and sacrifices of goats and fowls are requisite. More sacrifices are promised, if the demons will help them in the achievement of an object, or in the destruction of an enemy. In some cases the village astrologer is consulted, and he, by means of his calculations, divines the cause of an illness, and suggests that a particular disease or calamity is due to the provocation of the family or other god, to whom sacrifices or offerings have not been made. Under these circumstances, a Velichapād, or oracle, is consulted. After bathing, and dressinghimself in a new mundu (cloth), he enters on the scene with a sword in his hand, and his legs girt with small bells. Standing in front of the deity in pious meditation, he advances with slow steps and rolling eyes, and makes a few frantic cuts on his forehead. He is already in convulsive shivers, and works himself up to a state of frenzied possession, and utters certain disconnected sentences, which are believed to be the utterances of the gods. Believing them to be the means of cure or relief from calamity, those affected reverentially bow before the Velichapād, and obey his commands. Sometimes they resort to a curious method of calculating beforehand the result of a project, in which they are engaged, by placing before the god two bouquets of flowers, one red, the other white, of which a child picks out one with its eyes closed. Selection of the white bouquet predicts auspicious results, of the red the reverse. A man, who wishes to bring a demon under his control, must bathe in the early morning for forty-one days, and cook his own meals. He should have no association with his wife, and be free from all pollution. Every night, after 10 o’clock, he should bathe in a tank (pond) or river, and stand naked up to the loins in the water, while praying to the god, whom he wishes to propitiate, in the words “I offer thee my prayers, so that thou mayst bless me with what I want.” These, with his thoughts concentrated on the deity, he should utter 101, 1,001, and 100,001 times during the period. Should he do this, in spite of all obstacles and intimidation by the demons, the god will grant his desires. It is said to be best for a man to be trained and guided by a guru (preceptor), as, if proper precautions are not adopted, the result of his labours will be that he goes mad.A Pulluvan and his wife preside at the ceremony called Pāmban Tullal to propitiate the snake gods of the nāgāttān kāvus, or serpent shrines. For this, a pandal (booth) is erected by driving four posts into the ground, and putting over them a silk or cotton canopy. A hideous figure of a huge snake is made on the floor with powders of five colours. Five colours are essential, as they are visible on the necks of snakes. Rice is scattered over the floor. Worship is performed to Ganēsa, and cocoanuts and rice are offered. Incense is burnt, and a lamp placed on a plate. The members of the family go round the booth, and the woman, from whom the devil has to be cast out, bathes, and takes her seat on the western side, holding a bunch of palm flowers. The Pulluvan and his wife begin the music, vocal and instrumental, the woman keeping time with the pot-drum by striking on a metal vessel. As they sing songs in honour of the snake deity, the young female members of the family, who have been purified by a bath, and are seated, begin to quiver, sway their heads to and fro in time with the music, and the tresses of their hair are let loose. In their state of excitement, they beat upon the floor, and rub out the figure of the snake with palm flowers. This done, they proceed to the snake-grove, and prostrate themselves before the stone images of snakes, and recover consciousness. They take milk, water from a tender cocoanut, and plantains. The Pulluvan stops singing, and the ceremony is over. “Sometimes,” Mr. Gopal Panikkar writes, “the gods appear in the bodies of all these females, and sometimes only in those of a select few, or none at all. The refusal of the gods to enter into such persons is symbolical of some want of cleanliness in them: which contingency is looked upon as a source of anxiety to the individual.Pulluvan with pot-drum.Pulluvan with pot-drum.It may also suggest the displeasure of these gods towards the family, in respect of which the ceremony is performed. In either case, such refusal on the part of the gods is an index of their ill-will or dissatisfaction. In cases where the gods refuse to appear in any one of those seated for the purpose, the ceremony is prolonged until the gods are so properly propitiated as to constrain them to manifest themselves. Then, after the lapse of the number of days fixed for the ceremony, and, after the will of the serpent gods is duly expressed, the ceremonies close.” Sometimes, it is said, it may be considered necessary to rub away the figure as many as 101 times, in which case the ceremony is prolonged over several weeks. Each time that the snake design is destroyed, one or two men, with torches in their hands, perform a dance, keeping step to the Pulluvan’s music. The family may eventually erect a small platform or shrine in a corner of their grounds, and worship at it annually. The snake deity will not, it is believed, manifest himself if any of the persons, or articles required for the ceremony, are impure,e.g., if the pot-drum has been polluted by the touch of a menstruating female. The Pulluvan, from whom a drum was purchased for the Madras Museum, was very reluctant to part with it, lest it should be touched by an impure woman.The Pulluvans worship the gods of the Brāhmanical temples, from a distance, and believe in spirits of all sorts and conditions. They worship Velayuthan, Ayyappa, Rāhu, Mūni, Chāthan, Mukkan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, and others. Mūni is a well-disposed deity, to whom, once a year, rice, plantains, and cocoanuts are offered. To Mukkan, Karinkutti, and others, sheep and fowls are offered. A floral device (padmam) is drawnon the floor with nine divisions in rice-flour, on each of which a piece of tender cocoanut leaf, and a lighted wick dipped in cocoanut oil, are placed. Parched rice, boiled beans, jaggery (crude sugar), cakes, plantains, and toddy are offered, and camphor and incense burnt. If a sheep has to be sacrificed, boiled rice is offered, and water sprinkled over the head of the sheep before it is killed. If it shakes itself, so that it frees itself from the water, it is considered as a favourable omen. On every new-moon day, offerings of mutton, fowls, rice-balls, toddy, and other things, served up on a plantain leaf, are made to the souls of the departed. The celebrants, who have bathed and cooked their own food on the previous day, prostrate themselves, and say “Ye dead ancestors, we offer what we can afford. May you take the gifts, and be pleased to protect us.”The Pulluvans bury their dead. The place of burial is near a river, or in a secluded spot near the dwelling of the deceased. The corpse is covered with a cloth, and a cocoanut placed with it. Offerings of rice-balls are made by the son daily for fifteen days, when pollution ceases, and a feast is held.At the present day, some Pulluvans work at various forms of labour, such as sowing, ploughing, reaping, fencing, and cutting timber, for which they are paid in money or kind. They are, in fact, day-labourers, living in huts built on the waste land of some landlord, for which they pay a nominal ground-rent. They will take food prepared by Brāhmans, Nāyars, Kammālans, and Izhuvas, but not that prepared by a Mannān or Kaniyan. Carpenters and Izhuvas bathe when a Pulluvan has touched them. But the Pulluvans are polluted by Cherumas, Pulayas, Paraiyans, Ullādans, and others. The women wear the kacha, like Izhuva women, foldedtwice, and worn round the loins, and are seldom seen with an upper body-cloth.116Puluvan.—The Puluvans have been described117as “a small tribe of cultivators found in the district of Coimbatore. Puluvans are the learned men among the Coimbatore Vellālas, and are supposed to be the depositaries of the poet Kamban’s works. One authority from Coimbatore writes that the traditional occupation of this caste is military service, and derives the word from bhū, earth, and valavan, a ruler; while another thinks that the correct word is Pūruvan, aborigines. Their girls are married usually after they attain maturity. In the disposal of the dead, both cremation and burial are in vogue, the tendency being towards the former. They are flesh-eaters. Their customs generally resemble those of the Konga Vellālas.”The Puluvans call themselves Puluva Vellālas.Pūnamalli.—The name of a division of Vellālas derived from Poonamallee, an old military station near Madras.Pūni.—A sub-division of Golla.Punjala(cock, or male).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Pūppalli.—SeeUnni.Puragiri Kshatriya.—A name assumed by some Perikes.Puramalai,PuramalaināduorPiramalainādu.—A territorial sub-division of Kallan.Puranadi.—Barbers and priests of the Vēlans of Travancore, who are also called Vēlakkuruppu.Purattu Charna.—A sub-division of Nāyar.Purusha.—SeeJōgi Purusha.Pūsa(beads).—A sub-division of Balija. A sub-division of the Yerukalas is known as Pūsalavādu, or sellers of glass beads.Pūsāli.—A title of Ōcchans, or pūjāris (priests) at temples of Grāma Dēvatas (village deities).Pūsapāti.—The family name of the Mahārājahs of Vizianagram. From the Kshatriyas in Rājputāna people of four gōtrams are said to have come to the Northern Circars several centuries ago, having the Pūsapāti family at their head.118The name of the present Mahārāja is Mirza Rājah Srī Pūsapāti Viziarāma Gajapati Rāj Manya Sultān Bahādur Gāru.Pūshpakan.—A class of Ambalavāsis in Malabar and Travancore. “As their name (pushpam, a flower) implies, they are employed in bringing flowers and garlands to the temples.”119SeeUnni.Puthukka Nāttār(people of the new country).—A sub-division of Idaiyan.Pūtiya Islām.—Pu Islām or Pūtiya Islām is the name returned mostly by Mukkuvans, in reference to their new conversion to the Muhammadan faith.Putta(ant-hill).—An exogamous sept of Kamma, Kuruba, Māla, Mēdara, and Padma Sālē. ‘White-ant’ (Termites) hills are frequently worshipped as being the abode of snakes.Puttiya.—A sub-division of Rōna.Puttūr.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.Puzhi Tacchan(sand carpenter).—The name of a small section of Malabar Kammālans.

(7) Dūr Poroja, also, it is said, known as Didāyi Poroja, who speak Oriya.Among the Bārang Jhōdias, the gidda (vulture), bāgh (tiger), and nāg (cobra) are regarded as totems. Among the Pengu, Kōndhi and Dūr divisions, the two last are apparently regarded as such, and, in addition to them, the Bonda Porojas have mandi (cow).In the Bārang Jhodia, Pengu, and Kōndhi divisions, it is customary for a man to marry his paternal aunt’s daughter, but he cannot claim her as a matter of right, for the principle of free love is recognised among them. The dhangada and dhangadi basa system, according to which bachelors and unmarried girls sleep in separate quarters in a village, is in force among the Porojas.When a marriage is contemplated among the Bārang Jhodias, the parents of the young man carry two pots of liquor and some rice to the parents of the girl, who accept the present, if they are favourable to the match. If it is accepted, the future bridegroom’s party renew the proposal a year later by bringing five kunchams of rice, a new female cloth, seven uddas of liquor, and a sum of money ranging from fifteen to fifty rupees. On the following evening, the bride, accompanied by her relations, goes to the village of the bridegroom. Outside his house two poles have been set up, and joined together at the top by a string, from which a gourd (Cucurbita maxima) is suspended. As soon as the contracting couple come before the house, a tall man cuts the gourd with his tangi (axe) and it falls to the ground. The pair then enter the house, and the bride is presented with a new cloth by the parents of the bridegroom. Opposite the bridegroom’s house is asquare fence, forming an enclosure, from which the bride’s party watch the proceedings. They are joined by the bride and bridegroom, and the parents of the latter distribute rāgi (Eleusine Corocana) liquor and ippa (Bassia) liquor. A dance, in which both males and females take part, is kept up till the small hours, and, on the following day, a feast is held. About midday, the bride is formally handed over to the bridegroom, in the presence of the Janni and Mudili (caste elders). She remains a week at her new home, and then, even though she has reached puberty, returns to her father’s house, where she remains for a year, before finally joining her husband. In another form of marriage among the Bārang Jhodias, the bride is brought to the house of the bridegroom, in front of which a pandal (booth), made of six poles, is set up. The central pole is cut from the nērēdi chettu (Eugenia Jambolana). At the auspicious moment, which is fixed by the Disāri, the maternal uncle of the bridegroom sits with the bridegroom on his lap, and the bride at his feet. Castor-oil is then applied by the bridegroom’s father, first to the bridegroom, and then to the bride. A feast follows, at which fowls and liquor are consumed. On the following day, the newly-married couple bathe, and the ceremonies are at an end.I am informed by Mr. H. C. Daniel that there is a custom among the Porojas, and other classes in Vizagapatam (e.g., Gadabas, Ghāsis, and Mālis), according to which a man gives his services as a goti for a specified time to another, in return for a small original loan. His master has to keep him supplied with food, and to pay him about two rupees at the Dussera festival, as well as making him a present of a cloth and a pair of sandals. The servant must do whatever he is told, and ispractically a slave until the specified time is over. A man may give his son as a goti, instead of himself. It is also fairly common to find a man serving his prospective father-in-law for a specified time, in order to secure his daughter. Men from the plains, usually of the Kōmati caste, who have come to the hills for the purpose of trade, go by the local name of Sundi. They are the chief upholders of the goti system, by which they get labour cheap. Mr. Daniel has never heard of a goti refusing to do his work, the contract being by both sides considered quite inviolable. But a case was recently tried in a Munsiff’s Court, in which a goti absconded from his original master, and took service with another, thereby securing a fresh loan. The original master sued him for the balance of labour due.The language of the Bonda Porojas, as already indicated, connects them closely with the Gadabas, but any such connection is stoutly denied by them. The names Bonda and Nanga mean naked, and bear reference to the fact that the only clothing of the women is a strip of cloth made from sētukudi or ankudi chettu, or kareng fibre. In a note on the Bhondas of Jaipūr, Mr. J. A. May informs us109that the female attire “consists of just a piece of cloth, either made of kerong bark and manufactured by themselves, or purchased from the weavers, about a foot square, and only sufficient to cover a part of one hip. It is attached to their waists by a string, on which it runs, and can be shifted round to any side. A most ludicrous sight has often been presented to me by a stampede among a number of these women, when I have happened to enter a village unexpectedly. On my approach, one and all hurried to their respectivedwellings, and, as they ran in all directions, endeavoured to shift this rag round to the part most likely to be exposed to me.” The Bonda women have glass bead and brass ornaments hung round their necks, and covering their bosoms. The legend, which accounts for the scanty clothing of the Bondas, runs to the effect that, when Sīta, the wife of Rāma, was bathing in a river, she was seen by women of this tribe, who laughed at and mocked her. Thereon, she cursed them, and ordained that, in future, all the women should shave their heads, and wear no clothing except a small covering for decency’s sake. There is a further tradition that, if the Bonda women were to abandon their primitive costume, the whole tribe would be destroyed by tigers. The shaving of the women’s heads is carried out, with a knife lent by the village Komāro (blacksmith), by a member of the tribe. Round the head, the women wear a piece of bamboo tied behind with strings.In one form of marriage, as carried out by the Bondas, a young man, with some of his friends, goes to the sleeping apartment of the maidens, where each of them selects a maid for himself. The young men and maidens then indulge in a singing contest, in which impromptu allusions to physical attributes, and bantering and repartee take place. If a girl decides to accept a young man as her suitor, he takes a burning stick from the night fire, and touches her breast with it. He then withdraws, and sends one of his friends to the girl with a brass bangle, which, after some questioning as to who sent it, she accepts. Some months later, the man’s parents go to the girl’s home, and ask for her hand on behalf of their son. A feast follows, and the girl, with a couple of girls of about her own age, goes with the man’s parents to their home. They send five kunchamsof rice to the parents of the girl, and present the two girls with a similar quantity. The three girls then return to their homes. Again several months elapse, and then the man’s parents go to fetch the bride, and a feast and dance take place. The pair are then man and wife.In another account of the marriage customs of the Nanga Porojas, it is stated that pits are dug in the ground, in which, during the cold season, the children are put at night, to keep them warm. The pit is about nine feet in diameter. In the spring, all the marriageable girls of a settlement are put into one pit, and a young man, who has really selected his bride with the consent of his parents, comes and proposes to her. If she refuses him, he tries one after another till he is accepted. On one occasion, a leopard jumped into the pit, and killed some of the maidens. In a note on Bhonda marriage, Mr. May writes110that “a number of youths, candidates for matrimony, start off to a village, where they hope to find a corresponding number of young women, and make known their wishes to the elders, who receive them with all due ceremony. The juice of the salop (sago palm) in a fermented state is in great requisition, as nothing can be done without the exhilarating effects of their favourite beverage. They then proceed to excavate an underground chamber (if one is not already prepared), having an aperture at the top, admitting of the entrance of one at a time. Into this the young gentlemen, with a corresponding number of young girls, are introduced, when they grope about and make their selection, after which they ascend out of it, each holding the young lady of his choice by theforefinger of one of her hands. Bracelets (the equivalent of the wedding ring) are now put on her arms by the elders, and two of the young men stand as sponsors for each bridegroom. The couples are then led to their respective parents, who approve and give their consent. After another application of salop and sundry greetings, the bridegroom is permitted to take his bride home, where she lives with him for a week, and then, returning to her parents, is not allowed to see her husband for a period of one year, at the expiration of which she is finally made over to him.” In a still further account of marriage among the Bondas, I am informed that a young man and a maid retire to the jungle, and light a fire. Then the maid, taking a burning stick, applies it to the man’s gluteal region. If he cries out Am! Am! Am! he is unworthy of her, and she remains a maid. If he does not, the marriage is at once consummated. The application of the brand is probably light or severe according to the girl’s feelings towards the young man. According to another version, the girl goes off to the jungle with several men, and the scene has been described as being like a figure in the cotillion, as they come up to be switched with the brand.Widow remarriage is permitted among all the divisions of the Porojas, and a younger brother usually marries his elder brother’s widow.The Jhodia, Pengu, and Kondhi divisions worship Bhūmi Dēvata (the earth goddess), who is also known as Jākar Dēvata, once in three years. Each village offers a cow, goat, pig, and pigeon to her as a sacrifice. She is represented by a stone under a tree outside the village. A casteman acts as pūjāri (priest), and all the villagers, including the Janni and Mūdili, are present at the festival, which winds up with a feast and drink.The Bondas worship Tākurāni in the months of Chaitra and Māgho, and the festival includes the sacrifice of animals. “Their religious ceremonies,” Mr. May writes, “consist in offerings to some nameless deity, or to the memory of deceased relations. At each of the principal villages, the Bhondas congregate once a year in some spot conveniently situated for their orgies, when a chicken, a few eggs, and a pig or goat are offered, after which they retire to their houses, and next day assemble again, when the salop juice is freely imbibed till the intoxicating effects have thoroughly roused their pugnacity. The process of cudgelling one another with the branches of the salop now begins, and they apply them indiscriminately without the smallest regard for each other’s feelings. This, with the attendant drums and shrieks, would give one the impression of a host of maniacs suddenly set at liberty. This amusement is continued till bruises, contusions, and bleeding heads and backs have reduced them to a comparatively sober state, and, I imagine, old scores are paid off, when they return to their several houses.”The dead are, as a rule, burnt. By some of the Jhodia Porojas, the ashes are subsequently buried in a pit a few feet deep, near the burning-ground, and the grave is marked by a heap of stones. A pole is set up in this heap, and water poured on it for twelve days. On the fourth day, cooked rice and fish are set on the way leading to the spot where the corpse was burned. The celebrants of the death rite then take mango bark, paint it with cow-dung, and sprinkle themselves with it. The ceremony concludes with a bath, feast, and drink. Among the Bonda Porojas, some of the jewelry of the deceased person is burnt with the corpse, and the remainder given to the daughter or daughter-in-law.They observe pollution for three days, during which they do not enter their fields. On the fourth day, they anoint themselves with castor-oil and turmeric, and bathe.Mr. G. F. Paddison informs me that he once gave medicine to the Porojas during an epidemic of cholera in a village. They all took it eagerly, but, as he was going away, asked whether it would not be quicker cure to put the witch in the next village, who had brought on the cholera, into jail.A Bonda Poroja dance is said to be very humourous. The young men tie a string of bells round their legs, and do the active part of the dance. The women stand in a cluster, with faces to the middle, clap their hands, and scream at intervals, while the men hop and stamp, and whirl round them on their own axes. The following account of a dance by the Jhōdia Poroja girls of the Koraput and Nandapuram country is given by Mr. W. Francis.111“Picturesque in the extreme,” he writes, “is a dancing party of these cheery maidens, dressed all exactly alike in clean white cloths with cerise borders or checks, reaching barely half way to the knee; great rings on their fingers; brass bells on their toes; their substantial but shapely arms and legs tattooed from wrist to shoulder, and from ankle to knee; their left forearms hidden under a score of heavy brass bangles; and their feet loaded with chased brass anklets weighing perhaps a dozen pounds. The orchestra, which consists solely of drums of assorted shapes and sizes, dashes into an overture, and the girls quickly group themselves into a couple ofcorps de ballet, each under the leadership of apremière danseuse, who marks thetime with a long baton of peacock’s feathers. Suddenly, the drums drop to a muffled beat, and each group strings out into a long line, headed by the leader with the feathers, each maiden passing her right hand behind the next girl’s back, and grasping the left elbow of the next but one. Thus linked, and in time with the drums (which now break intoallegro crescendo), the long chain of girls—dancing in perfect step, following the leader with her swaying baton, marking the time by clinking their anklets (right, left, right, clink; left, clink; right, left, right, clink; and soda capo), chanting the while (quite tunefully) in unison a refrain in a minor key ending on a sustained falling note—weave themselves into sinuous lines, curves, spirals, figures-of-eight, and back into lines again; wind in and out like some brightly-coloured snake; never halting for a moment, now backwards, now forwards, first slowly and decorously, then, as the drums quicken, faster and faster, with more and more abandon, and longer and longer steps, until suddenly some one gets out of step, and the chain snaps amid peals of breathless laughter.”For the following supplementary note on the Bonda Porojas, I am indebted to Mr. C. A. Henderson.These people live in the western portion of Malkanagiri tāluk, along the edge of the hills, probably penetrating some distance into them. The elder men are not in any way distinguishable from their neighbours. Young unmarried men, however, tie a strip of palmyra leaf round their heads in the same way as the women of their own tribe, or of the Gadabas. The women are very distinctly dressed. They all shave their heads once a month or so, and fasten a little fillet, made of beads or plaited grass, round them. The neck and chest are covered with a mass of ornaments, by whichthe breasts are almost concealed. These consist, for the most part, of bead necklaces, but they have also one or more very heavy brass necklaces of various designs, some being merely collections of rings on a connecting circlet, some massive hinged devices tied together at the end with string. They wear also small ear-studs of lead. Apart from these ornaments, they are naked to the waist. Round the loins, a small thick cloth is worn. This is woven from the fibre of the ringa (Oriya sītkodai gotsho). This cloth measures about two feet by eight inches, and is of thick texture like gunny, and variously coloured. Owing to its exiguity, its wearers are compelled, for decency’s sake, to sit on their heels with their knees together, instead of squatting in the ordinary native posture. This little cloth is supported round the waist by a thread, or light chain of tin and beads, but not totally confined thereby. The upper edge of the cloth behind is free from the chain, and bulges out, exposing the upper portion of the buttocks, the thread or chain lying in the small of the back. It is noted by Mr. Sandell that “the cloth at present used is of comparatively recent introduction, and seems to be a slight infringement of the tabu. The original cloth and supporting string were undoubtedly made of jungle fibre, and the modern colouring is brought about with cotton thread. Similarly, the Bonda Poroja necklaces of cheap beads, blue and white, must be modern, and most obviously so the fragments of tin that they work into their chains. The women are said to wear cloths in their houses, but to leave them off when they go outside. It seems that the tabu is directed against appearing in public fully clothed, and not against wearing decent sized cloths, as such. The party I saw were mostly unmarried girls, but one of them had beenmarried for a year. When not posing for the camera, or dancing, she tied a small piece of cloth round her neck, so as to hang over the shoulders. This, as far as I could make out, was not because she was married, but simply because she was more shy than the rest.“Two houses are kept in the village, for the unmarried girls and young men respectively. Apparently marriages are matters of inclination, the parents having no say in the matter. The young couple having contracted friendship (by word of mouth, and not by deed, as it was explained to me), inform their parents of it. The young man goes to make his demand of the girl’s parents, apparently without at the time making any presents to them, contrary to the custom of the Kondhs and others. Then there seem to be a series of promises on the part of the parents to give the girl. But the witnesses were rather confused on the point. I gather that the sort of final betrothal takes place in Dyali (the month after Dusserah), and the marriage in Magha. At the time of marriage, the girl’s parents are presented with a pair of bulls, a cloth, and a pot of landa (sago-palm toddy). But no return is made for them. The father gives the girl some ornaments. The married woman, whom I saw, had been given a bracelet by her husband, but it was not a conspicuously valuable one, and in no way indicative of her status.” In connection with marriage, Mr. Sandell adds that “a youth of one village does not marry a maiden of the same village, as they are regarded as brother and sister. The marriage pit is still in use, and may last all through the cold weather. A number of small villages will club together, and have one big pit.” In the case observed by Mr. Sandell, three of the localmaidens were shut up in the pit at night, and five stranger youths admitted. The pit may be twelve feet across, and is covered with tatties (mats) and earth, a trap-door being left.“After childbirth, the mother is unclean for some days. The time is, I gather, reckoned by the dropping of the navel-string, and is given as eight to sixteen days. During that period, the woman is not allowed to cook, or even touch her meals.“These people say that they have no pūja (worship). But at the time of sowing seed, they sacrifice one egg (for the whole village) to Matēra Hundi, the goddess of harvest, who is represented by a branch of the kusi or jāmo (guava) tree planted in the village. The people have no pūjāris, and, in this case, the priest was a Mattia by caste. He plants the branch, and performs the sacrifice. At the time of Nua Khāu (new eating; first fruits) a sacrifice of an animal of some kind is also made to Matēra Hundi. Her aid is, they say, sought against the perils of the jungle, but primarily she is wanted to give them a good crop. The Bonda Porojas are quite ready to tell the old story of Sīta (whom they call Mahā Lakshmi), and her curse upon their women, whereby they shave their heads, and may not wear cloths. It is stated by Mr. May that a Government Agent once insisted on a young woman being properly clothed, and she survived the change only three days. I understand that this case has been somewhat misrepresented. The cloth is believed not to have been forced upon the girl, but offered to, and greatly appreciated by her. Her death shortly afterwards was apparently not the result of violation of the tabu, but accidental, and due, it is believed, to small-pox. The people whom I saw had not heard of this episode, but said that awoman who wore a cloth out of doors would fall sick, not die. But the possibility of any woman of theirs wearing a cloth obviously seemed to them very remote. The Bonda Porojas have a sort of belief in ghosts—not altogether devils apparently, but the spirits of the departed (sayirē). These may appear in dreams, influence life and health, and vaguely exercise a helpful influence over the crops. I did not find out if they were propitiated in any way.“A dead body is washed, tied to a tatty (mat) hurdle, taken outside the village, and burnt. After eight days (said to be four in the case of rich men), the corpse-bearers, and the family, sit down to a funeral feast, at which drinking is not allowed. A pig, fowl, or goat, according to the circumstances of the family, forms the meal. This is done in some way for the sake of the departed, but how is not quite clear.“The Bonda Porojas live by cultivation, keep cattle, pigs, etc., and eat beef, and even the domestic pig. They pride themselves, as against their Hindu neighbours, in that their women eat with the men, and not of their leavings, and do not leave their village. The women, however, go to shandies (markets).”Pothoria.—Pothoria or Pothriya, meaning stone, is the name of a small class of Oriya stone-cutters in Ganjam, who are addicted to snaring antelopes by means of tame bucks, which they keep for the purpose of decoying the wild ones. They employ Brāhmans as purōhits. Marriage is infant, and remarriage of widows is permitted. The females wear glass bangles.Pōthu.—Pōthu or Pōthula, meaning male, occurs as an exogamous sept of Dēvānga, Mēdara, and Padma Sālē; and Pōthula, in the sense of a male buffalo, as a sept of Mādiga.Potia.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Oriya mat-makers. They are said to be immigrants from Potia in Orissa, who call themselves Doluvas. The Doluvas, however, do not recognise them, and neither eat nor intermarry with them.Potta(abdomen).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Potti(Tamil, worshipful).—Stated, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, to be the name applied to all Kērala Brāhmans, who do not come under the specific designation of Nambūtiris.Pouzu(quail).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Powāku(tobacco).—An exogamous sept of Māla.Poyilethānnāya(one who removes the evil eye).—An exogamous sept of Bant.Pradhāno(chief).—A title of Aruva, Benāiyto, Odia, Kālingi, Kēvuto, and Sāmantiya.Prānōpakāri(one who helps souls).—A name for barbers in Travancore. In the early settlement records, Pranu occurs as a corruption thereof.Prathamasākha.—It is recorded,112in connection with the village of Kōiltirumālam or Tiru-ambamahālam, that “a new temple has been recently built, and richly endowed by Nāttukōttai Chettis. There is, however, an old story connected with the place, which is enacted at the largely attended festival here, and in many popular dramas. This relates that the god of the Tiruvālūr temple was entreated by a pūjāri (priest) of this place to be present in the village at a sacrifice in his (the god’s) honour. The deity consented at length, but gave warning that he would come in a very unwelcome shape. He appeared as a Paraiyan with beef on his back and followed by the four Vēdas in the form of dogs, and tookhis part in the sacrifice thus accoutred and attended. All the Brāhmans who were present ran away, and the god was so incensed that he condemned them to be Paraiyans for one hour in the day, from noon till 1P.M.ever afterwards. There is a class of Brāhmans called Midday Brāhmans, who are found in several districts, and a colony of whom reside at Sēdanipuram, five miles west of Nannilam. It is believed throughout the Tanjore district that the Midday Paraiyans are the descendants of the Brāhmans thus cursed by the god. They are supposed to expiate their defilement by staying outside their houses for an hour and a half every day at midday, and to bathe afterwards; and, if they do this, they are much respected. Few of them, however, observe this rule, and orthodox persons will not eat with them, because of this omission to remove the defilement. They call themselves the Prathamasākha.”Prithvi(earth).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Puchcha.—Puccha or Puchcha Kāya (fruit ofCitrullus Colocynthis) is the name of a gōtra or sept of Bōyas, Kōmatis, and Vīramushtis, who are a class of mendicants attached to the Kōmatis. The same name, or picchi kāya, denoting the water-melonCitrullus vulgaris, occurs as a sept or house-name of Panta Reddis and Sēniyans (Dēvāngas), the members of which may not eat the fruit. The name Desimarada has been recently substituted by the Sēniyans for picchi kāya.Pudamuri(pudaya, a woman’s cloth; muri, cuttings).—Defined by Mr. Wigram as a so-called ‘marriage’ ceremony performed among the Nāyars in North Malabar. (SeeNāyar.)Pudu Nāttān(new country).—A sub-division of Idaiyan.Pū Islām.—SeePūtiya Islām.Pūjāri.—Pūjāri is an occupational title, meaning priest, or performer of pūja (worship). It is described by Mr. H. A. Stuart113as “a name applied to a class of priests, who mostly preside in the temples of the female deities—the Grāma Dēvatas or Ūr Ammas—and not in those of Vishnu or Siva. They do not wear the sacred thread, except on solemn occasions.” Pūjāri has been recorded as a title of Billavas as they officiate as priests at bhūtasthānas (devil shrines), and of Halēpaiks, and Pūjāli as a title of some Irulas. Some families of Kusavans (potters), who manufacture clay idols, are also known as pūjāri. Pūja occurs as a sub-division of the Gollas. Some criminal Koravas travel in the guise of Pūjāris, and style themselves Korava Pūjāris.Pula.—A sub-division of Cheruman.Pūla(flowers).—An exogamous sept of Bōya, Padma Sālē and Yerukala.Pūlān.—Barbers of Tamil origin, who have settled in Travancore.Pulavar.—A title of Ōcchan and Panisavan.Pulayan.—See Cheruman and Thanda Pulayan.Puli(tiger).—Recorded as an exogamous sept or gōtra of Balija, Golla, Kamma, and Mēdara. The equivalent Puliattanāya occurs as an exogamous sept of Bant.Puliakōdan.—A class of carpenters in Malabar, whose traditional occupation is to construct oil mills.Pūliāsāri.—A division of Malabar Kammālans, the members of which do mason’s work (pūli, earth). Paravas who are engaged in a similar calling are, in like manner, called Pūli Kollan.Pulikkal.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.Puliyan.—A sub-division of Nāyar.Puliyattu.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as synonymous with Pulikkappanikkan, a sub-division of Nāyar.Pullakūra(pot-herbs).—An exogamous sept of Īdiga.Pulluvan.—The Pulluvans of Malabar are astrologers, medicine-men, priests and singers in snake groves. The name is fancifully derived from pullu, a hawk, because the Pulluvan is clever in curing the disorders which pregnant women and babies suffer from through the evil influence of these birds. The Pulluvans are sometimes called Vaidyans (physicians).As regards the origin of the caste, the following tradition is narrated.114Agni, the fire god, had made several desperate but vain efforts to destroy the great primeval forest of Gāndava. The eight serpents which had their home in the forest were the chosen friends of Indra, who sent down a deluge, and destroyed, every time, the fire which Agni kindled in order to burn down the forest. Eventually Agni resorted to a stratagem, and, appearing before Arjunan in the guise of a Brāhman, contrived to exact a promise to do him any favour he might desire. Agni then sought the help of Arjunan in destroying the forest, and the latter created a wonderful bow and arrows, which cut off every drop of rain sent by Indra for the preservation of the forest. The birds, beasts, and other creatures which lived therein, fled in terror, but most of them were overtaken by the flames, and were burnt to cinders. Several of the serpents also were overtaken and destroyed, but one of them was rescued by the maid-servant of a Brāhman, who securedthe sacred reptile in a pot, which she deposited in a jasmine bower. When the Brāhman came to hear of this, he had the serpent removed, and turned the maid-servant adrift, expelling at the same time a man-servant, so that the woman might not be alone and friendless. The two exiles prospered under the protection of the serpent, which the woman had rescued from the flames, and became the founders of the Pulluvans. According to another story, when the great Gāndava forest was in conflagration, the snakes therein were destroyed in the flames. A large five-hooded snake, scorched and burnt by the fire, flew away in agony, and alighted at Kuttanād, which is said to have been on the site of the modern town of Alleppey. Two women were at the time on their way to draw water from a well. The snake asked them to pour seven potfuls of water over him, to alleviate his pain, and to turn the pot sideways, so that he could get into it. His request was complied with, and, having entered the pot, he would not leave it. He then desired one of the women to take him home, and place him in a room on the west side of the house. This she refused to do for fear of the snake, and she was advised to cover the mouth of the pot with a cloth. The room, in which the snake was placed, was ordered to be closed for a week. The woman’s husband, who did not know what had occurred, tried to open the door, and only succeeded by exerting all his strength. On entering the room, to his surprise he found an ant-hill, and disturbed it. Thereon the snake issued forth from it, and bit him. As the result of the bite, the man died, and his widow was left without means of support. The snake consoled her, and devised a plan, by which she could maintain herself. She was to go from house to house, and cry out “Give me alms, and be saved fromsnake poisoning.” The inmates would give, and the snakes, which were troubling their houses, would cease from annoying them. For this reason, a Pulluvan and his wife, when they go with their pulluva kudam (pot-drum) to a house, are asked to sing, and given money.The Pulluvar females, Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar writes,115“take a pretty large pitcher, and close its opening by means of a small circular piece of thin leather, which is fastened on to the vessel by means of strings strongly tied round its neck. Another string is adjusted to the leather cover, which, when played on by means of the fingers, produces a hoarse note, which is said to please the gods’ ears, pacify their anger, and lull them to sleep.” In the Malabar Gazetteer, this instrument is thus described. “It consists of an earthenware chatty with its bottom removed, and entirely covered, except the mouth, with leather. The portion of the leather which is stretched over the bottom of the vessel thus forms a sort of drum, to the centre of which a string is attached. The other end of the string is fixed in the cleft of a stick. The performer sits cross-legged, holding the chatty mouth downwards with his right hand, on his right knee. The stick is held firmly under the right foot, resting on the left leg. The performer strums on the string, which is thus stretched tight, with a rude plectrum of horn, or other substance. The vibrations communicated by the string to the tympanum produce a curious sonorous note, the pitch of which can be varied by increasing or relaxing the tension of the string.” This musical instrument is carried from house to house in the daytime by these Pulluvarfemales; and, placing the vessel in a particular position on the ground, and sitting in a particular fashion in relation to the vessel, they play on the string, which then produces a very pleasant musical note. Then they sing ballads to the accompaniment of these notes. After continuing this for some time, they stop, and, getting their customary dues from the family, go their own way. It is believed that the music, and the ballads, are peculiarly pleasing to the serpent gods, who bless those for whose sakes the music has been rendered.” The Pulluvans also play on a lute with snakes painted on the reptile skin, which is used in lieu of parchment. The skin, in a specimen at the Madras Museum, is apparently that of the big lizardVaranus bengalensis. The lute is played with a bow, to which a metal bell is attached.The dwelling-houses of the Pulluvans are like those of the Izhuvans or Cherumas. They are generally mud huts, with thatched roof, and a verandah in front.When a girl attains maturity, she is placed apart in a room. On the seventh day, she is anointed by seven young women, who give an offering to the demons, if she is possessed by any. This consists of the bark of a plantain tree made into the form of a triangle, on which small bits of tender cocoanuts and little torches are fixed. This is waved round the girl’s head, and floated away on water. As regards marriage, the Pulluvans observe both tāli-kettu and sambandham. In the vicinity of Palghat, members of the caste in the same village intermarry, and have a prejudice against contracting alliances outside it. Thus, the Pulluvans of Palghat do not intermarry with those of Mundūr and Kanghat, which are four and ten miles distant. It is said that, in former days, intercourse between brother and sister waspermitted. But, when questioned on this point, the Pulluvans absolutely deny it. It is, however, possible that something of the kind was once the case, for, when a man belonging to another caste is suspected of incest, it is said that he is like the Pulluvans. Should the parents of a married woman have no objection to her being divorced, they give her husband a piece of cloth called murikotukkuka. This signifies that the cloth which he gave is returned, and divorce is effected.Pulluvan casting out devils.Pulluvan casting out devils.The Pulluvans follow the makkathāyam law of inheritance (from father to son). But they seldom have any property to leave, except their hut and a few earthen pots. They have their caste assemblies (parichas), which adjudicate on adultery, theft, and other offences.They believe firmly in magic and sorcery, and every kind of sickness is attributed to the influence of some demon. Abortion, death of a new-born baby, prolonged labour, or the death of the woman, fever, want of milk in the breasts, and other misfortunes, are attributed to malignant influences. When pregnant women, or even children, walk out alone at midday, they are possessed by them, and may fall in convulsions. Any slight dereliction, or indifference with regard to the offering of sacrifices, is attended by domestic calamities, and sacrifices of goats and fowls are requisite. More sacrifices are promised, if the demons will help them in the achievement of an object, or in the destruction of an enemy. In some cases the village astrologer is consulted, and he, by means of his calculations, divines the cause of an illness, and suggests that a particular disease or calamity is due to the provocation of the family or other god, to whom sacrifices or offerings have not been made. Under these circumstances, a Velichapād, or oracle, is consulted. After bathing, and dressinghimself in a new mundu (cloth), he enters on the scene with a sword in his hand, and his legs girt with small bells. Standing in front of the deity in pious meditation, he advances with slow steps and rolling eyes, and makes a few frantic cuts on his forehead. He is already in convulsive shivers, and works himself up to a state of frenzied possession, and utters certain disconnected sentences, which are believed to be the utterances of the gods. Believing them to be the means of cure or relief from calamity, those affected reverentially bow before the Velichapād, and obey his commands. Sometimes they resort to a curious method of calculating beforehand the result of a project, in which they are engaged, by placing before the god two bouquets of flowers, one red, the other white, of which a child picks out one with its eyes closed. Selection of the white bouquet predicts auspicious results, of the red the reverse. A man, who wishes to bring a demon under his control, must bathe in the early morning for forty-one days, and cook his own meals. He should have no association with his wife, and be free from all pollution. Every night, after 10 o’clock, he should bathe in a tank (pond) or river, and stand naked up to the loins in the water, while praying to the god, whom he wishes to propitiate, in the words “I offer thee my prayers, so that thou mayst bless me with what I want.” These, with his thoughts concentrated on the deity, he should utter 101, 1,001, and 100,001 times during the period. Should he do this, in spite of all obstacles and intimidation by the demons, the god will grant his desires. It is said to be best for a man to be trained and guided by a guru (preceptor), as, if proper precautions are not adopted, the result of his labours will be that he goes mad.A Pulluvan and his wife preside at the ceremony called Pāmban Tullal to propitiate the snake gods of the nāgāttān kāvus, or serpent shrines. For this, a pandal (booth) is erected by driving four posts into the ground, and putting over them a silk or cotton canopy. A hideous figure of a huge snake is made on the floor with powders of five colours. Five colours are essential, as they are visible on the necks of snakes. Rice is scattered over the floor. Worship is performed to Ganēsa, and cocoanuts and rice are offered. Incense is burnt, and a lamp placed on a plate. The members of the family go round the booth, and the woman, from whom the devil has to be cast out, bathes, and takes her seat on the western side, holding a bunch of palm flowers. The Pulluvan and his wife begin the music, vocal and instrumental, the woman keeping time with the pot-drum by striking on a metal vessel. As they sing songs in honour of the snake deity, the young female members of the family, who have been purified by a bath, and are seated, begin to quiver, sway their heads to and fro in time with the music, and the tresses of their hair are let loose. In their state of excitement, they beat upon the floor, and rub out the figure of the snake with palm flowers. This done, they proceed to the snake-grove, and prostrate themselves before the stone images of snakes, and recover consciousness. They take milk, water from a tender cocoanut, and plantains. The Pulluvan stops singing, and the ceremony is over. “Sometimes,” Mr. Gopal Panikkar writes, “the gods appear in the bodies of all these females, and sometimes only in those of a select few, or none at all. The refusal of the gods to enter into such persons is symbolical of some want of cleanliness in them: which contingency is looked upon as a source of anxiety to the individual.Pulluvan with pot-drum.Pulluvan with pot-drum.It may also suggest the displeasure of these gods towards the family, in respect of which the ceremony is performed. In either case, such refusal on the part of the gods is an index of their ill-will or dissatisfaction. In cases where the gods refuse to appear in any one of those seated for the purpose, the ceremony is prolonged until the gods are so properly propitiated as to constrain them to manifest themselves. Then, after the lapse of the number of days fixed for the ceremony, and, after the will of the serpent gods is duly expressed, the ceremonies close.” Sometimes, it is said, it may be considered necessary to rub away the figure as many as 101 times, in which case the ceremony is prolonged over several weeks. Each time that the snake design is destroyed, one or two men, with torches in their hands, perform a dance, keeping step to the Pulluvan’s music. The family may eventually erect a small platform or shrine in a corner of their grounds, and worship at it annually. The snake deity will not, it is believed, manifest himself if any of the persons, or articles required for the ceremony, are impure,e.g., if the pot-drum has been polluted by the touch of a menstruating female. The Pulluvan, from whom a drum was purchased for the Madras Museum, was very reluctant to part with it, lest it should be touched by an impure woman.The Pulluvans worship the gods of the Brāhmanical temples, from a distance, and believe in spirits of all sorts and conditions. They worship Velayuthan, Ayyappa, Rāhu, Mūni, Chāthan, Mukkan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, and others. Mūni is a well-disposed deity, to whom, once a year, rice, plantains, and cocoanuts are offered. To Mukkan, Karinkutti, and others, sheep and fowls are offered. A floral device (padmam) is drawnon the floor with nine divisions in rice-flour, on each of which a piece of tender cocoanut leaf, and a lighted wick dipped in cocoanut oil, are placed. Parched rice, boiled beans, jaggery (crude sugar), cakes, plantains, and toddy are offered, and camphor and incense burnt. If a sheep has to be sacrificed, boiled rice is offered, and water sprinkled over the head of the sheep before it is killed. If it shakes itself, so that it frees itself from the water, it is considered as a favourable omen. On every new-moon day, offerings of mutton, fowls, rice-balls, toddy, and other things, served up on a plantain leaf, are made to the souls of the departed. The celebrants, who have bathed and cooked their own food on the previous day, prostrate themselves, and say “Ye dead ancestors, we offer what we can afford. May you take the gifts, and be pleased to protect us.”The Pulluvans bury their dead. The place of burial is near a river, or in a secluded spot near the dwelling of the deceased. The corpse is covered with a cloth, and a cocoanut placed with it. Offerings of rice-balls are made by the son daily for fifteen days, when pollution ceases, and a feast is held.At the present day, some Pulluvans work at various forms of labour, such as sowing, ploughing, reaping, fencing, and cutting timber, for which they are paid in money or kind. They are, in fact, day-labourers, living in huts built on the waste land of some landlord, for which they pay a nominal ground-rent. They will take food prepared by Brāhmans, Nāyars, Kammālans, and Izhuvas, but not that prepared by a Mannān or Kaniyan. Carpenters and Izhuvas bathe when a Pulluvan has touched them. But the Pulluvans are polluted by Cherumas, Pulayas, Paraiyans, Ullādans, and others. The women wear the kacha, like Izhuva women, foldedtwice, and worn round the loins, and are seldom seen with an upper body-cloth.116Puluvan.—The Puluvans have been described117as “a small tribe of cultivators found in the district of Coimbatore. Puluvans are the learned men among the Coimbatore Vellālas, and are supposed to be the depositaries of the poet Kamban’s works. One authority from Coimbatore writes that the traditional occupation of this caste is military service, and derives the word from bhū, earth, and valavan, a ruler; while another thinks that the correct word is Pūruvan, aborigines. Their girls are married usually after they attain maturity. In the disposal of the dead, both cremation and burial are in vogue, the tendency being towards the former. They are flesh-eaters. Their customs generally resemble those of the Konga Vellālas.”The Puluvans call themselves Puluva Vellālas.Pūnamalli.—The name of a division of Vellālas derived from Poonamallee, an old military station near Madras.Pūni.—A sub-division of Golla.Punjala(cock, or male).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Pūppalli.—SeeUnni.Puragiri Kshatriya.—A name assumed by some Perikes.Puramalai,PuramalaināduorPiramalainādu.—A territorial sub-division of Kallan.Puranadi.—Barbers and priests of the Vēlans of Travancore, who are also called Vēlakkuruppu.Purattu Charna.—A sub-division of Nāyar.Purusha.—SeeJōgi Purusha.Pūsa(beads).—A sub-division of Balija. A sub-division of the Yerukalas is known as Pūsalavādu, or sellers of glass beads.Pūsāli.—A title of Ōcchans, or pūjāris (priests) at temples of Grāma Dēvatas (village deities).Pūsapāti.—The family name of the Mahārājahs of Vizianagram. From the Kshatriyas in Rājputāna people of four gōtrams are said to have come to the Northern Circars several centuries ago, having the Pūsapāti family at their head.118The name of the present Mahārāja is Mirza Rājah Srī Pūsapāti Viziarāma Gajapati Rāj Manya Sultān Bahādur Gāru.Pūshpakan.—A class of Ambalavāsis in Malabar and Travancore. “As their name (pushpam, a flower) implies, they are employed in bringing flowers and garlands to the temples.”119SeeUnni.Puthukka Nāttār(people of the new country).—A sub-division of Idaiyan.Pūtiya Islām.—Pu Islām or Pūtiya Islām is the name returned mostly by Mukkuvans, in reference to their new conversion to the Muhammadan faith.Putta(ant-hill).—An exogamous sept of Kamma, Kuruba, Māla, Mēdara, and Padma Sālē. ‘White-ant’ (Termites) hills are frequently worshipped as being the abode of snakes.Puttiya.—A sub-division of Rōna.Puttūr.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.Puzhi Tacchan(sand carpenter).—The name of a small section of Malabar Kammālans.

(7) Dūr Poroja, also, it is said, known as Didāyi Poroja, who speak Oriya.Among the Bārang Jhōdias, the gidda (vulture), bāgh (tiger), and nāg (cobra) are regarded as totems. Among the Pengu, Kōndhi and Dūr divisions, the two last are apparently regarded as such, and, in addition to them, the Bonda Porojas have mandi (cow).In the Bārang Jhodia, Pengu, and Kōndhi divisions, it is customary for a man to marry his paternal aunt’s daughter, but he cannot claim her as a matter of right, for the principle of free love is recognised among them. The dhangada and dhangadi basa system, according to which bachelors and unmarried girls sleep in separate quarters in a village, is in force among the Porojas.When a marriage is contemplated among the Bārang Jhodias, the parents of the young man carry two pots of liquor and some rice to the parents of the girl, who accept the present, if they are favourable to the match. If it is accepted, the future bridegroom’s party renew the proposal a year later by bringing five kunchams of rice, a new female cloth, seven uddas of liquor, and a sum of money ranging from fifteen to fifty rupees. On the following evening, the bride, accompanied by her relations, goes to the village of the bridegroom. Outside his house two poles have been set up, and joined together at the top by a string, from which a gourd (Cucurbita maxima) is suspended. As soon as the contracting couple come before the house, a tall man cuts the gourd with his tangi (axe) and it falls to the ground. The pair then enter the house, and the bride is presented with a new cloth by the parents of the bridegroom. Opposite the bridegroom’s house is asquare fence, forming an enclosure, from which the bride’s party watch the proceedings. They are joined by the bride and bridegroom, and the parents of the latter distribute rāgi (Eleusine Corocana) liquor and ippa (Bassia) liquor. A dance, in which both males and females take part, is kept up till the small hours, and, on the following day, a feast is held. About midday, the bride is formally handed over to the bridegroom, in the presence of the Janni and Mudili (caste elders). She remains a week at her new home, and then, even though she has reached puberty, returns to her father’s house, where she remains for a year, before finally joining her husband. In another form of marriage among the Bārang Jhodias, the bride is brought to the house of the bridegroom, in front of which a pandal (booth), made of six poles, is set up. The central pole is cut from the nērēdi chettu (Eugenia Jambolana). At the auspicious moment, which is fixed by the Disāri, the maternal uncle of the bridegroom sits with the bridegroom on his lap, and the bride at his feet. Castor-oil is then applied by the bridegroom’s father, first to the bridegroom, and then to the bride. A feast follows, at which fowls and liquor are consumed. On the following day, the newly-married couple bathe, and the ceremonies are at an end.I am informed by Mr. H. C. Daniel that there is a custom among the Porojas, and other classes in Vizagapatam (e.g., Gadabas, Ghāsis, and Mālis), according to which a man gives his services as a goti for a specified time to another, in return for a small original loan. His master has to keep him supplied with food, and to pay him about two rupees at the Dussera festival, as well as making him a present of a cloth and a pair of sandals. The servant must do whatever he is told, and ispractically a slave until the specified time is over. A man may give his son as a goti, instead of himself. It is also fairly common to find a man serving his prospective father-in-law for a specified time, in order to secure his daughter. Men from the plains, usually of the Kōmati caste, who have come to the hills for the purpose of trade, go by the local name of Sundi. They are the chief upholders of the goti system, by which they get labour cheap. Mr. Daniel has never heard of a goti refusing to do his work, the contract being by both sides considered quite inviolable. But a case was recently tried in a Munsiff’s Court, in which a goti absconded from his original master, and took service with another, thereby securing a fresh loan. The original master sued him for the balance of labour due.The language of the Bonda Porojas, as already indicated, connects them closely with the Gadabas, but any such connection is stoutly denied by them. The names Bonda and Nanga mean naked, and bear reference to the fact that the only clothing of the women is a strip of cloth made from sētukudi or ankudi chettu, or kareng fibre. In a note on the Bhondas of Jaipūr, Mr. J. A. May informs us109that the female attire “consists of just a piece of cloth, either made of kerong bark and manufactured by themselves, or purchased from the weavers, about a foot square, and only sufficient to cover a part of one hip. It is attached to their waists by a string, on which it runs, and can be shifted round to any side. A most ludicrous sight has often been presented to me by a stampede among a number of these women, when I have happened to enter a village unexpectedly. On my approach, one and all hurried to their respectivedwellings, and, as they ran in all directions, endeavoured to shift this rag round to the part most likely to be exposed to me.” The Bonda women have glass bead and brass ornaments hung round their necks, and covering their bosoms. The legend, which accounts for the scanty clothing of the Bondas, runs to the effect that, when Sīta, the wife of Rāma, was bathing in a river, she was seen by women of this tribe, who laughed at and mocked her. Thereon, she cursed them, and ordained that, in future, all the women should shave their heads, and wear no clothing except a small covering for decency’s sake. There is a further tradition that, if the Bonda women were to abandon their primitive costume, the whole tribe would be destroyed by tigers. The shaving of the women’s heads is carried out, with a knife lent by the village Komāro (blacksmith), by a member of the tribe. Round the head, the women wear a piece of bamboo tied behind with strings.In one form of marriage, as carried out by the Bondas, a young man, with some of his friends, goes to the sleeping apartment of the maidens, where each of them selects a maid for himself. The young men and maidens then indulge in a singing contest, in which impromptu allusions to physical attributes, and bantering and repartee take place. If a girl decides to accept a young man as her suitor, he takes a burning stick from the night fire, and touches her breast with it. He then withdraws, and sends one of his friends to the girl with a brass bangle, which, after some questioning as to who sent it, she accepts. Some months later, the man’s parents go to the girl’s home, and ask for her hand on behalf of their son. A feast follows, and the girl, with a couple of girls of about her own age, goes with the man’s parents to their home. They send five kunchamsof rice to the parents of the girl, and present the two girls with a similar quantity. The three girls then return to their homes. Again several months elapse, and then the man’s parents go to fetch the bride, and a feast and dance take place. The pair are then man and wife.In another account of the marriage customs of the Nanga Porojas, it is stated that pits are dug in the ground, in which, during the cold season, the children are put at night, to keep them warm. The pit is about nine feet in diameter. In the spring, all the marriageable girls of a settlement are put into one pit, and a young man, who has really selected his bride with the consent of his parents, comes and proposes to her. If she refuses him, he tries one after another till he is accepted. On one occasion, a leopard jumped into the pit, and killed some of the maidens. In a note on Bhonda marriage, Mr. May writes110that “a number of youths, candidates for matrimony, start off to a village, where they hope to find a corresponding number of young women, and make known their wishes to the elders, who receive them with all due ceremony. The juice of the salop (sago palm) in a fermented state is in great requisition, as nothing can be done without the exhilarating effects of their favourite beverage. They then proceed to excavate an underground chamber (if one is not already prepared), having an aperture at the top, admitting of the entrance of one at a time. Into this the young gentlemen, with a corresponding number of young girls, are introduced, when they grope about and make their selection, after which they ascend out of it, each holding the young lady of his choice by theforefinger of one of her hands. Bracelets (the equivalent of the wedding ring) are now put on her arms by the elders, and two of the young men stand as sponsors for each bridegroom. The couples are then led to their respective parents, who approve and give their consent. After another application of salop and sundry greetings, the bridegroom is permitted to take his bride home, where she lives with him for a week, and then, returning to her parents, is not allowed to see her husband for a period of one year, at the expiration of which she is finally made over to him.” In a still further account of marriage among the Bondas, I am informed that a young man and a maid retire to the jungle, and light a fire. Then the maid, taking a burning stick, applies it to the man’s gluteal region. If he cries out Am! Am! Am! he is unworthy of her, and she remains a maid. If he does not, the marriage is at once consummated. The application of the brand is probably light or severe according to the girl’s feelings towards the young man. According to another version, the girl goes off to the jungle with several men, and the scene has been described as being like a figure in the cotillion, as they come up to be switched with the brand.Widow remarriage is permitted among all the divisions of the Porojas, and a younger brother usually marries his elder brother’s widow.The Jhodia, Pengu, and Kondhi divisions worship Bhūmi Dēvata (the earth goddess), who is also known as Jākar Dēvata, once in three years. Each village offers a cow, goat, pig, and pigeon to her as a sacrifice. She is represented by a stone under a tree outside the village. A casteman acts as pūjāri (priest), and all the villagers, including the Janni and Mūdili, are present at the festival, which winds up with a feast and drink.The Bondas worship Tākurāni in the months of Chaitra and Māgho, and the festival includes the sacrifice of animals. “Their religious ceremonies,” Mr. May writes, “consist in offerings to some nameless deity, or to the memory of deceased relations. At each of the principal villages, the Bhondas congregate once a year in some spot conveniently situated for their orgies, when a chicken, a few eggs, and a pig or goat are offered, after which they retire to their houses, and next day assemble again, when the salop juice is freely imbibed till the intoxicating effects have thoroughly roused their pugnacity. The process of cudgelling one another with the branches of the salop now begins, and they apply them indiscriminately without the smallest regard for each other’s feelings. This, with the attendant drums and shrieks, would give one the impression of a host of maniacs suddenly set at liberty. This amusement is continued till bruises, contusions, and bleeding heads and backs have reduced them to a comparatively sober state, and, I imagine, old scores are paid off, when they return to their several houses.”The dead are, as a rule, burnt. By some of the Jhodia Porojas, the ashes are subsequently buried in a pit a few feet deep, near the burning-ground, and the grave is marked by a heap of stones. A pole is set up in this heap, and water poured on it for twelve days. On the fourth day, cooked rice and fish are set on the way leading to the spot where the corpse was burned. The celebrants of the death rite then take mango bark, paint it with cow-dung, and sprinkle themselves with it. The ceremony concludes with a bath, feast, and drink. Among the Bonda Porojas, some of the jewelry of the deceased person is burnt with the corpse, and the remainder given to the daughter or daughter-in-law.They observe pollution for three days, during which they do not enter their fields. On the fourth day, they anoint themselves with castor-oil and turmeric, and bathe.Mr. G. F. Paddison informs me that he once gave medicine to the Porojas during an epidemic of cholera in a village. They all took it eagerly, but, as he was going away, asked whether it would not be quicker cure to put the witch in the next village, who had brought on the cholera, into jail.A Bonda Poroja dance is said to be very humourous. The young men tie a string of bells round their legs, and do the active part of the dance. The women stand in a cluster, with faces to the middle, clap their hands, and scream at intervals, while the men hop and stamp, and whirl round them on their own axes. The following account of a dance by the Jhōdia Poroja girls of the Koraput and Nandapuram country is given by Mr. W. Francis.111“Picturesque in the extreme,” he writes, “is a dancing party of these cheery maidens, dressed all exactly alike in clean white cloths with cerise borders or checks, reaching barely half way to the knee; great rings on their fingers; brass bells on their toes; their substantial but shapely arms and legs tattooed from wrist to shoulder, and from ankle to knee; their left forearms hidden under a score of heavy brass bangles; and their feet loaded with chased brass anklets weighing perhaps a dozen pounds. The orchestra, which consists solely of drums of assorted shapes and sizes, dashes into an overture, and the girls quickly group themselves into a couple ofcorps de ballet, each under the leadership of apremière danseuse, who marks thetime with a long baton of peacock’s feathers. Suddenly, the drums drop to a muffled beat, and each group strings out into a long line, headed by the leader with the feathers, each maiden passing her right hand behind the next girl’s back, and grasping the left elbow of the next but one. Thus linked, and in time with the drums (which now break intoallegro crescendo), the long chain of girls—dancing in perfect step, following the leader with her swaying baton, marking the time by clinking their anklets (right, left, right, clink; left, clink; right, left, right, clink; and soda capo), chanting the while (quite tunefully) in unison a refrain in a minor key ending on a sustained falling note—weave themselves into sinuous lines, curves, spirals, figures-of-eight, and back into lines again; wind in and out like some brightly-coloured snake; never halting for a moment, now backwards, now forwards, first slowly and decorously, then, as the drums quicken, faster and faster, with more and more abandon, and longer and longer steps, until suddenly some one gets out of step, and the chain snaps amid peals of breathless laughter.”For the following supplementary note on the Bonda Porojas, I am indebted to Mr. C. A. Henderson.These people live in the western portion of Malkanagiri tāluk, along the edge of the hills, probably penetrating some distance into them. The elder men are not in any way distinguishable from their neighbours. Young unmarried men, however, tie a strip of palmyra leaf round their heads in the same way as the women of their own tribe, or of the Gadabas. The women are very distinctly dressed. They all shave their heads once a month or so, and fasten a little fillet, made of beads or plaited grass, round them. The neck and chest are covered with a mass of ornaments, by whichthe breasts are almost concealed. These consist, for the most part, of bead necklaces, but they have also one or more very heavy brass necklaces of various designs, some being merely collections of rings on a connecting circlet, some massive hinged devices tied together at the end with string. They wear also small ear-studs of lead. Apart from these ornaments, they are naked to the waist. Round the loins, a small thick cloth is worn. This is woven from the fibre of the ringa (Oriya sītkodai gotsho). This cloth measures about two feet by eight inches, and is of thick texture like gunny, and variously coloured. Owing to its exiguity, its wearers are compelled, for decency’s sake, to sit on their heels with their knees together, instead of squatting in the ordinary native posture. This little cloth is supported round the waist by a thread, or light chain of tin and beads, but not totally confined thereby. The upper edge of the cloth behind is free from the chain, and bulges out, exposing the upper portion of the buttocks, the thread or chain lying in the small of the back. It is noted by Mr. Sandell that “the cloth at present used is of comparatively recent introduction, and seems to be a slight infringement of the tabu. The original cloth and supporting string were undoubtedly made of jungle fibre, and the modern colouring is brought about with cotton thread. Similarly, the Bonda Poroja necklaces of cheap beads, blue and white, must be modern, and most obviously so the fragments of tin that they work into their chains. The women are said to wear cloths in their houses, but to leave them off when they go outside. It seems that the tabu is directed against appearing in public fully clothed, and not against wearing decent sized cloths, as such. The party I saw were mostly unmarried girls, but one of them had beenmarried for a year. When not posing for the camera, or dancing, she tied a small piece of cloth round her neck, so as to hang over the shoulders. This, as far as I could make out, was not because she was married, but simply because she was more shy than the rest.“Two houses are kept in the village, for the unmarried girls and young men respectively. Apparently marriages are matters of inclination, the parents having no say in the matter. The young couple having contracted friendship (by word of mouth, and not by deed, as it was explained to me), inform their parents of it. The young man goes to make his demand of the girl’s parents, apparently without at the time making any presents to them, contrary to the custom of the Kondhs and others. Then there seem to be a series of promises on the part of the parents to give the girl. But the witnesses were rather confused on the point. I gather that the sort of final betrothal takes place in Dyali (the month after Dusserah), and the marriage in Magha. At the time of marriage, the girl’s parents are presented with a pair of bulls, a cloth, and a pot of landa (sago-palm toddy). But no return is made for them. The father gives the girl some ornaments. The married woman, whom I saw, had been given a bracelet by her husband, but it was not a conspicuously valuable one, and in no way indicative of her status.” In connection with marriage, Mr. Sandell adds that “a youth of one village does not marry a maiden of the same village, as they are regarded as brother and sister. The marriage pit is still in use, and may last all through the cold weather. A number of small villages will club together, and have one big pit.” In the case observed by Mr. Sandell, three of the localmaidens were shut up in the pit at night, and five stranger youths admitted. The pit may be twelve feet across, and is covered with tatties (mats) and earth, a trap-door being left.“After childbirth, the mother is unclean for some days. The time is, I gather, reckoned by the dropping of the navel-string, and is given as eight to sixteen days. During that period, the woman is not allowed to cook, or even touch her meals.“These people say that they have no pūja (worship). But at the time of sowing seed, they sacrifice one egg (for the whole village) to Matēra Hundi, the goddess of harvest, who is represented by a branch of the kusi or jāmo (guava) tree planted in the village. The people have no pūjāris, and, in this case, the priest was a Mattia by caste. He plants the branch, and performs the sacrifice. At the time of Nua Khāu (new eating; first fruits) a sacrifice of an animal of some kind is also made to Matēra Hundi. Her aid is, they say, sought against the perils of the jungle, but primarily she is wanted to give them a good crop. The Bonda Porojas are quite ready to tell the old story of Sīta (whom they call Mahā Lakshmi), and her curse upon their women, whereby they shave their heads, and may not wear cloths. It is stated by Mr. May that a Government Agent once insisted on a young woman being properly clothed, and she survived the change only three days. I understand that this case has been somewhat misrepresented. The cloth is believed not to have been forced upon the girl, but offered to, and greatly appreciated by her. Her death shortly afterwards was apparently not the result of violation of the tabu, but accidental, and due, it is believed, to small-pox. The people whom I saw had not heard of this episode, but said that awoman who wore a cloth out of doors would fall sick, not die. But the possibility of any woman of theirs wearing a cloth obviously seemed to them very remote. The Bonda Porojas have a sort of belief in ghosts—not altogether devils apparently, but the spirits of the departed (sayirē). These may appear in dreams, influence life and health, and vaguely exercise a helpful influence over the crops. I did not find out if they were propitiated in any way.“A dead body is washed, tied to a tatty (mat) hurdle, taken outside the village, and burnt. After eight days (said to be four in the case of rich men), the corpse-bearers, and the family, sit down to a funeral feast, at which drinking is not allowed. A pig, fowl, or goat, according to the circumstances of the family, forms the meal. This is done in some way for the sake of the departed, but how is not quite clear.“The Bonda Porojas live by cultivation, keep cattle, pigs, etc., and eat beef, and even the domestic pig. They pride themselves, as against their Hindu neighbours, in that their women eat with the men, and not of their leavings, and do not leave their village. The women, however, go to shandies (markets).”Pothoria.—Pothoria or Pothriya, meaning stone, is the name of a small class of Oriya stone-cutters in Ganjam, who are addicted to snaring antelopes by means of tame bucks, which they keep for the purpose of decoying the wild ones. They employ Brāhmans as purōhits. Marriage is infant, and remarriage of widows is permitted. The females wear glass bangles.Pōthu.—Pōthu or Pōthula, meaning male, occurs as an exogamous sept of Dēvānga, Mēdara, and Padma Sālē; and Pōthula, in the sense of a male buffalo, as a sept of Mādiga.Potia.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Oriya mat-makers. They are said to be immigrants from Potia in Orissa, who call themselves Doluvas. The Doluvas, however, do not recognise them, and neither eat nor intermarry with them.Potta(abdomen).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Potti(Tamil, worshipful).—Stated, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, to be the name applied to all Kērala Brāhmans, who do not come under the specific designation of Nambūtiris.Pouzu(quail).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Powāku(tobacco).—An exogamous sept of Māla.Poyilethānnāya(one who removes the evil eye).—An exogamous sept of Bant.Pradhāno(chief).—A title of Aruva, Benāiyto, Odia, Kālingi, Kēvuto, and Sāmantiya.Prānōpakāri(one who helps souls).—A name for barbers in Travancore. In the early settlement records, Pranu occurs as a corruption thereof.Prathamasākha.—It is recorded,112in connection with the village of Kōiltirumālam or Tiru-ambamahālam, that “a new temple has been recently built, and richly endowed by Nāttukōttai Chettis. There is, however, an old story connected with the place, which is enacted at the largely attended festival here, and in many popular dramas. This relates that the god of the Tiruvālūr temple was entreated by a pūjāri (priest) of this place to be present in the village at a sacrifice in his (the god’s) honour. The deity consented at length, but gave warning that he would come in a very unwelcome shape. He appeared as a Paraiyan with beef on his back and followed by the four Vēdas in the form of dogs, and tookhis part in the sacrifice thus accoutred and attended. All the Brāhmans who were present ran away, and the god was so incensed that he condemned them to be Paraiyans for one hour in the day, from noon till 1P.M.ever afterwards. There is a class of Brāhmans called Midday Brāhmans, who are found in several districts, and a colony of whom reside at Sēdanipuram, five miles west of Nannilam. It is believed throughout the Tanjore district that the Midday Paraiyans are the descendants of the Brāhmans thus cursed by the god. They are supposed to expiate their defilement by staying outside their houses for an hour and a half every day at midday, and to bathe afterwards; and, if they do this, they are much respected. Few of them, however, observe this rule, and orthodox persons will not eat with them, because of this omission to remove the defilement. They call themselves the Prathamasākha.”Prithvi(earth).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Puchcha.—Puccha or Puchcha Kāya (fruit ofCitrullus Colocynthis) is the name of a gōtra or sept of Bōyas, Kōmatis, and Vīramushtis, who are a class of mendicants attached to the Kōmatis. The same name, or picchi kāya, denoting the water-melonCitrullus vulgaris, occurs as a sept or house-name of Panta Reddis and Sēniyans (Dēvāngas), the members of which may not eat the fruit. The name Desimarada has been recently substituted by the Sēniyans for picchi kāya.Pudamuri(pudaya, a woman’s cloth; muri, cuttings).—Defined by Mr. Wigram as a so-called ‘marriage’ ceremony performed among the Nāyars in North Malabar. (SeeNāyar.)Pudu Nāttān(new country).—A sub-division of Idaiyan.Pū Islām.—SeePūtiya Islām.Pūjāri.—Pūjāri is an occupational title, meaning priest, or performer of pūja (worship). It is described by Mr. H. A. Stuart113as “a name applied to a class of priests, who mostly preside in the temples of the female deities—the Grāma Dēvatas or Ūr Ammas—and not in those of Vishnu or Siva. They do not wear the sacred thread, except on solemn occasions.” Pūjāri has been recorded as a title of Billavas as they officiate as priests at bhūtasthānas (devil shrines), and of Halēpaiks, and Pūjāli as a title of some Irulas. Some families of Kusavans (potters), who manufacture clay idols, are also known as pūjāri. Pūja occurs as a sub-division of the Gollas. Some criminal Koravas travel in the guise of Pūjāris, and style themselves Korava Pūjāris.Pula.—A sub-division of Cheruman.Pūla(flowers).—An exogamous sept of Bōya, Padma Sālē and Yerukala.Pūlān.—Barbers of Tamil origin, who have settled in Travancore.Pulavar.—A title of Ōcchan and Panisavan.Pulayan.—See Cheruman and Thanda Pulayan.Puli(tiger).—Recorded as an exogamous sept or gōtra of Balija, Golla, Kamma, and Mēdara. The equivalent Puliattanāya occurs as an exogamous sept of Bant.Puliakōdan.—A class of carpenters in Malabar, whose traditional occupation is to construct oil mills.Pūliāsāri.—A division of Malabar Kammālans, the members of which do mason’s work (pūli, earth). Paravas who are engaged in a similar calling are, in like manner, called Pūli Kollan.Pulikkal.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.Puliyan.—A sub-division of Nāyar.Puliyattu.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as synonymous with Pulikkappanikkan, a sub-division of Nāyar.Pullakūra(pot-herbs).—An exogamous sept of Īdiga.Pulluvan.—The Pulluvans of Malabar are astrologers, medicine-men, priests and singers in snake groves. The name is fancifully derived from pullu, a hawk, because the Pulluvan is clever in curing the disorders which pregnant women and babies suffer from through the evil influence of these birds. The Pulluvans are sometimes called Vaidyans (physicians).As regards the origin of the caste, the following tradition is narrated.114Agni, the fire god, had made several desperate but vain efforts to destroy the great primeval forest of Gāndava. The eight serpents which had their home in the forest were the chosen friends of Indra, who sent down a deluge, and destroyed, every time, the fire which Agni kindled in order to burn down the forest. Eventually Agni resorted to a stratagem, and, appearing before Arjunan in the guise of a Brāhman, contrived to exact a promise to do him any favour he might desire. Agni then sought the help of Arjunan in destroying the forest, and the latter created a wonderful bow and arrows, which cut off every drop of rain sent by Indra for the preservation of the forest. The birds, beasts, and other creatures which lived therein, fled in terror, but most of them were overtaken by the flames, and were burnt to cinders. Several of the serpents also were overtaken and destroyed, but one of them was rescued by the maid-servant of a Brāhman, who securedthe sacred reptile in a pot, which she deposited in a jasmine bower. When the Brāhman came to hear of this, he had the serpent removed, and turned the maid-servant adrift, expelling at the same time a man-servant, so that the woman might not be alone and friendless. The two exiles prospered under the protection of the serpent, which the woman had rescued from the flames, and became the founders of the Pulluvans. According to another story, when the great Gāndava forest was in conflagration, the snakes therein were destroyed in the flames. A large five-hooded snake, scorched and burnt by the fire, flew away in agony, and alighted at Kuttanād, which is said to have been on the site of the modern town of Alleppey. Two women were at the time on their way to draw water from a well. The snake asked them to pour seven potfuls of water over him, to alleviate his pain, and to turn the pot sideways, so that he could get into it. His request was complied with, and, having entered the pot, he would not leave it. He then desired one of the women to take him home, and place him in a room on the west side of the house. This she refused to do for fear of the snake, and she was advised to cover the mouth of the pot with a cloth. The room, in which the snake was placed, was ordered to be closed for a week. The woman’s husband, who did not know what had occurred, tried to open the door, and only succeeded by exerting all his strength. On entering the room, to his surprise he found an ant-hill, and disturbed it. Thereon the snake issued forth from it, and bit him. As the result of the bite, the man died, and his widow was left without means of support. The snake consoled her, and devised a plan, by which she could maintain herself. She was to go from house to house, and cry out “Give me alms, and be saved fromsnake poisoning.” The inmates would give, and the snakes, which were troubling their houses, would cease from annoying them. For this reason, a Pulluvan and his wife, when they go with their pulluva kudam (pot-drum) to a house, are asked to sing, and given money.The Pulluvar females, Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar writes,115“take a pretty large pitcher, and close its opening by means of a small circular piece of thin leather, which is fastened on to the vessel by means of strings strongly tied round its neck. Another string is adjusted to the leather cover, which, when played on by means of the fingers, produces a hoarse note, which is said to please the gods’ ears, pacify their anger, and lull them to sleep.” In the Malabar Gazetteer, this instrument is thus described. “It consists of an earthenware chatty with its bottom removed, and entirely covered, except the mouth, with leather. The portion of the leather which is stretched over the bottom of the vessel thus forms a sort of drum, to the centre of which a string is attached. The other end of the string is fixed in the cleft of a stick. The performer sits cross-legged, holding the chatty mouth downwards with his right hand, on his right knee. The stick is held firmly under the right foot, resting on the left leg. The performer strums on the string, which is thus stretched tight, with a rude plectrum of horn, or other substance. The vibrations communicated by the string to the tympanum produce a curious sonorous note, the pitch of which can be varied by increasing or relaxing the tension of the string.” This musical instrument is carried from house to house in the daytime by these Pulluvarfemales; and, placing the vessel in a particular position on the ground, and sitting in a particular fashion in relation to the vessel, they play on the string, which then produces a very pleasant musical note. Then they sing ballads to the accompaniment of these notes. After continuing this for some time, they stop, and, getting their customary dues from the family, go their own way. It is believed that the music, and the ballads, are peculiarly pleasing to the serpent gods, who bless those for whose sakes the music has been rendered.” The Pulluvans also play on a lute with snakes painted on the reptile skin, which is used in lieu of parchment. The skin, in a specimen at the Madras Museum, is apparently that of the big lizardVaranus bengalensis. The lute is played with a bow, to which a metal bell is attached.The dwelling-houses of the Pulluvans are like those of the Izhuvans or Cherumas. They are generally mud huts, with thatched roof, and a verandah in front.When a girl attains maturity, she is placed apart in a room. On the seventh day, she is anointed by seven young women, who give an offering to the demons, if she is possessed by any. This consists of the bark of a plantain tree made into the form of a triangle, on which small bits of tender cocoanuts and little torches are fixed. This is waved round the girl’s head, and floated away on water. As regards marriage, the Pulluvans observe both tāli-kettu and sambandham. In the vicinity of Palghat, members of the caste in the same village intermarry, and have a prejudice against contracting alliances outside it. Thus, the Pulluvans of Palghat do not intermarry with those of Mundūr and Kanghat, which are four and ten miles distant. It is said that, in former days, intercourse between brother and sister waspermitted. But, when questioned on this point, the Pulluvans absolutely deny it. It is, however, possible that something of the kind was once the case, for, when a man belonging to another caste is suspected of incest, it is said that he is like the Pulluvans. Should the parents of a married woman have no objection to her being divorced, they give her husband a piece of cloth called murikotukkuka. This signifies that the cloth which he gave is returned, and divorce is effected.Pulluvan casting out devils.Pulluvan casting out devils.The Pulluvans follow the makkathāyam law of inheritance (from father to son). But they seldom have any property to leave, except their hut and a few earthen pots. They have their caste assemblies (parichas), which adjudicate on adultery, theft, and other offences.They believe firmly in magic and sorcery, and every kind of sickness is attributed to the influence of some demon. Abortion, death of a new-born baby, prolonged labour, or the death of the woman, fever, want of milk in the breasts, and other misfortunes, are attributed to malignant influences. When pregnant women, or even children, walk out alone at midday, they are possessed by them, and may fall in convulsions. Any slight dereliction, or indifference with regard to the offering of sacrifices, is attended by domestic calamities, and sacrifices of goats and fowls are requisite. More sacrifices are promised, if the demons will help them in the achievement of an object, or in the destruction of an enemy. In some cases the village astrologer is consulted, and he, by means of his calculations, divines the cause of an illness, and suggests that a particular disease or calamity is due to the provocation of the family or other god, to whom sacrifices or offerings have not been made. Under these circumstances, a Velichapād, or oracle, is consulted. After bathing, and dressinghimself in a new mundu (cloth), he enters on the scene with a sword in his hand, and his legs girt with small bells. Standing in front of the deity in pious meditation, he advances with slow steps and rolling eyes, and makes a few frantic cuts on his forehead. He is already in convulsive shivers, and works himself up to a state of frenzied possession, and utters certain disconnected sentences, which are believed to be the utterances of the gods. Believing them to be the means of cure or relief from calamity, those affected reverentially bow before the Velichapād, and obey his commands. Sometimes they resort to a curious method of calculating beforehand the result of a project, in which they are engaged, by placing before the god two bouquets of flowers, one red, the other white, of which a child picks out one with its eyes closed. Selection of the white bouquet predicts auspicious results, of the red the reverse. A man, who wishes to bring a demon under his control, must bathe in the early morning for forty-one days, and cook his own meals. He should have no association with his wife, and be free from all pollution. Every night, after 10 o’clock, he should bathe in a tank (pond) or river, and stand naked up to the loins in the water, while praying to the god, whom he wishes to propitiate, in the words “I offer thee my prayers, so that thou mayst bless me with what I want.” These, with his thoughts concentrated on the deity, he should utter 101, 1,001, and 100,001 times during the period. Should he do this, in spite of all obstacles and intimidation by the demons, the god will grant his desires. It is said to be best for a man to be trained and guided by a guru (preceptor), as, if proper precautions are not adopted, the result of his labours will be that he goes mad.A Pulluvan and his wife preside at the ceremony called Pāmban Tullal to propitiate the snake gods of the nāgāttān kāvus, or serpent shrines. For this, a pandal (booth) is erected by driving four posts into the ground, and putting over them a silk or cotton canopy. A hideous figure of a huge snake is made on the floor with powders of five colours. Five colours are essential, as they are visible on the necks of snakes. Rice is scattered over the floor. Worship is performed to Ganēsa, and cocoanuts and rice are offered. Incense is burnt, and a lamp placed on a plate. The members of the family go round the booth, and the woman, from whom the devil has to be cast out, bathes, and takes her seat on the western side, holding a bunch of palm flowers. The Pulluvan and his wife begin the music, vocal and instrumental, the woman keeping time with the pot-drum by striking on a metal vessel. As they sing songs in honour of the snake deity, the young female members of the family, who have been purified by a bath, and are seated, begin to quiver, sway their heads to and fro in time with the music, and the tresses of their hair are let loose. In their state of excitement, they beat upon the floor, and rub out the figure of the snake with palm flowers. This done, they proceed to the snake-grove, and prostrate themselves before the stone images of snakes, and recover consciousness. They take milk, water from a tender cocoanut, and plantains. The Pulluvan stops singing, and the ceremony is over. “Sometimes,” Mr. Gopal Panikkar writes, “the gods appear in the bodies of all these females, and sometimes only in those of a select few, or none at all. The refusal of the gods to enter into such persons is symbolical of some want of cleanliness in them: which contingency is looked upon as a source of anxiety to the individual.Pulluvan with pot-drum.Pulluvan with pot-drum.It may also suggest the displeasure of these gods towards the family, in respect of which the ceremony is performed. In either case, such refusal on the part of the gods is an index of their ill-will or dissatisfaction. In cases where the gods refuse to appear in any one of those seated for the purpose, the ceremony is prolonged until the gods are so properly propitiated as to constrain them to manifest themselves. Then, after the lapse of the number of days fixed for the ceremony, and, after the will of the serpent gods is duly expressed, the ceremonies close.” Sometimes, it is said, it may be considered necessary to rub away the figure as many as 101 times, in which case the ceremony is prolonged over several weeks. Each time that the snake design is destroyed, one or two men, with torches in their hands, perform a dance, keeping step to the Pulluvan’s music. The family may eventually erect a small platform or shrine in a corner of their grounds, and worship at it annually. The snake deity will not, it is believed, manifest himself if any of the persons, or articles required for the ceremony, are impure,e.g., if the pot-drum has been polluted by the touch of a menstruating female. The Pulluvan, from whom a drum was purchased for the Madras Museum, was very reluctant to part with it, lest it should be touched by an impure woman.The Pulluvans worship the gods of the Brāhmanical temples, from a distance, and believe in spirits of all sorts and conditions. They worship Velayuthan, Ayyappa, Rāhu, Mūni, Chāthan, Mukkan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, and others. Mūni is a well-disposed deity, to whom, once a year, rice, plantains, and cocoanuts are offered. To Mukkan, Karinkutti, and others, sheep and fowls are offered. A floral device (padmam) is drawnon the floor with nine divisions in rice-flour, on each of which a piece of tender cocoanut leaf, and a lighted wick dipped in cocoanut oil, are placed. Parched rice, boiled beans, jaggery (crude sugar), cakes, plantains, and toddy are offered, and camphor and incense burnt. If a sheep has to be sacrificed, boiled rice is offered, and water sprinkled over the head of the sheep before it is killed. If it shakes itself, so that it frees itself from the water, it is considered as a favourable omen. On every new-moon day, offerings of mutton, fowls, rice-balls, toddy, and other things, served up on a plantain leaf, are made to the souls of the departed. The celebrants, who have bathed and cooked their own food on the previous day, prostrate themselves, and say “Ye dead ancestors, we offer what we can afford. May you take the gifts, and be pleased to protect us.”The Pulluvans bury their dead. The place of burial is near a river, or in a secluded spot near the dwelling of the deceased. The corpse is covered with a cloth, and a cocoanut placed with it. Offerings of rice-balls are made by the son daily for fifteen days, when pollution ceases, and a feast is held.At the present day, some Pulluvans work at various forms of labour, such as sowing, ploughing, reaping, fencing, and cutting timber, for which they are paid in money or kind. They are, in fact, day-labourers, living in huts built on the waste land of some landlord, for which they pay a nominal ground-rent. They will take food prepared by Brāhmans, Nāyars, Kammālans, and Izhuvas, but not that prepared by a Mannān or Kaniyan. Carpenters and Izhuvas bathe when a Pulluvan has touched them. But the Pulluvans are polluted by Cherumas, Pulayas, Paraiyans, Ullādans, and others. The women wear the kacha, like Izhuva women, foldedtwice, and worn round the loins, and are seldom seen with an upper body-cloth.116Puluvan.—The Puluvans have been described117as “a small tribe of cultivators found in the district of Coimbatore. Puluvans are the learned men among the Coimbatore Vellālas, and are supposed to be the depositaries of the poet Kamban’s works. One authority from Coimbatore writes that the traditional occupation of this caste is military service, and derives the word from bhū, earth, and valavan, a ruler; while another thinks that the correct word is Pūruvan, aborigines. Their girls are married usually after they attain maturity. In the disposal of the dead, both cremation and burial are in vogue, the tendency being towards the former. They are flesh-eaters. Their customs generally resemble those of the Konga Vellālas.”The Puluvans call themselves Puluva Vellālas.Pūnamalli.—The name of a division of Vellālas derived from Poonamallee, an old military station near Madras.Pūni.—A sub-division of Golla.Punjala(cock, or male).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Pūppalli.—SeeUnni.Puragiri Kshatriya.—A name assumed by some Perikes.Puramalai,PuramalaināduorPiramalainādu.—A territorial sub-division of Kallan.Puranadi.—Barbers and priests of the Vēlans of Travancore, who are also called Vēlakkuruppu.Purattu Charna.—A sub-division of Nāyar.Purusha.—SeeJōgi Purusha.Pūsa(beads).—A sub-division of Balija. A sub-division of the Yerukalas is known as Pūsalavādu, or sellers of glass beads.Pūsāli.—A title of Ōcchans, or pūjāris (priests) at temples of Grāma Dēvatas (village deities).Pūsapāti.—The family name of the Mahārājahs of Vizianagram. From the Kshatriyas in Rājputāna people of four gōtrams are said to have come to the Northern Circars several centuries ago, having the Pūsapāti family at their head.118The name of the present Mahārāja is Mirza Rājah Srī Pūsapāti Viziarāma Gajapati Rāj Manya Sultān Bahādur Gāru.Pūshpakan.—A class of Ambalavāsis in Malabar and Travancore. “As their name (pushpam, a flower) implies, they are employed in bringing flowers and garlands to the temples.”119SeeUnni.Puthukka Nāttār(people of the new country).—A sub-division of Idaiyan.Pūtiya Islām.—Pu Islām or Pūtiya Islām is the name returned mostly by Mukkuvans, in reference to their new conversion to the Muhammadan faith.Putta(ant-hill).—An exogamous sept of Kamma, Kuruba, Māla, Mēdara, and Padma Sālē. ‘White-ant’ (Termites) hills are frequently worshipped as being the abode of snakes.Puttiya.—A sub-division of Rōna.Puttūr.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.Puzhi Tacchan(sand carpenter).—The name of a small section of Malabar Kammālans.

(7) Dūr Poroja, also, it is said, known as Didāyi Poroja, who speak Oriya.Among the Bārang Jhōdias, the gidda (vulture), bāgh (tiger), and nāg (cobra) are regarded as totems. Among the Pengu, Kōndhi and Dūr divisions, the two last are apparently regarded as such, and, in addition to them, the Bonda Porojas have mandi (cow).In the Bārang Jhodia, Pengu, and Kōndhi divisions, it is customary for a man to marry his paternal aunt’s daughter, but he cannot claim her as a matter of right, for the principle of free love is recognised among them. The dhangada and dhangadi basa system, according to which bachelors and unmarried girls sleep in separate quarters in a village, is in force among the Porojas.When a marriage is contemplated among the Bārang Jhodias, the parents of the young man carry two pots of liquor and some rice to the parents of the girl, who accept the present, if they are favourable to the match. If it is accepted, the future bridegroom’s party renew the proposal a year later by bringing five kunchams of rice, a new female cloth, seven uddas of liquor, and a sum of money ranging from fifteen to fifty rupees. On the following evening, the bride, accompanied by her relations, goes to the village of the bridegroom. Outside his house two poles have been set up, and joined together at the top by a string, from which a gourd (Cucurbita maxima) is suspended. As soon as the contracting couple come before the house, a tall man cuts the gourd with his tangi (axe) and it falls to the ground. The pair then enter the house, and the bride is presented with a new cloth by the parents of the bridegroom. Opposite the bridegroom’s house is asquare fence, forming an enclosure, from which the bride’s party watch the proceedings. They are joined by the bride and bridegroom, and the parents of the latter distribute rāgi (Eleusine Corocana) liquor and ippa (Bassia) liquor. A dance, in which both males and females take part, is kept up till the small hours, and, on the following day, a feast is held. About midday, the bride is formally handed over to the bridegroom, in the presence of the Janni and Mudili (caste elders). She remains a week at her new home, and then, even though she has reached puberty, returns to her father’s house, where she remains for a year, before finally joining her husband. In another form of marriage among the Bārang Jhodias, the bride is brought to the house of the bridegroom, in front of which a pandal (booth), made of six poles, is set up. The central pole is cut from the nērēdi chettu (Eugenia Jambolana). At the auspicious moment, which is fixed by the Disāri, the maternal uncle of the bridegroom sits with the bridegroom on his lap, and the bride at his feet. Castor-oil is then applied by the bridegroom’s father, first to the bridegroom, and then to the bride. A feast follows, at which fowls and liquor are consumed. On the following day, the newly-married couple bathe, and the ceremonies are at an end.I am informed by Mr. H. C. Daniel that there is a custom among the Porojas, and other classes in Vizagapatam (e.g., Gadabas, Ghāsis, and Mālis), according to which a man gives his services as a goti for a specified time to another, in return for a small original loan. His master has to keep him supplied with food, and to pay him about two rupees at the Dussera festival, as well as making him a present of a cloth and a pair of sandals. The servant must do whatever he is told, and ispractically a slave until the specified time is over. A man may give his son as a goti, instead of himself. It is also fairly common to find a man serving his prospective father-in-law for a specified time, in order to secure his daughter. Men from the plains, usually of the Kōmati caste, who have come to the hills for the purpose of trade, go by the local name of Sundi. They are the chief upholders of the goti system, by which they get labour cheap. Mr. Daniel has never heard of a goti refusing to do his work, the contract being by both sides considered quite inviolable. But a case was recently tried in a Munsiff’s Court, in which a goti absconded from his original master, and took service with another, thereby securing a fresh loan. The original master sued him for the balance of labour due.The language of the Bonda Porojas, as already indicated, connects them closely with the Gadabas, but any such connection is stoutly denied by them. The names Bonda and Nanga mean naked, and bear reference to the fact that the only clothing of the women is a strip of cloth made from sētukudi or ankudi chettu, or kareng fibre. In a note on the Bhondas of Jaipūr, Mr. J. A. May informs us109that the female attire “consists of just a piece of cloth, either made of kerong bark and manufactured by themselves, or purchased from the weavers, about a foot square, and only sufficient to cover a part of one hip. It is attached to their waists by a string, on which it runs, and can be shifted round to any side. A most ludicrous sight has often been presented to me by a stampede among a number of these women, when I have happened to enter a village unexpectedly. On my approach, one and all hurried to their respectivedwellings, and, as they ran in all directions, endeavoured to shift this rag round to the part most likely to be exposed to me.” The Bonda women have glass bead and brass ornaments hung round their necks, and covering their bosoms. The legend, which accounts for the scanty clothing of the Bondas, runs to the effect that, when Sīta, the wife of Rāma, was bathing in a river, she was seen by women of this tribe, who laughed at and mocked her. Thereon, she cursed them, and ordained that, in future, all the women should shave their heads, and wear no clothing except a small covering for decency’s sake. There is a further tradition that, if the Bonda women were to abandon their primitive costume, the whole tribe would be destroyed by tigers. The shaving of the women’s heads is carried out, with a knife lent by the village Komāro (blacksmith), by a member of the tribe. Round the head, the women wear a piece of bamboo tied behind with strings.In one form of marriage, as carried out by the Bondas, a young man, with some of his friends, goes to the sleeping apartment of the maidens, where each of them selects a maid for himself. The young men and maidens then indulge in a singing contest, in which impromptu allusions to physical attributes, and bantering and repartee take place. If a girl decides to accept a young man as her suitor, he takes a burning stick from the night fire, and touches her breast with it. He then withdraws, and sends one of his friends to the girl with a brass bangle, which, after some questioning as to who sent it, she accepts. Some months later, the man’s parents go to the girl’s home, and ask for her hand on behalf of their son. A feast follows, and the girl, with a couple of girls of about her own age, goes with the man’s parents to their home. They send five kunchamsof rice to the parents of the girl, and present the two girls with a similar quantity. The three girls then return to their homes. Again several months elapse, and then the man’s parents go to fetch the bride, and a feast and dance take place. The pair are then man and wife.In another account of the marriage customs of the Nanga Porojas, it is stated that pits are dug in the ground, in which, during the cold season, the children are put at night, to keep them warm. The pit is about nine feet in diameter. In the spring, all the marriageable girls of a settlement are put into one pit, and a young man, who has really selected his bride with the consent of his parents, comes and proposes to her. If she refuses him, he tries one after another till he is accepted. On one occasion, a leopard jumped into the pit, and killed some of the maidens. In a note on Bhonda marriage, Mr. May writes110that “a number of youths, candidates for matrimony, start off to a village, where they hope to find a corresponding number of young women, and make known their wishes to the elders, who receive them with all due ceremony. The juice of the salop (sago palm) in a fermented state is in great requisition, as nothing can be done without the exhilarating effects of their favourite beverage. They then proceed to excavate an underground chamber (if one is not already prepared), having an aperture at the top, admitting of the entrance of one at a time. Into this the young gentlemen, with a corresponding number of young girls, are introduced, when they grope about and make their selection, after which they ascend out of it, each holding the young lady of his choice by theforefinger of one of her hands. Bracelets (the equivalent of the wedding ring) are now put on her arms by the elders, and two of the young men stand as sponsors for each bridegroom. The couples are then led to their respective parents, who approve and give their consent. After another application of salop and sundry greetings, the bridegroom is permitted to take his bride home, where she lives with him for a week, and then, returning to her parents, is not allowed to see her husband for a period of one year, at the expiration of which she is finally made over to him.” In a still further account of marriage among the Bondas, I am informed that a young man and a maid retire to the jungle, and light a fire. Then the maid, taking a burning stick, applies it to the man’s gluteal region. If he cries out Am! Am! Am! he is unworthy of her, and she remains a maid. If he does not, the marriage is at once consummated. The application of the brand is probably light or severe according to the girl’s feelings towards the young man. According to another version, the girl goes off to the jungle with several men, and the scene has been described as being like a figure in the cotillion, as they come up to be switched with the brand.Widow remarriage is permitted among all the divisions of the Porojas, and a younger brother usually marries his elder brother’s widow.The Jhodia, Pengu, and Kondhi divisions worship Bhūmi Dēvata (the earth goddess), who is also known as Jākar Dēvata, once in three years. Each village offers a cow, goat, pig, and pigeon to her as a sacrifice. She is represented by a stone under a tree outside the village. A casteman acts as pūjāri (priest), and all the villagers, including the Janni and Mūdili, are present at the festival, which winds up with a feast and drink.The Bondas worship Tākurāni in the months of Chaitra and Māgho, and the festival includes the sacrifice of animals. “Their religious ceremonies,” Mr. May writes, “consist in offerings to some nameless deity, or to the memory of deceased relations. At each of the principal villages, the Bhondas congregate once a year in some spot conveniently situated for their orgies, when a chicken, a few eggs, and a pig or goat are offered, after which they retire to their houses, and next day assemble again, when the salop juice is freely imbibed till the intoxicating effects have thoroughly roused their pugnacity. The process of cudgelling one another with the branches of the salop now begins, and they apply them indiscriminately without the smallest regard for each other’s feelings. This, with the attendant drums and shrieks, would give one the impression of a host of maniacs suddenly set at liberty. This amusement is continued till bruises, contusions, and bleeding heads and backs have reduced them to a comparatively sober state, and, I imagine, old scores are paid off, when they return to their several houses.”The dead are, as a rule, burnt. By some of the Jhodia Porojas, the ashes are subsequently buried in a pit a few feet deep, near the burning-ground, and the grave is marked by a heap of stones. A pole is set up in this heap, and water poured on it for twelve days. On the fourth day, cooked rice and fish are set on the way leading to the spot where the corpse was burned. The celebrants of the death rite then take mango bark, paint it with cow-dung, and sprinkle themselves with it. The ceremony concludes with a bath, feast, and drink. Among the Bonda Porojas, some of the jewelry of the deceased person is burnt with the corpse, and the remainder given to the daughter or daughter-in-law.They observe pollution for three days, during which they do not enter their fields. On the fourth day, they anoint themselves with castor-oil and turmeric, and bathe.Mr. G. F. Paddison informs me that he once gave medicine to the Porojas during an epidemic of cholera in a village. They all took it eagerly, but, as he was going away, asked whether it would not be quicker cure to put the witch in the next village, who had brought on the cholera, into jail.A Bonda Poroja dance is said to be very humourous. The young men tie a string of bells round their legs, and do the active part of the dance. The women stand in a cluster, with faces to the middle, clap their hands, and scream at intervals, while the men hop and stamp, and whirl round them on their own axes. The following account of a dance by the Jhōdia Poroja girls of the Koraput and Nandapuram country is given by Mr. W. Francis.111“Picturesque in the extreme,” he writes, “is a dancing party of these cheery maidens, dressed all exactly alike in clean white cloths with cerise borders or checks, reaching barely half way to the knee; great rings on their fingers; brass bells on their toes; their substantial but shapely arms and legs tattooed from wrist to shoulder, and from ankle to knee; their left forearms hidden under a score of heavy brass bangles; and their feet loaded with chased brass anklets weighing perhaps a dozen pounds. The orchestra, which consists solely of drums of assorted shapes and sizes, dashes into an overture, and the girls quickly group themselves into a couple ofcorps de ballet, each under the leadership of apremière danseuse, who marks thetime with a long baton of peacock’s feathers. Suddenly, the drums drop to a muffled beat, and each group strings out into a long line, headed by the leader with the feathers, each maiden passing her right hand behind the next girl’s back, and grasping the left elbow of the next but one. Thus linked, and in time with the drums (which now break intoallegro crescendo), the long chain of girls—dancing in perfect step, following the leader with her swaying baton, marking the time by clinking their anklets (right, left, right, clink; left, clink; right, left, right, clink; and soda capo), chanting the while (quite tunefully) in unison a refrain in a minor key ending on a sustained falling note—weave themselves into sinuous lines, curves, spirals, figures-of-eight, and back into lines again; wind in and out like some brightly-coloured snake; never halting for a moment, now backwards, now forwards, first slowly and decorously, then, as the drums quicken, faster and faster, with more and more abandon, and longer and longer steps, until suddenly some one gets out of step, and the chain snaps amid peals of breathless laughter.”For the following supplementary note on the Bonda Porojas, I am indebted to Mr. C. A. Henderson.These people live in the western portion of Malkanagiri tāluk, along the edge of the hills, probably penetrating some distance into them. The elder men are not in any way distinguishable from their neighbours. Young unmarried men, however, tie a strip of palmyra leaf round their heads in the same way as the women of their own tribe, or of the Gadabas. The women are very distinctly dressed. They all shave their heads once a month or so, and fasten a little fillet, made of beads or plaited grass, round them. The neck and chest are covered with a mass of ornaments, by whichthe breasts are almost concealed. These consist, for the most part, of bead necklaces, but they have also one or more very heavy brass necklaces of various designs, some being merely collections of rings on a connecting circlet, some massive hinged devices tied together at the end with string. They wear also small ear-studs of lead. Apart from these ornaments, they are naked to the waist. Round the loins, a small thick cloth is worn. This is woven from the fibre of the ringa (Oriya sītkodai gotsho). This cloth measures about two feet by eight inches, and is of thick texture like gunny, and variously coloured. Owing to its exiguity, its wearers are compelled, for decency’s sake, to sit on their heels with their knees together, instead of squatting in the ordinary native posture. This little cloth is supported round the waist by a thread, or light chain of tin and beads, but not totally confined thereby. The upper edge of the cloth behind is free from the chain, and bulges out, exposing the upper portion of the buttocks, the thread or chain lying in the small of the back. It is noted by Mr. Sandell that “the cloth at present used is of comparatively recent introduction, and seems to be a slight infringement of the tabu. The original cloth and supporting string were undoubtedly made of jungle fibre, and the modern colouring is brought about with cotton thread. Similarly, the Bonda Poroja necklaces of cheap beads, blue and white, must be modern, and most obviously so the fragments of tin that they work into their chains. The women are said to wear cloths in their houses, but to leave them off when they go outside. It seems that the tabu is directed against appearing in public fully clothed, and not against wearing decent sized cloths, as such. The party I saw were mostly unmarried girls, but one of them had beenmarried for a year. When not posing for the camera, or dancing, she tied a small piece of cloth round her neck, so as to hang over the shoulders. This, as far as I could make out, was not because she was married, but simply because she was more shy than the rest.“Two houses are kept in the village, for the unmarried girls and young men respectively. Apparently marriages are matters of inclination, the parents having no say in the matter. The young couple having contracted friendship (by word of mouth, and not by deed, as it was explained to me), inform their parents of it. The young man goes to make his demand of the girl’s parents, apparently without at the time making any presents to them, contrary to the custom of the Kondhs and others. Then there seem to be a series of promises on the part of the parents to give the girl. But the witnesses were rather confused on the point. I gather that the sort of final betrothal takes place in Dyali (the month after Dusserah), and the marriage in Magha. At the time of marriage, the girl’s parents are presented with a pair of bulls, a cloth, and a pot of landa (sago-palm toddy). But no return is made for them. The father gives the girl some ornaments. The married woman, whom I saw, had been given a bracelet by her husband, but it was not a conspicuously valuable one, and in no way indicative of her status.” In connection with marriage, Mr. Sandell adds that “a youth of one village does not marry a maiden of the same village, as they are regarded as brother and sister. The marriage pit is still in use, and may last all through the cold weather. A number of small villages will club together, and have one big pit.” In the case observed by Mr. Sandell, three of the localmaidens were shut up in the pit at night, and five stranger youths admitted. The pit may be twelve feet across, and is covered with tatties (mats) and earth, a trap-door being left.“After childbirth, the mother is unclean for some days. The time is, I gather, reckoned by the dropping of the navel-string, and is given as eight to sixteen days. During that period, the woman is not allowed to cook, or even touch her meals.“These people say that they have no pūja (worship). But at the time of sowing seed, they sacrifice one egg (for the whole village) to Matēra Hundi, the goddess of harvest, who is represented by a branch of the kusi or jāmo (guava) tree planted in the village. The people have no pūjāris, and, in this case, the priest was a Mattia by caste. He plants the branch, and performs the sacrifice. At the time of Nua Khāu (new eating; first fruits) a sacrifice of an animal of some kind is also made to Matēra Hundi. Her aid is, they say, sought against the perils of the jungle, but primarily she is wanted to give them a good crop. The Bonda Porojas are quite ready to tell the old story of Sīta (whom they call Mahā Lakshmi), and her curse upon their women, whereby they shave their heads, and may not wear cloths. It is stated by Mr. May that a Government Agent once insisted on a young woman being properly clothed, and she survived the change only three days. I understand that this case has been somewhat misrepresented. The cloth is believed not to have been forced upon the girl, but offered to, and greatly appreciated by her. Her death shortly afterwards was apparently not the result of violation of the tabu, but accidental, and due, it is believed, to small-pox. The people whom I saw had not heard of this episode, but said that awoman who wore a cloth out of doors would fall sick, not die. But the possibility of any woman of theirs wearing a cloth obviously seemed to them very remote. The Bonda Porojas have a sort of belief in ghosts—not altogether devils apparently, but the spirits of the departed (sayirē). These may appear in dreams, influence life and health, and vaguely exercise a helpful influence over the crops. I did not find out if they were propitiated in any way.“A dead body is washed, tied to a tatty (mat) hurdle, taken outside the village, and burnt. After eight days (said to be four in the case of rich men), the corpse-bearers, and the family, sit down to a funeral feast, at which drinking is not allowed. A pig, fowl, or goat, according to the circumstances of the family, forms the meal. This is done in some way for the sake of the departed, but how is not quite clear.“The Bonda Porojas live by cultivation, keep cattle, pigs, etc., and eat beef, and even the domestic pig. They pride themselves, as against their Hindu neighbours, in that their women eat with the men, and not of their leavings, and do not leave their village. The women, however, go to shandies (markets).”Pothoria.—Pothoria or Pothriya, meaning stone, is the name of a small class of Oriya stone-cutters in Ganjam, who are addicted to snaring antelopes by means of tame bucks, which they keep for the purpose of decoying the wild ones. They employ Brāhmans as purōhits. Marriage is infant, and remarriage of widows is permitted. The females wear glass bangles.Pōthu.—Pōthu or Pōthula, meaning male, occurs as an exogamous sept of Dēvānga, Mēdara, and Padma Sālē; and Pōthula, in the sense of a male buffalo, as a sept of Mādiga.Potia.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Oriya mat-makers. They are said to be immigrants from Potia in Orissa, who call themselves Doluvas. The Doluvas, however, do not recognise them, and neither eat nor intermarry with them.Potta(abdomen).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Potti(Tamil, worshipful).—Stated, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, to be the name applied to all Kērala Brāhmans, who do not come under the specific designation of Nambūtiris.Pouzu(quail).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Powāku(tobacco).—An exogamous sept of Māla.Poyilethānnāya(one who removes the evil eye).—An exogamous sept of Bant.Pradhāno(chief).—A title of Aruva, Benāiyto, Odia, Kālingi, Kēvuto, and Sāmantiya.Prānōpakāri(one who helps souls).—A name for barbers in Travancore. In the early settlement records, Pranu occurs as a corruption thereof.Prathamasākha.—It is recorded,112in connection with the village of Kōiltirumālam or Tiru-ambamahālam, that “a new temple has been recently built, and richly endowed by Nāttukōttai Chettis. There is, however, an old story connected with the place, which is enacted at the largely attended festival here, and in many popular dramas. This relates that the god of the Tiruvālūr temple was entreated by a pūjāri (priest) of this place to be present in the village at a sacrifice in his (the god’s) honour. The deity consented at length, but gave warning that he would come in a very unwelcome shape. He appeared as a Paraiyan with beef on his back and followed by the four Vēdas in the form of dogs, and tookhis part in the sacrifice thus accoutred and attended. All the Brāhmans who were present ran away, and the god was so incensed that he condemned them to be Paraiyans for one hour in the day, from noon till 1P.M.ever afterwards. There is a class of Brāhmans called Midday Brāhmans, who are found in several districts, and a colony of whom reside at Sēdanipuram, five miles west of Nannilam. It is believed throughout the Tanjore district that the Midday Paraiyans are the descendants of the Brāhmans thus cursed by the god. They are supposed to expiate their defilement by staying outside their houses for an hour and a half every day at midday, and to bathe afterwards; and, if they do this, they are much respected. Few of them, however, observe this rule, and orthodox persons will not eat with them, because of this omission to remove the defilement. They call themselves the Prathamasākha.”Prithvi(earth).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Puchcha.—Puccha or Puchcha Kāya (fruit ofCitrullus Colocynthis) is the name of a gōtra or sept of Bōyas, Kōmatis, and Vīramushtis, who are a class of mendicants attached to the Kōmatis. The same name, or picchi kāya, denoting the water-melonCitrullus vulgaris, occurs as a sept or house-name of Panta Reddis and Sēniyans (Dēvāngas), the members of which may not eat the fruit. The name Desimarada has been recently substituted by the Sēniyans for picchi kāya.Pudamuri(pudaya, a woman’s cloth; muri, cuttings).—Defined by Mr. Wigram as a so-called ‘marriage’ ceremony performed among the Nāyars in North Malabar. (SeeNāyar.)Pudu Nāttān(new country).—A sub-division of Idaiyan.Pū Islām.—SeePūtiya Islām.Pūjāri.—Pūjāri is an occupational title, meaning priest, or performer of pūja (worship). It is described by Mr. H. A. Stuart113as “a name applied to a class of priests, who mostly preside in the temples of the female deities—the Grāma Dēvatas or Ūr Ammas—and not in those of Vishnu or Siva. They do not wear the sacred thread, except on solemn occasions.” Pūjāri has been recorded as a title of Billavas as they officiate as priests at bhūtasthānas (devil shrines), and of Halēpaiks, and Pūjāli as a title of some Irulas. Some families of Kusavans (potters), who manufacture clay idols, are also known as pūjāri. Pūja occurs as a sub-division of the Gollas. Some criminal Koravas travel in the guise of Pūjāris, and style themselves Korava Pūjāris.Pula.—A sub-division of Cheruman.Pūla(flowers).—An exogamous sept of Bōya, Padma Sālē and Yerukala.Pūlān.—Barbers of Tamil origin, who have settled in Travancore.Pulavar.—A title of Ōcchan and Panisavan.Pulayan.—See Cheruman and Thanda Pulayan.Puli(tiger).—Recorded as an exogamous sept or gōtra of Balija, Golla, Kamma, and Mēdara. The equivalent Puliattanāya occurs as an exogamous sept of Bant.Puliakōdan.—A class of carpenters in Malabar, whose traditional occupation is to construct oil mills.Pūliāsāri.—A division of Malabar Kammālans, the members of which do mason’s work (pūli, earth). Paravas who are engaged in a similar calling are, in like manner, called Pūli Kollan.Pulikkal.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.Puliyan.—A sub-division of Nāyar.Puliyattu.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as synonymous with Pulikkappanikkan, a sub-division of Nāyar.Pullakūra(pot-herbs).—An exogamous sept of Īdiga.Pulluvan.—The Pulluvans of Malabar are astrologers, medicine-men, priests and singers in snake groves. The name is fancifully derived from pullu, a hawk, because the Pulluvan is clever in curing the disorders which pregnant women and babies suffer from through the evil influence of these birds. The Pulluvans are sometimes called Vaidyans (physicians).As regards the origin of the caste, the following tradition is narrated.114Agni, the fire god, had made several desperate but vain efforts to destroy the great primeval forest of Gāndava. The eight serpents which had their home in the forest were the chosen friends of Indra, who sent down a deluge, and destroyed, every time, the fire which Agni kindled in order to burn down the forest. Eventually Agni resorted to a stratagem, and, appearing before Arjunan in the guise of a Brāhman, contrived to exact a promise to do him any favour he might desire. Agni then sought the help of Arjunan in destroying the forest, and the latter created a wonderful bow and arrows, which cut off every drop of rain sent by Indra for the preservation of the forest. The birds, beasts, and other creatures which lived therein, fled in terror, but most of them were overtaken by the flames, and were burnt to cinders. Several of the serpents also were overtaken and destroyed, but one of them was rescued by the maid-servant of a Brāhman, who securedthe sacred reptile in a pot, which she deposited in a jasmine bower. When the Brāhman came to hear of this, he had the serpent removed, and turned the maid-servant adrift, expelling at the same time a man-servant, so that the woman might not be alone and friendless. The two exiles prospered under the protection of the serpent, which the woman had rescued from the flames, and became the founders of the Pulluvans. According to another story, when the great Gāndava forest was in conflagration, the snakes therein were destroyed in the flames. A large five-hooded snake, scorched and burnt by the fire, flew away in agony, and alighted at Kuttanād, which is said to have been on the site of the modern town of Alleppey. Two women were at the time on their way to draw water from a well. The snake asked them to pour seven potfuls of water over him, to alleviate his pain, and to turn the pot sideways, so that he could get into it. His request was complied with, and, having entered the pot, he would not leave it. He then desired one of the women to take him home, and place him in a room on the west side of the house. This she refused to do for fear of the snake, and she was advised to cover the mouth of the pot with a cloth. The room, in which the snake was placed, was ordered to be closed for a week. The woman’s husband, who did not know what had occurred, tried to open the door, and only succeeded by exerting all his strength. On entering the room, to his surprise he found an ant-hill, and disturbed it. Thereon the snake issued forth from it, and bit him. As the result of the bite, the man died, and his widow was left without means of support. The snake consoled her, and devised a plan, by which she could maintain herself. She was to go from house to house, and cry out “Give me alms, and be saved fromsnake poisoning.” The inmates would give, and the snakes, which were troubling their houses, would cease from annoying them. For this reason, a Pulluvan and his wife, when they go with their pulluva kudam (pot-drum) to a house, are asked to sing, and given money.The Pulluvar females, Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar writes,115“take a pretty large pitcher, and close its opening by means of a small circular piece of thin leather, which is fastened on to the vessel by means of strings strongly tied round its neck. Another string is adjusted to the leather cover, which, when played on by means of the fingers, produces a hoarse note, which is said to please the gods’ ears, pacify their anger, and lull them to sleep.” In the Malabar Gazetteer, this instrument is thus described. “It consists of an earthenware chatty with its bottom removed, and entirely covered, except the mouth, with leather. The portion of the leather which is stretched over the bottom of the vessel thus forms a sort of drum, to the centre of which a string is attached. The other end of the string is fixed in the cleft of a stick. The performer sits cross-legged, holding the chatty mouth downwards with his right hand, on his right knee. The stick is held firmly under the right foot, resting on the left leg. The performer strums on the string, which is thus stretched tight, with a rude plectrum of horn, or other substance. The vibrations communicated by the string to the tympanum produce a curious sonorous note, the pitch of which can be varied by increasing or relaxing the tension of the string.” This musical instrument is carried from house to house in the daytime by these Pulluvarfemales; and, placing the vessel in a particular position on the ground, and sitting in a particular fashion in relation to the vessel, they play on the string, which then produces a very pleasant musical note. Then they sing ballads to the accompaniment of these notes. After continuing this for some time, they stop, and, getting their customary dues from the family, go their own way. It is believed that the music, and the ballads, are peculiarly pleasing to the serpent gods, who bless those for whose sakes the music has been rendered.” The Pulluvans also play on a lute with snakes painted on the reptile skin, which is used in lieu of parchment. The skin, in a specimen at the Madras Museum, is apparently that of the big lizardVaranus bengalensis. The lute is played with a bow, to which a metal bell is attached.The dwelling-houses of the Pulluvans are like those of the Izhuvans or Cherumas. They are generally mud huts, with thatched roof, and a verandah in front.When a girl attains maturity, she is placed apart in a room. On the seventh day, she is anointed by seven young women, who give an offering to the demons, if she is possessed by any. This consists of the bark of a plantain tree made into the form of a triangle, on which small bits of tender cocoanuts and little torches are fixed. This is waved round the girl’s head, and floated away on water. As regards marriage, the Pulluvans observe both tāli-kettu and sambandham. In the vicinity of Palghat, members of the caste in the same village intermarry, and have a prejudice against contracting alliances outside it. Thus, the Pulluvans of Palghat do not intermarry with those of Mundūr and Kanghat, which are four and ten miles distant. It is said that, in former days, intercourse between brother and sister waspermitted. But, when questioned on this point, the Pulluvans absolutely deny it. It is, however, possible that something of the kind was once the case, for, when a man belonging to another caste is suspected of incest, it is said that he is like the Pulluvans. Should the parents of a married woman have no objection to her being divorced, they give her husband a piece of cloth called murikotukkuka. This signifies that the cloth which he gave is returned, and divorce is effected.Pulluvan casting out devils.Pulluvan casting out devils.The Pulluvans follow the makkathāyam law of inheritance (from father to son). But they seldom have any property to leave, except their hut and a few earthen pots. They have their caste assemblies (parichas), which adjudicate on adultery, theft, and other offences.They believe firmly in magic and sorcery, and every kind of sickness is attributed to the influence of some demon. Abortion, death of a new-born baby, prolonged labour, or the death of the woman, fever, want of milk in the breasts, and other misfortunes, are attributed to malignant influences. When pregnant women, or even children, walk out alone at midday, they are possessed by them, and may fall in convulsions. Any slight dereliction, or indifference with regard to the offering of sacrifices, is attended by domestic calamities, and sacrifices of goats and fowls are requisite. More sacrifices are promised, if the demons will help them in the achievement of an object, or in the destruction of an enemy. In some cases the village astrologer is consulted, and he, by means of his calculations, divines the cause of an illness, and suggests that a particular disease or calamity is due to the provocation of the family or other god, to whom sacrifices or offerings have not been made. Under these circumstances, a Velichapād, or oracle, is consulted. After bathing, and dressinghimself in a new mundu (cloth), he enters on the scene with a sword in his hand, and his legs girt with small bells. Standing in front of the deity in pious meditation, he advances with slow steps and rolling eyes, and makes a few frantic cuts on his forehead. He is already in convulsive shivers, and works himself up to a state of frenzied possession, and utters certain disconnected sentences, which are believed to be the utterances of the gods. Believing them to be the means of cure or relief from calamity, those affected reverentially bow before the Velichapād, and obey his commands. Sometimes they resort to a curious method of calculating beforehand the result of a project, in which they are engaged, by placing before the god two bouquets of flowers, one red, the other white, of which a child picks out one with its eyes closed. Selection of the white bouquet predicts auspicious results, of the red the reverse. A man, who wishes to bring a demon under his control, must bathe in the early morning for forty-one days, and cook his own meals. He should have no association with his wife, and be free from all pollution. Every night, after 10 o’clock, he should bathe in a tank (pond) or river, and stand naked up to the loins in the water, while praying to the god, whom he wishes to propitiate, in the words “I offer thee my prayers, so that thou mayst bless me with what I want.” These, with his thoughts concentrated on the deity, he should utter 101, 1,001, and 100,001 times during the period. Should he do this, in spite of all obstacles and intimidation by the demons, the god will grant his desires. It is said to be best for a man to be trained and guided by a guru (preceptor), as, if proper precautions are not adopted, the result of his labours will be that he goes mad.A Pulluvan and his wife preside at the ceremony called Pāmban Tullal to propitiate the snake gods of the nāgāttān kāvus, or serpent shrines. For this, a pandal (booth) is erected by driving four posts into the ground, and putting over them a silk or cotton canopy. A hideous figure of a huge snake is made on the floor with powders of five colours. Five colours are essential, as they are visible on the necks of snakes. Rice is scattered over the floor. Worship is performed to Ganēsa, and cocoanuts and rice are offered. Incense is burnt, and a lamp placed on a plate. The members of the family go round the booth, and the woman, from whom the devil has to be cast out, bathes, and takes her seat on the western side, holding a bunch of palm flowers. The Pulluvan and his wife begin the music, vocal and instrumental, the woman keeping time with the pot-drum by striking on a metal vessel. As they sing songs in honour of the snake deity, the young female members of the family, who have been purified by a bath, and are seated, begin to quiver, sway their heads to and fro in time with the music, and the tresses of their hair are let loose. In their state of excitement, they beat upon the floor, and rub out the figure of the snake with palm flowers. This done, they proceed to the snake-grove, and prostrate themselves before the stone images of snakes, and recover consciousness. They take milk, water from a tender cocoanut, and plantains. The Pulluvan stops singing, and the ceremony is over. “Sometimes,” Mr. Gopal Panikkar writes, “the gods appear in the bodies of all these females, and sometimes only in those of a select few, or none at all. The refusal of the gods to enter into such persons is symbolical of some want of cleanliness in them: which contingency is looked upon as a source of anxiety to the individual.Pulluvan with pot-drum.Pulluvan with pot-drum.It may also suggest the displeasure of these gods towards the family, in respect of which the ceremony is performed. In either case, such refusal on the part of the gods is an index of their ill-will or dissatisfaction. In cases where the gods refuse to appear in any one of those seated for the purpose, the ceremony is prolonged until the gods are so properly propitiated as to constrain them to manifest themselves. Then, after the lapse of the number of days fixed for the ceremony, and, after the will of the serpent gods is duly expressed, the ceremonies close.” Sometimes, it is said, it may be considered necessary to rub away the figure as many as 101 times, in which case the ceremony is prolonged over several weeks. Each time that the snake design is destroyed, one or two men, with torches in their hands, perform a dance, keeping step to the Pulluvan’s music. The family may eventually erect a small platform or shrine in a corner of their grounds, and worship at it annually. The snake deity will not, it is believed, manifest himself if any of the persons, or articles required for the ceremony, are impure,e.g., if the pot-drum has been polluted by the touch of a menstruating female. The Pulluvan, from whom a drum was purchased for the Madras Museum, was very reluctant to part with it, lest it should be touched by an impure woman.The Pulluvans worship the gods of the Brāhmanical temples, from a distance, and believe in spirits of all sorts and conditions. They worship Velayuthan, Ayyappa, Rāhu, Mūni, Chāthan, Mukkan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, and others. Mūni is a well-disposed deity, to whom, once a year, rice, plantains, and cocoanuts are offered. To Mukkan, Karinkutti, and others, sheep and fowls are offered. A floral device (padmam) is drawnon the floor with nine divisions in rice-flour, on each of which a piece of tender cocoanut leaf, and a lighted wick dipped in cocoanut oil, are placed. Parched rice, boiled beans, jaggery (crude sugar), cakes, plantains, and toddy are offered, and camphor and incense burnt. If a sheep has to be sacrificed, boiled rice is offered, and water sprinkled over the head of the sheep before it is killed. If it shakes itself, so that it frees itself from the water, it is considered as a favourable omen. On every new-moon day, offerings of mutton, fowls, rice-balls, toddy, and other things, served up on a plantain leaf, are made to the souls of the departed. The celebrants, who have bathed and cooked their own food on the previous day, prostrate themselves, and say “Ye dead ancestors, we offer what we can afford. May you take the gifts, and be pleased to protect us.”The Pulluvans bury their dead. The place of burial is near a river, or in a secluded spot near the dwelling of the deceased. The corpse is covered with a cloth, and a cocoanut placed with it. Offerings of rice-balls are made by the son daily for fifteen days, when pollution ceases, and a feast is held.At the present day, some Pulluvans work at various forms of labour, such as sowing, ploughing, reaping, fencing, and cutting timber, for which they are paid in money or kind. They are, in fact, day-labourers, living in huts built on the waste land of some landlord, for which they pay a nominal ground-rent. They will take food prepared by Brāhmans, Nāyars, Kammālans, and Izhuvas, but not that prepared by a Mannān or Kaniyan. Carpenters and Izhuvas bathe when a Pulluvan has touched them. But the Pulluvans are polluted by Cherumas, Pulayas, Paraiyans, Ullādans, and others. The women wear the kacha, like Izhuva women, foldedtwice, and worn round the loins, and are seldom seen with an upper body-cloth.116Puluvan.—The Puluvans have been described117as “a small tribe of cultivators found in the district of Coimbatore. Puluvans are the learned men among the Coimbatore Vellālas, and are supposed to be the depositaries of the poet Kamban’s works. One authority from Coimbatore writes that the traditional occupation of this caste is military service, and derives the word from bhū, earth, and valavan, a ruler; while another thinks that the correct word is Pūruvan, aborigines. Their girls are married usually after they attain maturity. In the disposal of the dead, both cremation and burial are in vogue, the tendency being towards the former. They are flesh-eaters. Their customs generally resemble those of the Konga Vellālas.”The Puluvans call themselves Puluva Vellālas.Pūnamalli.—The name of a division of Vellālas derived from Poonamallee, an old military station near Madras.Pūni.—A sub-division of Golla.Punjala(cock, or male).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Pūppalli.—SeeUnni.Puragiri Kshatriya.—A name assumed by some Perikes.Puramalai,PuramalaināduorPiramalainādu.—A territorial sub-division of Kallan.Puranadi.—Barbers and priests of the Vēlans of Travancore, who are also called Vēlakkuruppu.Purattu Charna.—A sub-division of Nāyar.Purusha.—SeeJōgi Purusha.Pūsa(beads).—A sub-division of Balija. A sub-division of the Yerukalas is known as Pūsalavādu, or sellers of glass beads.Pūsāli.—A title of Ōcchans, or pūjāris (priests) at temples of Grāma Dēvatas (village deities).Pūsapāti.—The family name of the Mahārājahs of Vizianagram. From the Kshatriyas in Rājputāna people of four gōtrams are said to have come to the Northern Circars several centuries ago, having the Pūsapāti family at their head.118The name of the present Mahārāja is Mirza Rājah Srī Pūsapāti Viziarāma Gajapati Rāj Manya Sultān Bahādur Gāru.Pūshpakan.—A class of Ambalavāsis in Malabar and Travancore. “As their name (pushpam, a flower) implies, they are employed in bringing flowers and garlands to the temples.”119SeeUnni.Puthukka Nāttār(people of the new country).—A sub-division of Idaiyan.Pūtiya Islām.—Pu Islām or Pūtiya Islām is the name returned mostly by Mukkuvans, in reference to their new conversion to the Muhammadan faith.Putta(ant-hill).—An exogamous sept of Kamma, Kuruba, Māla, Mēdara, and Padma Sālē. ‘White-ant’ (Termites) hills are frequently worshipped as being the abode of snakes.Puttiya.—A sub-division of Rōna.Puttūr.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.Puzhi Tacchan(sand carpenter).—The name of a small section of Malabar Kammālans.

(7) Dūr Poroja, also, it is said, known as Didāyi Poroja, who speak Oriya.

Among the Bārang Jhōdias, the gidda (vulture), bāgh (tiger), and nāg (cobra) are regarded as totems. Among the Pengu, Kōndhi and Dūr divisions, the two last are apparently regarded as such, and, in addition to them, the Bonda Porojas have mandi (cow).

In the Bārang Jhodia, Pengu, and Kōndhi divisions, it is customary for a man to marry his paternal aunt’s daughter, but he cannot claim her as a matter of right, for the principle of free love is recognised among them. The dhangada and dhangadi basa system, according to which bachelors and unmarried girls sleep in separate quarters in a village, is in force among the Porojas.

When a marriage is contemplated among the Bārang Jhodias, the parents of the young man carry two pots of liquor and some rice to the parents of the girl, who accept the present, if they are favourable to the match. If it is accepted, the future bridegroom’s party renew the proposal a year later by bringing five kunchams of rice, a new female cloth, seven uddas of liquor, and a sum of money ranging from fifteen to fifty rupees. On the following evening, the bride, accompanied by her relations, goes to the village of the bridegroom. Outside his house two poles have been set up, and joined together at the top by a string, from which a gourd (Cucurbita maxima) is suspended. As soon as the contracting couple come before the house, a tall man cuts the gourd with his tangi (axe) and it falls to the ground. The pair then enter the house, and the bride is presented with a new cloth by the parents of the bridegroom. Opposite the bridegroom’s house is asquare fence, forming an enclosure, from which the bride’s party watch the proceedings. They are joined by the bride and bridegroom, and the parents of the latter distribute rāgi (Eleusine Corocana) liquor and ippa (Bassia) liquor. A dance, in which both males and females take part, is kept up till the small hours, and, on the following day, a feast is held. About midday, the bride is formally handed over to the bridegroom, in the presence of the Janni and Mudili (caste elders). She remains a week at her new home, and then, even though she has reached puberty, returns to her father’s house, where she remains for a year, before finally joining her husband. In another form of marriage among the Bārang Jhodias, the bride is brought to the house of the bridegroom, in front of which a pandal (booth), made of six poles, is set up. The central pole is cut from the nērēdi chettu (Eugenia Jambolana). At the auspicious moment, which is fixed by the Disāri, the maternal uncle of the bridegroom sits with the bridegroom on his lap, and the bride at his feet. Castor-oil is then applied by the bridegroom’s father, first to the bridegroom, and then to the bride. A feast follows, at which fowls and liquor are consumed. On the following day, the newly-married couple bathe, and the ceremonies are at an end.

I am informed by Mr. H. C. Daniel that there is a custom among the Porojas, and other classes in Vizagapatam (e.g., Gadabas, Ghāsis, and Mālis), according to which a man gives his services as a goti for a specified time to another, in return for a small original loan. His master has to keep him supplied with food, and to pay him about two rupees at the Dussera festival, as well as making him a present of a cloth and a pair of sandals. The servant must do whatever he is told, and ispractically a slave until the specified time is over. A man may give his son as a goti, instead of himself. It is also fairly common to find a man serving his prospective father-in-law for a specified time, in order to secure his daughter. Men from the plains, usually of the Kōmati caste, who have come to the hills for the purpose of trade, go by the local name of Sundi. They are the chief upholders of the goti system, by which they get labour cheap. Mr. Daniel has never heard of a goti refusing to do his work, the contract being by both sides considered quite inviolable. But a case was recently tried in a Munsiff’s Court, in which a goti absconded from his original master, and took service with another, thereby securing a fresh loan. The original master sued him for the balance of labour due.

The language of the Bonda Porojas, as already indicated, connects them closely with the Gadabas, but any such connection is stoutly denied by them. The names Bonda and Nanga mean naked, and bear reference to the fact that the only clothing of the women is a strip of cloth made from sētukudi or ankudi chettu, or kareng fibre. In a note on the Bhondas of Jaipūr, Mr. J. A. May informs us109that the female attire “consists of just a piece of cloth, either made of kerong bark and manufactured by themselves, or purchased from the weavers, about a foot square, and only sufficient to cover a part of one hip. It is attached to their waists by a string, on which it runs, and can be shifted round to any side. A most ludicrous sight has often been presented to me by a stampede among a number of these women, when I have happened to enter a village unexpectedly. On my approach, one and all hurried to their respectivedwellings, and, as they ran in all directions, endeavoured to shift this rag round to the part most likely to be exposed to me.” The Bonda women have glass bead and brass ornaments hung round their necks, and covering their bosoms. The legend, which accounts for the scanty clothing of the Bondas, runs to the effect that, when Sīta, the wife of Rāma, was bathing in a river, she was seen by women of this tribe, who laughed at and mocked her. Thereon, she cursed them, and ordained that, in future, all the women should shave their heads, and wear no clothing except a small covering for decency’s sake. There is a further tradition that, if the Bonda women were to abandon their primitive costume, the whole tribe would be destroyed by tigers. The shaving of the women’s heads is carried out, with a knife lent by the village Komāro (blacksmith), by a member of the tribe. Round the head, the women wear a piece of bamboo tied behind with strings.

In one form of marriage, as carried out by the Bondas, a young man, with some of his friends, goes to the sleeping apartment of the maidens, where each of them selects a maid for himself. The young men and maidens then indulge in a singing contest, in which impromptu allusions to physical attributes, and bantering and repartee take place. If a girl decides to accept a young man as her suitor, he takes a burning stick from the night fire, and touches her breast with it. He then withdraws, and sends one of his friends to the girl with a brass bangle, which, after some questioning as to who sent it, she accepts. Some months later, the man’s parents go to the girl’s home, and ask for her hand on behalf of their son. A feast follows, and the girl, with a couple of girls of about her own age, goes with the man’s parents to their home. They send five kunchamsof rice to the parents of the girl, and present the two girls with a similar quantity. The three girls then return to their homes. Again several months elapse, and then the man’s parents go to fetch the bride, and a feast and dance take place. The pair are then man and wife.

In another account of the marriage customs of the Nanga Porojas, it is stated that pits are dug in the ground, in which, during the cold season, the children are put at night, to keep them warm. The pit is about nine feet in diameter. In the spring, all the marriageable girls of a settlement are put into one pit, and a young man, who has really selected his bride with the consent of his parents, comes and proposes to her. If she refuses him, he tries one after another till he is accepted. On one occasion, a leopard jumped into the pit, and killed some of the maidens. In a note on Bhonda marriage, Mr. May writes110that “a number of youths, candidates for matrimony, start off to a village, where they hope to find a corresponding number of young women, and make known their wishes to the elders, who receive them with all due ceremony. The juice of the salop (sago palm) in a fermented state is in great requisition, as nothing can be done without the exhilarating effects of their favourite beverage. They then proceed to excavate an underground chamber (if one is not already prepared), having an aperture at the top, admitting of the entrance of one at a time. Into this the young gentlemen, with a corresponding number of young girls, are introduced, when they grope about and make their selection, after which they ascend out of it, each holding the young lady of his choice by theforefinger of one of her hands. Bracelets (the equivalent of the wedding ring) are now put on her arms by the elders, and two of the young men stand as sponsors for each bridegroom. The couples are then led to their respective parents, who approve and give their consent. After another application of salop and sundry greetings, the bridegroom is permitted to take his bride home, where she lives with him for a week, and then, returning to her parents, is not allowed to see her husband for a period of one year, at the expiration of which she is finally made over to him.” In a still further account of marriage among the Bondas, I am informed that a young man and a maid retire to the jungle, and light a fire. Then the maid, taking a burning stick, applies it to the man’s gluteal region. If he cries out Am! Am! Am! he is unworthy of her, and she remains a maid. If he does not, the marriage is at once consummated. The application of the brand is probably light or severe according to the girl’s feelings towards the young man. According to another version, the girl goes off to the jungle with several men, and the scene has been described as being like a figure in the cotillion, as they come up to be switched with the brand.

Widow remarriage is permitted among all the divisions of the Porojas, and a younger brother usually marries his elder brother’s widow.

The Jhodia, Pengu, and Kondhi divisions worship Bhūmi Dēvata (the earth goddess), who is also known as Jākar Dēvata, once in three years. Each village offers a cow, goat, pig, and pigeon to her as a sacrifice. She is represented by a stone under a tree outside the village. A casteman acts as pūjāri (priest), and all the villagers, including the Janni and Mūdili, are present at the festival, which winds up with a feast and drink.The Bondas worship Tākurāni in the months of Chaitra and Māgho, and the festival includes the sacrifice of animals. “Their religious ceremonies,” Mr. May writes, “consist in offerings to some nameless deity, or to the memory of deceased relations. At each of the principal villages, the Bhondas congregate once a year in some spot conveniently situated for their orgies, when a chicken, a few eggs, and a pig or goat are offered, after which they retire to their houses, and next day assemble again, when the salop juice is freely imbibed till the intoxicating effects have thoroughly roused their pugnacity. The process of cudgelling one another with the branches of the salop now begins, and they apply them indiscriminately without the smallest regard for each other’s feelings. This, with the attendant drums and shrieks, would give one the impression of a host of maniacs suddenly set at liberty. This amusement is continued till bruises, contusions, and bleeding heads and backs have reduced them to a comparatively sober state, and, I imagine, old scores are paid off, when they return to their several houses.”

The dead are, as a rule, burnt. By some of the Jhodia Porojas, the ashes are subsequently buried in a pit a few feet deep, near the burning-ground, and the grave is marked by a heap of stones. A pole is set up in this heap, and water poured on it for twelve days. On the fourth day, cooked rice and fish are set on the way leading to the spot where the corpse was burned. The celebrants of the death rite then take mango bark, paint it with cow-dung, and sprinkle themselves with it. The ceremony concludes with a bath, feast, and drink. Among the Bonda Porojas, some of the jewelry of the deceased person is burnt with the corpse, and the remainder given to the daughter or daughter-in-law.They observe pollution for three days, during which they do not enter their fields. On the fourth day, they anoint themselves with castor-oil and turmeric, and bathe.

Mr. G. F. Paddison informs me that he once gave medicine to the Porojas during an epidemic of cholera in a village. They all took it eagerly, but, as he was going away, asked whether it would not be quicker cure to put the witch in the next village, who had brought on the cholera, into jail.

A Bonda Poroja dance is said to be very humourous. The young men tie a string of bells round their legs, and do the active part of the dance. The women stand in a cluster, with faces to the middle, clap their hands, and scream at intervals, while the men hop and stamp, and whirl round them on their own axes. The following account of a dance by the Jhōdia Poroja girls of the Koraput and Nandapuram country is given by Mr. W. Francis.111“Picturesque in the extreme,” he writes, “is a dancing party of these cheery maidens, dressed all exactly alike in clean white cloths with cerise borders or checks, reaching barely half way to the knee; great rings on their fingers; brass bells on their toes; their substantial but shapely arms and legs tattooed from wrist to shoulder, and from ankle to knee; their left forearms hidden under a score of heavy brass bangles; and their feet loaded with chased brass anklets weighing perhaps a dozen pounds. The orchestra, which consists solely of drums of assorted shapes and sizes, dashes into an overture, and the girls quickly group themselves into a couple ofcorps de ballet, each under the leadership of apremière danseuse, who marks thetime with a long baton of peacock’s feathers. Suddenly, the drums drop to a muffled beat, and each group strings out into a long line, headed by the leader with the feathers, each maiden passing her right hand behind the next girl’s back, and grasping the left elbow of the next but one. Thus linked, and in time with the drums (which now break intoallegro crescendo), the long chain of girls—dancing in perfect step, following the leader with her swaying baton, marking the time by clinking their anklets (right, left, right, clink; left, clink; right, left, right, clink; and soda capo), chanting the while (quite tunefully) in unison a refrain in a minor key ending on a sustained falling note—weave themselves into sinuous lines, curves, spirals, figures-of-eight, and back into lines again; wind in and out like some brightly-coloured snake; never halting for a moment, now backwards, now forwards, first slowly and decorously, then, as the drums quicken, faster and faster, with more and more abandon, and longer and longer steps, until suddenly some one gets out of step, and the chain snaps amid peals of breathless laughter.”

For the following supplementary note on the Bonda Porojas, I am indebted to Mr. C. A. Henderson.

These people live in the western portion of Malkanagiri tāluk, along the edge of the hills, probably penetrating some distance into them. The elder men are not in any way distinguishable from their neighbours. Young unmarried men, however, tie a strip of palmyra leaf round their heads in the same way as the women of their own tribe, or of the Gadabas. The women are very distinctly dressed. They all shave their heads once a month or so, and fasten a little fillet, made of beads or plaited grass, round them. The neck and chest are covered with a mass of ornaments, by whichthe breasts are almost concealed. These consist, for the most part, of bead necklaces, but they have also one or more very heavy brass necklaces of various designs, some being merely collections of rings on a connecting circlet, some massive hinged devices tied together at the end with string. They wear also small ear-studs of lead. Apart from these ornaments, they are naked to the waist. Round the loins, a small thick cloth is worn. This is woven from the fibre of the ringa (Oriya sītkodai gotsho). This cloth measures about two feet by eight inches, and is of thick texture like gunny, and variously coloured. Owing to its exiguity, its wearers are compelled, for decency’s sake, to sit on their heels with their knees together, instead of squatting in the ordinary native posture. This little cloth is supported round the waist by a thread, or light chain of tin and beads, but not totally confined thereby. The upper edge of the cloth behind is free from the chain, and bulges out, exposing the upper portion of the buttocks, the thread or chain lying in the small of the back. It is noted by Mr. Sandell that “the cloth at present used is of comparatively recent introduction, and seems to be a slight infringement of the tabu. The original cloth and supporting string were undoubtedly made of jungle fibre, and the modern colouring is brought about with cotton thread. Similarly, the Bonda Poroja necklaces of cheap beads, blue and white, must be modern, and most obviously so the fragments of tin that they work into their chains. The women are said to wear cloths in their houses, but to leave them off when they go outside. It seems that the tabu is directed against appearing in public fully clothed, and not against wearing decent sized cloths, as such. The party I saw were mostly unmarried girls, but one of them had beenmarried for a year. When not posing for the camera, or dancing, she tied a small piece of cloth round her neck, so as to hang over the shoulders. This, as far as I could make out, was not because she was married, but simply because she was more shy than the rest.

“Two houses are kept in the village, for the unmarried girls and young men respectively. Apparently marriages are matters of inclination, the parents having no say in the matter. The young couple having contracted friendship (by word of mouth, and not by deed, as it was explained to me), inform their parents of it. The young man goes to make his demand of the girl’s parents, apparently without at the time making any presents to them, contrary to the custom of the Kondhs and others. Then there seem to be a series of promises on the part of the parents to give the girl. But the witnesses were rather confused on the point. I gather that the sort of final betrothal takes place in Dyali (the month after Dusserah), and the marriage in Magha. At the time of marriage, the girl’s parents are presented with a pair of bulls, a cloth, and a pot of landa (sago-palm toddy). But no return is made for them. The father gives the girl some ornaments. The married woman, whom I saw, had been given a bracelet by her husband, but it was not a conspicuously valuable one, and in no way indicative of her status.” In connection with marriage, Mr. Sandell adds that “a youth of one village does not marry a maiden of the same village, as they are regarded as brother and sister. The marriage pit is still in use, and may last all through the cold weather. A number of small villages will club together, and have one big pit.” In the case observed by Mr. Sandell, three of the localmaidens were shut up in the pit at night, and five stranger youths admitted. The pit may be twelve feet across, and is covered with tatties (mats) and earth, a trap-door being left.

“After childbirth, the mother is unclean for some days. The time is, I gather, reckoned by the dropping of the navel-string, and is given as eight to sixteen days. During that period, the woman is not allowed to cook, or even touch her meals.

“These people say that they have no pūja (worship). But at the time of sowing seed, they sacrifice one egg (for the whole village) to Matēra Hundi, the goddess of harvest, who is represented by a branch of the kusi or jāmo (guava) tree planted in the village. The people have no pūjāris, and, in this case, the priest was a Mattia by caste. He plants the branch, and performs the sacrifice. At the time of Nua Khāu (new eating; first fruits) a sacrifice of an animal of some kind is also made to Matēra Hundi. Her aid is, they say, sought against the perils of the jungle, but primarily she is wanted to give them a good crop. The Bonda Porojas are quite ready to tell the old story of Sīta (whom they call Mahā Lakshmi), and her curse upon their women, whereby they shave their heads, and may not wear cloths. It is stated by Mr. May that a Government Agent once insisted on a young woman being properly clothed, and she survived the change only three days. I understand that this case has been somewhat misrepresented. The cloth is believed not to have been forced upon the girl, but offered to, and greatly appreciated by her. Her death shortly afterwards was apparently not the result of violation of the tabu, but accidental, and due, it is believed, to small-pox. The people whom I saw had not heard of this episode, but said that awoman who wore a cloth out of doors would fall sick, not die. But the possibility of any woman of theirs wearing a cloth obviously seemed to them very remote. The Bonda Porojas have a sort of belief in ghosts—not altogether devils apparently, but the spirits of the departed (sayirē). These may appear in dreams, influence life and health, and vaguely exercise a helpful influence over the crops. I did not find out if they were propitiated in any way.

“A dead body is washed, tied to a tatty (mat) hurdle, taken outside the village, and burnt. After eight days (said to be four in the case of rich men), the corpse-bearers, and the family, sit down to a funeral feast, at which drinking is not allowed. A pig, fowl, or goat, according to the circumstances of the family, forms the meal. This is done in some way for the sake of the departed, but how is not quite clear.

“The Bonda Porojas live by cultivation, keep cattle, pigs, etc., and eat beef, and even the domestic pig. They pride themselves, as against their Hindu neighbours, in that their women eat with the men, and not of their leavings, and do not leave their village. The women, however, go to shandies (markets).”

Pothoria.—Pothoria or Pothriya, meaning stone, is the name of a small class of Oriya stone-cutters in Ganjam, who are addicted to snaring antelopes by means of tame bucks, which they keep for the purpose of decoying the wild ones. They employ Brāhmans as purōhits. Marriage is infant, and remarriage of widows is permitted. The females wear glass bangles.

Pōthu.—Pōthu or Pōthula, meaning male, occurs as an exogamous sept of Dēvānga, Mēdara, and Padma Sālē; and Pōthula, in the sense of a male buffalo, as a sept of Mādiga.

Potia.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Oriya mat-makers. They are said to be immigrants from Potia in Orissa, who call themselves Doluvas. The Doluvas, however, do not recognise them, and neither eat nor intermarry with them.

Potta(abdomen).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.

Potti(Tamil, worshipful).—Stated, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, to be the name applied to all Kērala Brāhmans, who do not come under the specific designation of Nambūtiris.

Pouzu(quail).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.

Powāku(tobacco).—An exogamous sept of Māla.

Poyilethānnāya(one who removes the evil eye).—An exogamous sept of Bant.

Pradhāno(chief).—A title of Aruva, Benāiyto, Odia, Kālingi, Kēvuto, and Sāmantiya.

Prānōpakāri(one who helps souls).—A name for barbers in Travancore. In the early settlement records, Pranu occurs as a corruption thereof.

Prathamasākha.—It is recorded,112in connection with the village of Kōiltirumālam or Tiru-ambamahālam, that “a new temple has been recently built, and richly endowed by Nāttukōttai Chettis. There is, however, an old story connected with the place, which is enacted at the largely attended festival here, and in many popular dramas. This relates that the god of the Tiruvālūr temple was entreated by a pūjāri (priest) of this place to be present in the village at a sacrifice in his (the god’s) honour. The deity consented at length, but gave warning that he would come in a very unwelcome shape. He appeared as a Paraiyan with beef on his back and followed by the four Vēdas in the form of dogs, and tookhis part in the sacrifice thus accoutred and attended. All the Brāhmans who were present ran away, and the god was so incensed that he condemned them to be Paraiyans for one hour in the day, from noon till 1P.M.ever afterwards. There is a class of Brāhmans called Midday Brāhmans, who are found in several districts, and a colony of whom reside at Sēdanipuram, five miles west of Nannilam. It is believed throughout the Tanjore district that the Midday Paraiyans are the descendants of the Brāhmans thus cursed by the god. They are supposed to expiate their defilement by staying outside their houses for an hour and a half every day at midday, and to bathe afterwards; and, if they do this, they are much respected. Few of them, however, observe this rule, and orthodox persons will not eat with them, because of this omission to remove the defilement. They call themselves the Prathamasākha.”

Prithvi(earth).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.

Puchcha.—Puccha or Puchcha Kāya (fruit ofCitrullus Colocynthis) is the name of a gōtra or sept of Bōyas, Kōmatis, and Vīramushtis, who are a class of mendicants attached to the Kōmatis. The same name, or picchi kāya, denoting the water-melonCitrullus vulgaris, occurs as a sept or house-name of Panta Reddis and Sēniyans (Dēvāngas), the members of which may not eat the fruit. The name Desimarada has been recently substituted by the Sēniyans for picchi kāya.

Pudamuri(pudaya, a woman’s cloth; muri, cuttings).—Defined by Mr. Wigram as a so-called ‘marriage’ ceremony performed among the Nāyars in North Malabar. (SeeNāyar.)

Pudu Nāttān(new country).—A sub-division of Idaiyan.

Pū Islām.—SeePūtiya Islām.

Pūjāri.—Pūjāri is an occupational title, meaning priest, or performer of pūja (worship). It is described by Mr. H. A. Stuart113as “a name applied to a class of priests, who mostly preside in the temples of the female deities—the Grāma Dēvatas or Ūr Ammas—and not in those of Vishnu or Siva. They do not wear the sacred thread, except on solemn occasions.” Pūjāri has been recorded as a title of Billavas as they officiate as priests at bhūtasthānas (devil shrines), and of Halēpaiks, and Pūjāli as a title of some Irulas. Some families of Kusavans (potters), who manufacture clay idols, are also known as pūjāri. Pūja occurs as a sub-division of the Gollas. Some criminal Koravas travel in the guise of Pūjāris, and style themselves Korava Pūjāris.

Pula.—A sub-division of Cheruman.

Pūla(flowers).—An exogamous sept of Bōya, Padma Sālē and Yerukala.

Pūlān.—Barbers of Tamil origin, who have settled in Travancore.

Pulavar.—A title of Ōcchan and Panisavan.

Pulayan.—See Cheruman and Thanda Pulayan.

Puli(tiger).—Recorded as an exogamous sept or gōtra of Balija, Golla, Kamma, and Mēdara. The equivalent Puliattanāya occurs as an exogamous sept of Bant.

Puliakōdan.—A class of carpenters in Malabar, whose traditional occupation is to construct oil mills.

Pūliāsāri.—A division of Malabar Kammālans, the members of which do mason’s work (pūli, earth). Paravas who are engaged in a similar calling are, in like manner, called Pūli Kollan.

Pulikkal.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.

Puliyan.—A sub-division of Nāyar.

Puliyattu.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as synonymous with Pulikkappanikkan, a sub-division of Nāyar.

Pullakūra(pot-herbs).—An exogamous sept of Īdiga.

Pulluvan.—The Pulluvans of Malabar are astrologers, medicine-men, priests and singers in snake groves. The name is fancifully derived from pullu, a hawk, because the Pulluvan is clever in curing the disorders which pregnant women and babies suffer from through the evil influence of these birds. The Pulluvans are sometimes called Vaidyans (physicians).

As regards the origin of the caste, the following tradition is narrated.114Agni, the fire god, had made several desperate but vain efforts to destroy the great primeval forest of Gāndava. The eight serpents which had their home in the forest were the chosen friends of Indra, who sent down a deluge, and destroyed, every time, the fire which Agni kindled in order to burn down the forest. Eventually Agni resorted to a stratagem, and, appearing before Arjunan in the guise of a Brāhman, contrived to exact a promise to do him any favour he might desire. Agni then sought the help of Arjunan in destroying the forest, and the latter created a wonderful bow and arrows, which cut off every drop of rain sent by Indra for the preservation of the forest. The birds, beasts, and other creatures which lived therein, fled in terror, but most of them were overtaken by the flames, and were burnt to cinders. Several of the serpents also were overtaken and destroyed, but one of them was rescued by the maid-servant of a Brāhman, who securedthe sacred reptile in a pot, which she deposited in a jasmine bower. When the Brāhman came to hear of this, he had the serpent removed, and turned the maid-servant adrift, expelling at the same time a man-servant, so that the woman might not be alone and friendless. The two exiles prospered under the protection of the serpent, which the woman had rescued from the flames, and became the founders of the Pulluvans. According to another story, when the great Gāndava forest was in conflagration, the snakes therein were destroyed in the flames. A large five-hooded snake, scorched and burnt by the fire, flew away in agony, and alighted at Kuttanād, which is said to have been on the site of the modern town of Alleppey. Two women were at the time on their way to draw water from a well. The snake asked them to pour seven potfuls of water over him, to alleviate his pain, and to turn the pot sideways, so that he could get into it. His request was complied with, and, having entered the pot, he would not leave it. He then desired one of the women to take him home, and place him in a room on the west side of the house. This she refused to do for fear of the snake, and she was advised to cover the mouth of the pot with a cloth. The room, in which the snake was placed, was ordered to be closed for a week. The woman’s husband, who did not know what had occurred, tried to open the door, and only succeeded by exerting all his strength. On entering the room, to his surprise he found an ant-hill, and disturbed it. Thereon the snake issued forth from it, and bit him. As the result of the bite, the man died, and his widow was left without means of support. The snake consoled her, and devised a plan, by which she could maintain herself. She was to go from house to house, and cry out “Give me alms, and be saved fromsnake poisoning.” The inmates would give, and the snakes, which were troubling their houses, would cease from annoying them. For this reason, a Pulluvan and his wife, when they go with their pulluva kudam (pot-drum) to a house, are asked to sing, and given money.

The Pulluvar females, Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar writes,115“take a pretty large pitcher, and close its opening by means of a small circular piece of thin leather, which is fastened on to the vessel by means of strings strongly tied round its neck. Another string is adjusted to the leather cover, which, when played on by means of the fingers, produces a hoarse note, which is said to please the gods’ ears, pacify their anger, and lull them to sleep.” In the Malabar Gazetteer, this instrument is thus described. “It consists of an earthenware chatty with its bottom removed, and entirely covered, except the mouth, with leather. The portion of the leather which is stretched over the bottom of the vessel thus forms a sort of drum, to the centre of which a string is attached. The other end of the string is fixed in the cleft of a stick. The performer sits cross-legged, holding the chatty mouth downwards with his right hand, on his right knee. The stick is held firmly under the right foot, resting on the left leg. The performer strums on the string, which is thus stretched tight, with a rude plectrum of horn, or other substance. The vibrations communicated by the string to the tympanum produce a curious sonorous note, the pitch of which can be varied by increasing or relaxing the tension of the string.” This musical instrument is carried from house to house in the daytime by these Pulluvarfemales; and, placing the vessel in a particular position on the ground, and sitting in a particular fashion in relation to the vessel, they play on the string, which then produces a very pleasant musical note. Then they sing ballads to the accompaniment of these notes. After continuing this for some time, they stop, and, getting their customary dues from the family, go their own way. It is believed that the music, and the ballads, are peculiarly pleasing to the serpent gods, who bless those for whose sakes the music has been rendered.” The Pulluvans also play on a lute with snakes painted on the reptile skin, which is used in lieu of parchment. The skin, in a specimen at the Madras Museum, is apparently that of the big lizardVaranus bengalensis. The lute is played with a bow, to which a metal bell is attached.

The dwelling-houses of the Pulluvans are like those of the Izhuvans or Cherumas. They are generally mud huts, with thatched roof, and a verandah in front.

When a girl attains maturity, she is placed apart in a room. On the seventh day, she is anointed by seven young women, who give an offering to the demons, if she is possessed by any. This consists of the bark of a plantain tree made into the form of a triangle, on which small bits of tender cocoanuts and little torches are fixed. This is waved round the girl’s head, and floated away on water. As regards marriage, the Pulluvans observe both tāli-kettu and sambandham. In the vicinity of Palghat, members of the caste in the same village intermarry, and have a prejudice against contracting alliances outside it. Thus, the Pulluvans of Palghat do not intermarry with those of Mundūr and Kanghat, which are four and ten miles distant. It is said that, in former days, intercourse between brother and sister waspermitted. But, when questioned on this point, the Pulluvans absolutely deny it. It is, however, possible that something of the kind was once the case, for, when a man belonging to another caste is suspected of incest, it is said that he is like the Pulluvans. Should the parents of a married woman have no objection to her being divorced, they give her husband a piece of cloth called murikotukkuka. This signifies that the cloth which he gave is returned, and divorce is effected.

Pulluvan casting out devils.Pulluvan casting out devils.

Pulluvan casting out devils.

The Pulluvans follow the makkathāyam law of inheritance (from father to son). But they seldom have any property to leave, except their hut and a few earthen pots. They have their caste assemblies (parichas), which adjudicate on adultery, theft, and other offences.

They believe firmly in magic and sorcery, and every kind of sickness is attributed to the influence of some demon. Abortion, death of a new-born baby, prolonged labour, or the death of the woman, fever, want of milk in the breasts, and other misfortunes, are attributed to malignant influences. When pregnant women, or even children, walk out alone at midday, they are possessed by them, and may fall in convulsions. Any slight dereliction, or indifference with regard to the offering of sacrifices, is attended by domestic calamities, and sacrifices of goats and fowls are requisite. More sacrifices are promised, if the demons will help them in the achievement of an object, or in the destruction of an enemy. In some cases the village astrologer is consulted, and he, by means of his calculations, divines the cause of an illness, and suggests that a particular disease or calamity is due to the provocation of the family or other god, to whom sacrifices or offerings have not been made. Under these circumstances, a Velichapād, or oracle, is consulted. After bathing, and dressinghimself in a new mundu (cloth), he enters on the scene with a sword in his hand, and his legs girt with small bells. Standing in front of the deity in pious meditation, he advances with slow steps and rolling eyes, and makes a few frantic cuts on his forehead. He is already in convulsive shivers, and works himself up to a state of frenzied possession, and utters certain disconnected sentences, which are believed to be the utterances of the gods. Believing them to be the means of cure or relief from calamity, those affected reverentially bow before the Velichapād, and obey his commands. Sometimes they resort to a curious method of calculating beforehand the result of a project, in which they are engaged, by placing before the god two bouquets of flowers, one red, the other white, of which a child picks out one with its eyes closed. Selection of the white bouquet predicts auspicious results, of the red the reverse. A man, who wishes to bring a demon under his control, must bathe in the early morning for forty-one days, and cook his own meals. He should have no association with his wife, and be free from all pollution. Every night, after 10 o’clock, he should bathe in a tank (pond) or river, and stand naked up to the loins in the water, while praying to the god, whom he wishes to propitiate, in the words “I offer thee my prayers, so that thou mayst bless me with what I want.” These, with his thoughts concentrated on the deity, he should utter 101, 1,001, and 100,001 times during the period. Should he do this, in spite of all obstacles and intimidation by the demons, the god will grant his desires. It is said to be best for a man to be trained and guided by a guru (preceptor), as, if proper precautions are not adopted, the result of his labours will be that he goes mad.

A Pulluvan and his wife preside at the ceremony called Pāmban Tullal to propitiate the snake gods of the nāgāttān kāvus, or serpent shrines. For this, a pandal (booth) is erected by driving four posts into the ground, and putting over them a silk or cotton canopy. A hideous figure of a huge snake is made on the floor with powders of five colours. Five colours are essential, as they are visible on the necks of snakes. Rice is scattered over the floor. Worship is performed to Ganēsa, and cocoanuts and rice are offered. Incense is burnt, and a lamp placed on a plate. The members of the family go round the booth, and the woman, from whom the devil has to be cast out, bathes, and takes her seat on the western side, holding a bunch of palm flowers. The Pulluvan and his wife begin the music, vocal and instrumental, the woman keeping time with the pot-drum by striking on a metal vessel. As they sing songs in honour of the snake deity, the young female members of the family, who have been purified by a bath, and are seated, begin to quiver, sway their heads to and fro in time with the music, and the tresses of their hair are let loose. In their state of excitement, they beat upon the floor, and rub out the figure of the snake with palm flowers. This done, they proceed to the snake-grove, and prostrate themselves before the stone images of snakes, and recover consciousness. They take milk, water from a tender cocoanut, and plantains. The Pulluvan stops singing, and the ceremony is over. “Sometimes,” Mr. Gopal Panikkar writes, “the gods appear in the bodies of all these females, and sometimes only in those of a select few, or none at all. The refusal of the gods to enter into such persons is symbolical of some want of cleanliness in them: which contingency is looked upon as a source of anxiety to the individual.

Pulluvan with pot-drum.Pulluvan with pot-drum.

Pulluvan with pot-drum.

It may also suggest the displeasure of these gods towards the family, in respect of which the ceremony is performed. In either case, such refusal on the part of the gods is an index of their ill-will or dissatisfaction. In cases where the gods refuse to appear in any one of those seated for the purpose, the ceremony is prolonged until the gods are so properly propitiated as to constrain them to manifest themselves. Then, after the lapse of the number of days fixed for the ceremony, and, after the will of the serpent gods is duly expressed, the ceremonies close.” Sometimes, it is said, it may be considered necessary to rub away the figure as many as 101 times, in which case the ceremony is prolonged over several weeks. Each time that the snake design is destroyed, one or two men, with torches in their hands, perform a dance, keeping step to the Pulluvan’s music. The family may eventually erect a small platform or shrine in a corner of their grounds, and worship at it annually. The snake deity will not, it is believed, manifest himself if any of the persons, or articles required for the ceremony, are impure,e.g., if the pot-drum has been polluted by the touch of a menstruating female. The Pulluvan, from whom a drum was purchased for the Madras Museum, was very reluctant to part with it, lest it should be touched by an impure woman.

The Pulluvans worship the gods of the Brāhmanical temples, from a distance, and believe in spirits of all sorts and conditions. They worship Velayuthan, Ayyappa, Rāhu, Mūni, Chāthan, Mukkan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, and others. Mūni is a well-disposed deity, to whom, once a year, rice, plantains, and cocoanuts are offered. To Mukkan, Karinkutti, and others, sheep and fowls are offered. A floral device (padmam) is drawnon the floor with nine divisions in rice-flour, on each of which a piece of tender cocoanut leaf, and a lighted wick dipped in cocoanut oil, are placed. Parched rice, boiled beans, jaggery (crude sugar), cakes, plantains, and toddy are offered, and camphor and incense burnt. If a sheep has to be sacrificed, boiled rice is offered, and water sprinkled over the head of the sheep before it is killed. If it shakes itself, so that it frees itself from the water, it is considered as a favourable omen. On every new-moon day, offerings of mutton, fowls, rice-balls, toddy, and other things, served up on a plantain leaf, are made to the souls of the departed. The celebrants, who have bathed and cooked their own food on the previous day, prostrate themselves, and say “Ye dead ancestors, we offer what we can afford. May you take the gifts, and be pleased to protect us.”

The Pulluvans bury their dead. The place of burial is near a river, or in a secluded spot near the dwelling of the deceased. The corpse is covered with a cloth, and a cocoanut placed with it. Offerings of rice-balls are made by the son daily for fifteen days, when pollution ceases, and a feast is held.

At the present day, some Pulluvans work at various forms of labour, such as sowing, ploughing, reaping, fencing, and cutting timber, for which they are paid in money or kind. They are, in fact, day-labourers, living in huts built on the waste land of some landlord, for which they pay a nominal ground-rent. They will take food prepared by Brāhmans, Nāyars, Kammālans, and Izhuvas, but not that prepared by a Mannān or Kaniyan. Carpenters and Izhuvas bathe when a Pulluvan has touched them. But the Pulluvans are polluted by Cherumas, Pulayas, Paraiyans, Ullādans, and others. The women wear the kacha, like Izhuva women, foldedtwice, and worn round the loins, and are seldom seen with an upper body-cloth.116

Puluvan.—The Puluvans have been described117as “a small tribe of cultivators found in the district of Coimbatore. Puluvans are the learned men among the Coimbatore Vellālas, and are supposed to be the depositaries of the poet Kamban’s works. One authority from Coimbatore writes that the traditional occupation of this caste is military service, and derives the word from bhū, earth, and valavan, a ruler; while another thinks that the correct word is Pūruvan, aborigines. Their girls are married usually after they attain maturity. In the disposal of the dead, both cremation and burial are in vogue, the tendency being towards the former. They are flesh-eaters. Their customs generally resemble those of the Konga Vellālas.”

The Puluvans call themselves Puluva Vellālas.

Pūnamalli.—The name of a division of Vellālas derived from Poonamallee, an old military station near Madras.

Pūni.—A sub-division of Golla.

Punjala(cock, or male).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.

Pūppalli.—SeeUnni.

Puragiri Kshatriya.—A name assumed by some Perikes.

Puramalai,PuramalaināduorPiramalainādu.—A territorial sub-division of Kallan.

Puranadi.—Barbers and priests of the Vēlans of Travancore, who are also called Vēlakkuruppu.

Purattu Charna.—A sub-division of Nāyar.

Purusha.—SeeJōgi Purusha.

Pūsa(beads).—A sub-division of Balija. A sub-division of the Yerukalas is known as Pūsalavādu, or sellers of glass beads.

Pūsāli.—A title of Ōcchans, or pūjāris (priests) at temples of Grāma Dēvatas (village deities).

Pūsapāti.—The family name of the Mahārājahs of Vizianagram. From the Kshatriyas in Rājputāna people of four gōtrams are said to have come to the Northern Circars several centuries ago, having the Pūsapāti family at their head.118The name of the present Mahārāja is Mirza Rājah Srī Pūsapāti Viziarāma Gajapati Rāj Manya Sultān Bahādur Gāru.

Pūshpakan.—A class of Ambalavāsis in Malabar and Travancore. “As their name (pushpam, a flower) implies, they are employed in bringing flowers and garlands to the temples.”119SeeUnni.

Puthukka Nāttār(people of the new country).—A sub-division of Idaiyan.

Pūtiya Islām.—Pu Islām or Pūtiya Islām is the name returned mostly by Mukkuvans, in reference to their new conversion to the Muhammadan faith.

Putta(ant-hill).—An exogamous sept of Kamma, Kuruba, Māla, Mēdara, and Padma Sālē. ‘White-ant’ (Termites) hills are frequently worshipped as being the abode of snakes.

Puttiya.—A sub-division of Rōna.

Puttūr.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.

Puzhi Tacchan(sand carpenter).—The name of a small section of Malabar Kammālans.

Back to IndexNext