Chapter V: Part 5

Writing in 1832, Harkness states [79] that "on leaving his house in the morning the Burgher pays his adoration to the god of day, proceeds to the tu-el or yard, in which the cattle have been confined, and, again addressing the sun as the emblem of Siva, asks his blessing, and liberates the herd. He allows the cattle to stray about in the neighbourhood of the village, on a piece of ground which is always kept for this purpose, and, having performed his morning ablutions, commences the milking. This is also preceded by further salutations and praises to the sun. On entering the house in the evening, the Burgher addresses the lamp, now the only light, or visible emblem of the deity. 'Thou, creator of this and of all worlds, the greatest of the great, who art with us, as well in the mountain as in the wilderness, who keepeth the wreaths that adorn the head from fading, who guardeth the foot from the thorn, God, among a hundred, may we be prosperous.'"

The Badaga understands the rotation of crops well. On his land he cultivates bearded wheat (beer ganji), barley, onions, garlic, potatoes, kire (Amarantus), samai (Panicum miliare), tenai (Setaria italica), etc.

"Among the Badagas," Mr. Natesa Sastri writes, "the position of the women is somewhat different from what it is among most peoples. Every Badaga has a few acres to cultivate, but he does not mainly occupy himself with them, for his wife does all the out-door farm work, while he is engaged otherwise in earning something in hard cash. To a Badaga, therefore, his wife is his capital. Her labour in the field is considered to be worth one rupee per day, while an average male Badaga earns merely three annas. A Badaga woman, who has not her own acres to cultivate, finds work on some other lands. She thus works hard for her husband and family, and is quite content with the coarsest food--the korali (Setaria italica) flour--leaving the better food to the male members of the family. This fact, and the hard work the Badaga women have to perform, may perhaps account to some extent for the slight build of the Badagas as a race. The male Badaga, too, works in the field, or at his own craft if he is not a cultivator, but his love for ready cash is always so great that, even if he had a harvest to gather the next morning, he would run away as a cooly for two annas wages." Further, Mr. Grigg states that "as the men constantly leave their villages to work on coffee plantations, much of the labour in their own fields, as well as ordinary household work, is performed by the women. They are so industrious, and their services of such value to their husbands, that a Badaga sometimes pays 150 or 200 rupees as dowry for his wife." In the off season for cultivation, I am informed, the Badaga woman collects faggots for home consumption, and stores them near her house, and the women prepare the fields for cultivation by weeding, breaking the earth, and collecting manure.

In his report on the revenue settlement of the Nilgiris (1885), Mr. (now Sir) R. S. Benson notes that "concurrently with the so-called abolition of the bhurty (or shifting) system of cultivation, Mr. Grant abolished the peculiar system in vogue up to that time in Kundahnad, which had been transferred from Malabar to the Nilgiris in 1860. This system was known as erkadu kothukadu. Under it, a tax of Re. 1 to Re. 1-8-0 was levied for the right to use a plough or er, and a tax of from 4 to 8 annas was levied for the right to use a hoe or kothu. The so-called patta issued to the ryot under this system was really no more than a license to use one or more hoes, as the case might be. It merely specified the amount payable for each instrument, but in no cases was the extent or position of the lands to be cultivated specified. The ryot used his implements whenever and wherever he pleased. No restrictions, even on the felling of forests, were imposed, so that the hill-sides and valleys were cleared at will. The system was abolished in 1862. But, during the settlement, I found this erkadu kothukadu system still in force in the flourishing Badaga village of Kinnakorai, with some fifty houses."

In connection with the local self-government of the Badagas, Mr. A. Rajah Bahadur Mudaliar writes to me as follows. "In former days, the monegar was a great personage, as he formed the unit of the administration. The appointment was more or less hereditary, and it generally fell to the lot of the richest and most well-to-do. All disputes within his jurisdiction were placed before him, and his decision was accepted as final. In simple matters, such as partition of property, disputes between husband and wife, etc., the monegars themselves disposed of them. But, when questions of a complicated nature presented themselves, they took as their colleagues other people of the villages, and the disputes were settled by the collective wisdom of the village elders. They assembled at a place set apart for the purpose beneath a nim (Melia Azadirachta) or pipal tree (Ficus religiosa) on a raised platform (ratchai), generally situated at the entrance to the village. The monegar was ex-officio president of such councils. He and the committee had power to fine the parties, to excommunicate them, and to readmit them to the caste. Parents resorted to the monegar for counsel in the disposal of their daughters in marriage, and in finding brides for their sons. If any one had the audacity to run counter to the wishes of the monegar in matters matrimonial, he had the power to throw obstacles in the way of such marriages taking place. The monegar, in virtue of his position, wielded much power, and ruled the village as he pleased." In the old days, it is said, when he visited any village within his jurisdiction, the monegar had the privilege of having the best women or maids of the place to share his cot according to his choice. In former times, the monegar used to wear a silver ring as the badge of office, and some Badagas still have in their possession such rings, which are preserved as heirlooms, and worshipped during festivals. The term monegar is, at the present day, used for the village revenue official and munsiff.

I gather that each exogamous sept has its headman, called Gouda, who is assisted by a Parpattikaran, and decides tribal matters, such as disputes, divorce, etc. Fines, when inflicted, go towards feasting the tribe, and doing puja (worship) to the gods. In the case of a dispute between two parties, one challenges the other to take an oath in a temple before the village council. A declaration on oath settles the matter at issue, and the parties agree to abide by it. It is the duty of the Parpattikaran to make arrangements for such events as the Heththeswami, Devve and Bairaganni festivals, and the buffalo sacrificing festival at Konakkore. The Parpattikaran takes part in the purification of excommunicated members of the tribe, when they are received back into it, for example, on release from prison. The tongue of the delinquent is burnt with a hot sandal stick, and a new waist thread put on. He is taken to the temple, where he stands amidst the assembled Badagas, who touch his head with a cane. He then prostrates himself at the feet of the Parpattikaran, who smears his forehead with sacred ashes. It is, further, the duty of the Parpattikaran to be present on the occasion of the Kannikattu (pregnancy) ceremony.

A quarter of a century ago, a Badaga could be at once picked out from the other tribes of the Nilgiris by his wearing a turban. But, in the present advanced age, not only does the Toda sometimes appear in the national head-dress, but even Irulas and Kurumbas, who only a short time ago were buried in the jungles, living like pigs and bears on roots, honey and other forest produce, turn up on Sundays in the Kotagiri bazar, clad in turban and coat of English cut. And, as the less civilised tribes don the turban, so the college student abandons this picturesque form of head-gear in favour of the less becoming and less washable porkpie cap, while the Badaga men and youths glory in a knitted night-cap of flaring red or orange hue. The body of the Badaga man is covered by a long body-cloth, sometimes with red and blue stripes, wrapped "so loosely that, as a man works in the fields, he is obliged to stop between every few strokes of his hoe, to gather up his cloth, and throw one end over his shoulder." Male adornment is limited to gold ear-rings of a special pattern made by Kotas or goldsmiths, a silver waist-thread, silver bangle on the wrist, and silver, copper, or brass rings. The women wear a white body-cloth, a white under-cloth tied round the chest, tightly wrapped square across the breasts, and reaching to the knees, and a white cloth worn like a cap on the head. As types of female jewelry and tattooing, the following examples may be cited:--

1. Tattooed on forehead with dashes, circles and crescent; spot on chin; double row of dots on each upper arm over deltoid; and devices and double row of dots on right forearm. Gold ornament in left nostril. Necklets of glass beads and silver links with four-anna piece pendent. Silver armlet above right elbow. Four copper armlets above left elbow. Four silver and seven composition bangles on left forearm. Two silver rings on right ring-finger; two steel rings on left ring-finger.

2. Tattooed on forehead; quadruple row of dots over right deltoid; star on right forearm.

3. Tattooed like the preceding on forehead and upper arm. Spot on chin; elaborate device on right forearm; rayed star or sun on back of hand.

4. Tattooed like the preceding on forehead and arm. Triple row of dots on back and front of left wrist, and double row of dots, with circle surrounded by dots, across chest.

Toreya women are only allowed to wear bangles on the wrist.

The tattoo marks on the foreheads of Udayar women consist of a crescent and dot, and they have a straight line tattooed at the outer corners of the eyes. Women of the other sub-divisions have on the forehead two circles with two vertical dashes between them, and a horizontal or crescentic dash below. The circles are made by pricking in the pigment over an impression made with a finger ring, or over a black mark made by means of such a ring. The operation is performed either by a Badaga or Korava woman. The former uses as needles the spines of Carissa spinarum, and a mixture of finely powdered charcoal or lamp-black mixed with rice gruel. The marks on the forehead are made when a girl is about eight or nine years old, and do not, as stated by Mr. Natesa Sastri, proclaim to the whole Badaga world that a girl is of marriageable age.

In colour the Badagas are lighter than the other hill tribes, and the comparative pallor of the skin is specially noticeable in the females, whom, with very few exceptions, I was only able to study by surreptitious examination, when we met on the roads. In physique, the typical Badaga man is below middle height, smooth-skinned, of slender build, with narrow chest and shoulders.

Badaga men have cicatrices on the shoulder and forearm as the result of branding with a fire-stick when they are lads, with the object, it is said, of giving strength, and preventing pain when milking or churning. In like manner, the Todas have raised cicatrices (keloids) on the shoulder produced by branding with a fire-stick. They believe that the branding enables them to milk the buffaloes with perfect ease.

The Badagas have a very extensive repertoire of hora hesaru, or nicknames, of which the following are examples:--

One who eats in bed during the night.
Snorer.
Stupid.
Bald head.
Brown-eyed.
Thin and bony.
Big head.
Bandy-legged.
One who returned alive from the burning ground.
Ripe fruit.
Big-thighed.
Blind.
Lame.
Big calves.
Piles.
Liar.
Cat-eyed.
Fond of pot-herbs.
Rheumatic.
Bad-tempered.
Left-handed.
Buffalo grazer.
Saliva dribbling.
Honey-eater.
Black.
Spleen.
Teeth.
Potato-eater.
Glutton.
Belly.
Itch legged.
One who was slow in learning to walk.
Tall.
Thief-eyed.
Pustule-bodied.
Scarred.
Hairy.
Weak, like partially baked pots.
Strong, like portland cement.

Among the Badagas, Konga is used as a term of abuse. Those who made mistakes in matching Holmgren's wools, with which I tested them, were, always called Konga by the onlookers.

When two Badagas meet each other, the elder touches the head of the younger with his right hand. This form of salutation is known as giving the head. A person of the Badaga section gives the head, as it is called, to an Udaiyar, in token of the superiority of the latter. When people belong to the same sept, they say "Ba, anna, appa, thamma, amma, akka" (come, father, brother, mother, sister, etc.). But, if they are of different septs, they will say "Ba, mama, mami, bava" (come, uncle, aunt, brother-in-law, etc.). "Whenever," Dr. Rivers writes, [80] "a Toda meets a Badaga monegar (headman), or an old Badaga with whom he is acquainted, a salutation passes between the two. The Toda stands before the Badaga, inclines his head slightly, and says 'Madtin pudia.' (Madtin, you have come). The Badaga replies 'Buthuk! buthuk!' (blessing, blessing), and rests his hand on the top of the Toda's head. This greeting only takes place between Todas and the more important of the Badaga community. It would seem that every Badaga headman may be greeted in this way, but a Toda will only greet other Badaga elders, if he is already acquainted with them. The salutation is made to members of all the various castes of the Badagas, except the Toreyas. It has been held to imply that the Todas regard the Badagas as their superiors, but it is doubtful how far this is the case. The Todas themselves say they follow the custom because the Badagas help to support them. It seems to be a mark of respect paid by the Todas to the elders of a tribe with which they have very close relations, and it is perhaps significant that no similar sign of respect is shown to Toda elders by the Badagas."

Every Badaga family has its Muttu Kota, from whom it gets the agricultural implements, pots, hoes, etc. In return, the Kotas receive an annual present of food-grains, mustard and potatoes. For a Kota funeral, the Badagas have to give five rupees or a quantity of rice, and a buffalo. The pots obtained from the Kotas are not used immediately, but kept for three days in the jungle, or in a bush in some open spot. They are then taken to the outer apartment of the house, and kept there for three days, when they are smeared with the bark of Meliosma pungens (the tud tree of the Todas) and culms of Andropogon Schoenanthus (bzambe hullu). Thus purified, the pots are used for boiling water in for three days, and may then be used for any purpose. The Badagas are said to give a present of grain annually to the Todas. Every Toda mand (or mad) seems to have its own group of Badaga families, who pay them this gudu, as it is called. "There are," Dr. Rivers writes, "several regulations concerning the food of the palol (dairy man of a Toda sacred dairy). Any grain he eats must be that provided by the Badagas. At the present time more rice is eaten than was formerly the case. This is not grown by the Badagas, but nevertheless the rice for the palol must be obtained through them. The palol wears garments of a dark grey material made in the Coimbatore district. They are brought to the palol by the Badaga called tikelfmav. The earthenware vessels of the inner room (of the ti dairy) are not obtained from the Kotas, like the ordinary vessels, but are made by Hindus, and are procured through the Badagas."

The Badagas live in dread of the Kurumbas, and the Kurumba constantly comes under reference in their folk-stories. The Kurumba is the necromancer of the hills, and believed to be possessed of the power of outraging women, removing their livers, and so causing their death, while the wound heals by magic, so that no trace of the operation is left. He is supposed, too, to have the power of opening the bolts of doors by magic and effecting an entrance into a house at night for some nefarious purpose. The Toda or Badaga requires the services of the Kurumba, when he fancies that any member of his family is possessed of the devil, or when he wants to remove the evil eye, to which he imagines that his children have been subjected. The Kurumba does his best to remove the malady by repeating various mantrams (magical formulæ). If he fails, and if any suspicion is aroused in the mind of the Toda or Badaga that he is allowing the devil to play his pranks instead of loosing his hold on the supposed victim, woe betide him. The wrath of the entire village, or even the whole tribe, is raised against the unhappy Kurumba. His hut is surrounded at night, and the entire household massacred in cold blood, and their huts set on fire. This is very cleverly carried out, and the isolated position of the Kurumba settlements allows of very little clue for identification. In 1835 no less than fifty-eight Kurumbas were thus murdered, and a smaller number in 1875 and 1882. In 1891 the live inmates of a single hut were murdered, and their hut burnt to ashes, because, it was said, one of them who had been treating a sick Badaga child failed to cure it. The crime was traced to some Kotas in conjunction with Badagas, but the District Judge disbelieved the evidence, and all who were charged were acquitted. Every Badaga family pays an annual tax of four annas to the Kurumbas, and, if a Kurumba comes to a Badaga hatti (village), a subscription is raised as an inducement to him to take his departure. The Kurumba receives a fee for every Badaga funeral, and for the pregnancy ceremony (kannikattu).

It is noted by Dr. Rivers that "the Toda sorcerers are not only feared by their fellow Todas, but also by the Badagas, and it is probably largely owing to fear of Toda sorcery that the Badagas continue to pay their tribute of grain. The Badagas may also consult the Toda diviners, and it is probable that the belief of the Badagas in the magical powers of the Todas is turned to good account by the latter. In some cases, Todas, have been killed by Badagas owing to this belief."

Among the Todas, the duties of milking the buffaloes and dairy-work are entrusted to special individuals, whereas any Badaga male may, after initiation, milk the cows and buffaloes, provided that he is free from pollution. Every Badaga boy, when he is about seven or nine years old, is made to milk a cow on an auspicious day, or on new year's day. The ceremony is thus described by Mr. Natesa Sastri. "Early in the morning of the day appointed for this ceremony, the boy is bathed, and appears in his holiday dress. A she-buffalo, with her calf, stands before his house, waiting to be milked. The parents, or other elder relations of the boy, and those who have been invited to be present on the occasion, or whose duty it is to be present, then conduct the boy to the spot. The father, or some one of the agnatic kindred, gives into the hands of the boy a bamboo vessel called hone, which is already very nearly full of fresh-drawn milk. The boy receives the vessel with both his hands, and is conducted to the buffalo. The elder relations show him the process, and the boy, sitting down, milks a small quantity into the hone. This is his first initiation into the duty of milking, and it is that he may not commit mistakes on the very first day of his milking that the hone is previously filled almost to the brim. The boy takes the vessel filled with milk into his house, and pours some of the sacred fluid into all his household eating vessels--a sign that from that day he has taken up on himself the responsibility of supplying the family with milk. He also throws some milk in the faces of his parents and relatives. They receive it very kindly, and bless him, and request him to continue thus to milk the buffaloes, and bring plenty and prosperity to the house. After this, the boy enters the milk-house (hagottu), and places milk in his hone there. From this moment, and all through his life, he may enter into that room, and this is therefore considered a very important ceremony."

A cow or buffalo, which has calved for the first time, has to be treated in a special manner. For three or five days it is not milked. A boy is then selected to milk it. He must not sleep on a mat, or wear a turban, and, instead of tying his cloth round his waist, must wear it loosely over his body. Meat is forbidden, and he must avoid, and not speak to polluting classes, such as Irulas and Kotas, and menstruating women. On the day appointed for milking the animal, the boy bathes, and proceeds to milk it into a new hone purified by smearing a paste of Meliosma (tud) leaves and bark over it, and heating it over a fire. The milk is taken to a stream, where three cups are made of Argyreia (minige) leaves, into which a small quantity of the milk is placed. The cups are then put in the water. The remainder of the milk in the hone is also poured into the stream. In some places, especially where a Madeswara temple is close at hand, the milk is taken to the temple, and given to the pujari. With a portion of the milk some plantain fruits are made into a pulp, and given to an Udaya, who throws them into a stream. The boy is treated with some respect by his family during the period when he milks the animal, and is given food first. This he must eat off a plate made of Argvreia, or plantain leaves.

Besides the hagottu within the house, the Badagas have, at certain places, separate dairy-houses near a temple dedicated to Heththeswami, of which the one at Bairaganni (or Berganni) appears to be the most important. The dairy pujari is here, like the Toda palol, a celibate. In 1905, he was a young lad, whom my Brahman assistant set forth to photograph. He was, however, met at a distance from the village by a headman, who assured him that he could not take the photograph without the sanction of fifteen villages. The pujari is not allowed to wander freely about the village, or talk to grown-up women. He cooks his own food within the temple grounds, and wears his cloth thrown loosely over his body. Once a year, on the occasion of a festival, he is presented with new cloths and turban, which alone he may wear. He must be a strict vegetarian. A desire to marry and abandon the priesthood is believed to be conveyed in dreams, or through one inspired. Before leaving the temple service, he must train his successor in the duties, and retires with the gains acquired by the sale of the products of the herd and temple offerings. The village of Bairaganni is regarded as sacred, and possesses no holagudi (menstrual hut).

Bishop Whitehead adds that "buffaloes are given as offerings to the temple at Bairaganni, and become the property of the pujari, who milks them, and uses the milk for his food. All the villagers give him rice every day. He may only eat once a day, at about 3 P.M. He cooks the meal himself, and empties the rice from the cooking-pot by turning it over once. If the rice does not come out the first time, he cannot take it at all. When he wants to get married, another boy is appointed in his place. The buffaloes are handed over to his successor." The following legend in connection with Bairaganni is also recorded by Bishop Whitehead. "There is a village in the Mekanad division of the Nilgiris called Nundala. A man had a daughter. He wanted to marry her to a man in the Paranganad division about a hundred years ago. She did not wish to marry him. The father insisted, but she refused again and again. At last she wished to die, and came near a tank, on the bank of which was a tree. She sat under the tree and washed, and then threw herself into the tank. One of the men of Bairaganni in the Paranganad division saw the woman in a dream. She told him that she was not a human being but a goddess, an incarnation of Parvati. The people of Nundala built a strong bund (embankment) round the tank, and allow no woman to go on it. Only the pujari, and Badagas who have prepared themselves by fasting and ablution, are allowed to go on the bund to offer puja, which is done by breaking cocoanuts, and offering rice, flowers, and fruits. The woman told the man in his dream to build a temple at Bairaganni, which is now the chief temple of Heththeswami."

Concerning the initiation of a Lingayat Badaga into his religion, which takes place at about his thirteenth birthday, Mr. Natesa Sastri writes as follows. "The priest conducts this ceremony, and the elder relations of the family have only to arrange for the performance of it. The priests belong to the Udaya sect. They live in their own villages, and are specially sent for, and come to the boy's village for the occasion. The ceremony is generally done to several boys of about the same age on the same day. On the day appointed, all the people in the Badaga village, where this ceremony is to take place, observe a strict fast. The cows and buffaloes are all milked very early in the morning, and not a drop of the milk thus collected is given out, or taken by even the tenderest children of the village, who may require it very badly. The Udaya priest arrives near the village between 10 A.M. and noon on the day appointed. He never goes into the village, but stops near some rivulet adjacent to it. The relations of the boy approach him with a new basket, containing five measures of uncooked rice, pulse, ghi, etc., and a quarter of a rupee--one fanam, as it is generally designated. The priest sits near the water-course, and lights a fire on the bank. Perfumes are thrown profusely into it, and this is almost the only ceremony before the fire. The boys, whose turn it is to receive the linga that day, are all directed to bathe in the river. A plantain leaf, cut into one foot square, is placed in front of the fire towards the east of it. The lingas, kept in readiness by the parents of the boys, are now received by the priest, and placed on the leaves. The boys are asked to wash them--each one the linga meant for his wearing--in water and milk. Then comes the time for the expenditure of all the collected milk of the morning. Profusely the white fluid is poured, till the whole rivulet is nothing but a stream of milk. After the lingas are thus washed, the boys give them to the priest, who places them in his left palm, and, covering them with his right, utters, with all the solemnity due to the occasion, the following incantation, while the boys and the whole village assembled there listen to it with the most profound respect and veneration 'Oh! Siva, Hara, Basava, the Lord of all the six thousand and three thousand names and glories, the Lord of one lakh and ninety-six thousand ganas (body-guards of Siva), the donor of water, the daily-to-be worshipped, the husband of Parvati. Oh! Lord, O! Siva Linga, thy feet alone are our resort. Oh! Siva, Siva, Siva, Siva.' While pronouncing this prayer, the priest now and then removes his right palm, and pours water and milk round the sacred fire, and over the lingas resting in his left palm. He then places each of the lingas in a cloth of one cubit square, rolls it up, and requests the boys to hold out their right palms. The young Badaga receives it, repeats the prayer given about five times, and, during each repetition, the palm holding the linga tied up in the cloth is carried nearer and nearer to his neck. When that is reached (on the fifth utterance of the incantation), the priest ties the ends of the rolled up cloth containing the Siva emblem loosely round the boy's neck, while the latter is all the while kneeling down, holding with both his hands the feet of the priest. After the linga has been tied, the priest blesses him thus: 'May one become one thousand to you. May you ever preserve in you the Siva Linga. If you do so, you will have plenty of milk and food, and you will prosper for one thousand years in name and fame, kine and coin.' If more than one have to receive the linga on the same day, each of them has to undergo this ceremony. After the ceremony is over, the priest returns to his village with the rice, etc., and fees. Every house, in which a boy has received the linga, has to give a grand feast on that day. Even the poorest Badaga must feed at least five other Badagas."

The foregoing account of the investiture with the lingam apparently applies to the Mekanad Udayas. The following note is based on information supplied by the Udayas of Paranginad. The ceremony of investiture is performed either on new year's day or Sivarathri by an Udaya priest in the house of a respected member of the community (doddamane), which is vacated for the occasion. The houses of the boys and girls who are to receive lingams are cleaned, and festoons of tud and mango leaves, lime fruits, and flowers of Leucas aspera (thumbe) are tied across the doorways, and in front of the house where the ceremony is to be performed. Until the conclusion thereof, all the people of the village fast. The candidates, with their parents, and the officiating priest repair to the doddamane. The lingams are handed over to the priest, who, taking them up one by one, does puja to them, and gives them to the children. They in turn do puja, and the lingams, wrapped in pink silk or cotton cloths, are tied round their necks. The puja consists of washing the lingams in cow's urine and milk, smearing them with sandal and turmeric paste, throwing flowers on them, and waving incense and burning camphor before them. After the investiture, the novices are taught a prayer, which is not a stereotyped formula, but varies with the priest and village.

Like other Lingayats, the Udayas respect the Jangam, but do not employ the Jangama thirtham (water used for washing the Jangam's feet) for bathing their lingams. In Udaya villages there is no special menstrual hut (holagudi). Milk is not regarded by them as a sacred product, so there is no hagottu in their houses. Nor do they observe the Manavalai festival in honour of ancestors. Other ceremonies are celebrated by them, as by other Badagas, but they do not employ the services of a Kurumba.

Important agricultural ceremonies are performed by the Badagas at the time of sowing and harvest. The seed-sowing ceremony takes place in March, and, in some places, e.g., the Mekanad and Paranginad, a Kurumba plays an important part in it. On an auspicious day--a Tuesday before the crescent moon--a pujari of the Devve temple sets out several hours before dawn with five or seven kinds of grain in a basket and sickle, accompanied by a Kurumba, and leading a pair of bullocks with a plough. On reaching the field selected, the pujari pours the grain into the cloth of the Kurumba, and, yoking the animals to the plough, makes three furrows in the soil. The Kurumba, stopping the bullocks, kneels on the ground between the furrows facing east. Removing his turban, he places it on the ground, and, closing his ears with his palms, bawls out "Dho, Dho," thrice. He then rises, and scatters the grain thrice on the soil. The pujari and Kurumba then return to the village, and the former deposits what remains of the grain in the store-room (attu). A new pot, full of water, is placed in the milk-house, and the pujari dips his right hand therein, saying "Nerathubitta" (it is full). This ceremony is an important one for the Badagas, as, until it has been performed, sowing may not commence. It is a day of feasting, and, in addition to rice, Dolichos Lablab is cooked.

The other agricultural ceremony is called Devve habba or tenai (Setaria italica), and is usually celebrated in June or July, always on a Monday. It is apparently performed in honour of the two gods Mahalingaswami and Hiriya Udaya, to whom a group of villages will have temples dedicated. For example, the Badagas in the neighbourhood of Kotagiri have their Hiriya Udaya temple at Tandanad, and Mahalingaswami temple at Kannermukku. This Devve festival, which should on no account be pronounced duvve, which means burning-ground, is celebrated at one place, whither the Badagas from other villages proceed, to take part in it. About midday, some Badagas and the temple pujari go from the temple of Hiriya Udaya to that of Mahalingaswami. The procession is usually headed by a Kurumba, who scatters fragments of tud bark and wood as he goes on his way. The pujari takes with him the materials necessary for doing puja, and, after worshipping Mahalingaswami, the party return to the Hiriya Udaya temple, where milk and cooked rice are offered to the various gods within the temple precincts. On the following day, all assemble at the temple, and a Kurumba brings a few sheaves of Setaria italica, and ties them to a stone set up at the main entrance. After this, puja is done, and the people offer cocoanuts to the god. Later on, all the women of the Madhave sept, who have given birth to a first-born child, come, dressed up in holiday attire, with their babies, to the temple. On this day they wear a special nose ornament, called elemukkuththi, which is only worn on one other occasion, at the funeral of a husband. The women do puja to Hiriya Udaya, and the pujari gives them a small quantity of rice on minige (Argyreia) leaves. After eating this, they leave the temple in a line, and wash their hands with water given to them by the pujari. This ceremonial, performed by women of the Madhave sept, is called Mandedhanda. As soon as the Devve festival is concluded, the reaping of the crop commences, and a measure or two of grain from the crop gathered on the first day, called nisal, is set apart for the Mahalingaswami temple.

The most important gods of the Badagas are Heththeswami, Mahalingaswami, Hiriya Udaya, Madeswara, Mankali, Jadeswami, and Nilgiri Rangaswami. And at the present day, some Badagas proceed to the plains, to worship at the Saivite temple at Karamadai in Coimbatore, or at Nanjangod in Mysore.

The festival in honour of Heththeswami is celebrated in the month of January at Baireganni. It is sometimes called ermathohabba, as, with it, ploughing operations cease. It always commences on a Monday, and usually lasts eight days. A Sedan or Devanga weaver comes with his portable hand-loom, and sufficient thread for weaving a dhubati (coarse cloth) and turban. At Baireganni there is a special house, in which these articles are woven. But, at other places where the festival is observed, the Badagas go to the weaver's village to fetch the required cloths. Early on the second morning of the festival, some of the more respected Badagas and the weaver proceed to the weaving house after bathing. The weaver sets up his loom, and worships it by offering incense, and other things. The Badagas give him a new cloth, and a small sum of money, and ask him to weave a dhubati and two kachches (narrow strips of cloth). Daily, throughout the festival, the Badagas collect near the temple, and indulge in music and songs. Until the last day, they are not permitted to set eyes on the god Heththeswami. On the morning of the last day, the pujari, accompanied by all the Badagas, takes the newly woven cloths to a stream, in which they are washed. When they are dry, all proceed to the temple, where the idol is dressed up in them, and all, on this occasion only, are allowed to look at it. Devotees pay a small offering of money, which is placed on a tray near the idol. The crowd begins to disperse in the afternoon, and, on their way back to their villages, the wants of the travellers are attended to by people posted at intervals with coffee, fruit, and other articles of food. If the Badagas have to go to a weaver's village for the cloths, the weaver is, when the order is given for them, presented with four annas, after he has bathed. When handing the money to him, the Badagas bawl out "This is the fee for making the cloths to be worn by Heththe Iramasthi and Parasakti Parvati." On the last day of the festival, the cloths are washed, and one of them is made to represent an idol, which is decorated with waist and neck ornaments, and an umbrella. All prostrate themselves before it, and make offerings of money. Fruits and other things are then offered to Heththeswami and some recite the following prayer. "May all good acts be remembered, and all bad ones be forgotten. Though there may be a thousand and one sins, may I reach the feet of God."

The following further information in connection with the Baireganni festival is given by Bishop Whitehead. "The people from other villages offer money, rice, fruits, umbrellas of gold or silver for the goddess, cloths, and buffaloes. The buffaloes are never killed, but remain as the property of the temple. The pujari calls the representatives of one village, and tells them what Hetheswami says to him, e.g., 'This year you will have good [or bad] crops; cholera or small-pox, good [or bad] rain, etc.' As the people present their offerings, they prostrate themselves, kneeling down and touching the ground with their foreheads, and the pujari gives them some flowers, which they wear in their hair. The people and the pujari play on the kombu [horn], and ring bells while the offerings are being made. After the offerings have finished, all the men dance, in two companies, in front of the temple, one shouting 'How-ko, How-ko,' and the other 'Is-holi.' The dance was taught them by the Todas, and the words are Toda."

In connection with the Jadeswami festival the ceremony of walking through fire [burning embers] is carried out at Melur, Tangalu, Mainele, Jakkanare, Tenad, and Nidugala. At Melur and Tangalu, the temples belong to the Haruvas, who carry out all the details of ceremony. The temple at Tenad is owned by the Udayas, by whom the ceremonial is performed. In other places, the celebrants are Badagas. The festival is observed, on an elaborate scale, at Nidugala during the month of January. All those who are going to walk over the burning embers fast for eight days, and go through the rite on the ninth day. For its performance, Monday is considered an auspicious day. The omens are taken by boiling two pots of milk side by side on two hearths. If the milk overflows uniformly on all sides, the crops will be abundant for all the villages. But, if it flows over on one side only, there will be plentiful crops for villages on that side only. The space over which the embers are spread is said to be about five yards long, and three yards broad. But, in some places, e.g., Jakkanare and Melur, it is circular as at the Muhammadan fire-walking ceremony. For making the embers, the wood of Eugenia Jambolana and Phyllanthus Emblica are used. For boiling the milk, and setting fire to the wood, a light obtained by friction must be used. The process is known as niligolu, or upright stick. The vertical stick is made of a twig of Rhodomyrtus tomentosus, which is rotated in a socket in a long thick piece of a bough of Debregeasia velutina, in which a row of sockets has been made. The rotation is produced by a cord passed several times round the vertical stick, of which each end is pulled alternately. The horizontal block is pressed firmly on the ground by the toes of a man, who presses a half cocoanut shell down on the top of the vertical stick, so as to force it down into the socket. A Badaga, who failed in an attempt to demonstrate the making of fire by this method, gave as an excuse that he was under worldly pollution, from which he would be free at the time of the fire-walking ceremony. Though the Badagas make fire by friction, reference is made in their folk legends, not to this mode of obtaining fire, but to chakkamukki (flint and steel), which is repeatedly referred to in connection with cremation. After the milk boiling ceremonial, the pujari, tying bells on his legs, approaches the fire pit, carrying milk freshly drawn from a cow, which has calved for the first time, and flowers of Rhododendron arboreum, Leucas aspera, or jasmine. After doing puja, he throws the flowers on the embers, and they should remain unscorched for a few seconds. He then pours some of the milk over the embers, and no hissing sound should be produced. The omens being propitious, he walks over the glowing embers, followed by an Udaya, and the crowd of celebrants, who, before going through the ordeal, count the hairs on their feet. If any are singed, it is a sign of approaching ill fortune, or even death. In an account of the fire-walking ceremony, in 1902, it is noted that "the Badagas strongly repudiate the insinuation of preparing their feet to face the fire ordeal. It is done to propitiate Jeddayswami, to whom vows are invoked, in token of which they grow one twist or plait of hair, which is treasured for years, and finally cut off as an offering to Jeddayswami. Numbers of Chettis were catering to the crowd, offering their wares, bangles, gay-coloured handkerchiefs, as well as edibles. The Kotas supplied the music, and an ancient patriarch worked himself up to a high pitch of inspiration, and predicted all sorts of good things for the Badagas with regard to the ensuing season and crops."

The following legend, relating to the fire-walking ceremony, is recorded by Bishop Whitehead. "When they first began to perform the ceremony fifty or sixty years ago, they were afraid to walk over the fire. Then the stone image of Mahalinga Swami turned into a snake, and made a hole through the temple wall. It came out, and crawled over the fire, and then went back to the temple. Then their fear vanished, and they walked over the embers. The hole is still to be seen in the temple."

Of the fire-walking ceremony at Melur, the following account is given in the Gazetteer of the Nilgiris. "It takes place on the Monday after the March new moon, just before the cultivation season begins, and is attended by Badagas from all over Merkunad. The inhabitants of certain villages (six in number), who are supposed to be the descendants of an early Badaga named Guruvajja, have first, however, to signify through their Gottukars, or headmen, that the festival may take place; and the Gottukars choose three, five, or seven men to walk through the fire. On the day appointed, the fire is lit by certain Badaga priests and a Kurumba. The men chosen by the Gottukars then bathe, adorn themselves with sandal, do obeisance to the Udayas of Udayarhatti near Keti, who are specially invited and feasted; pour into the adjacent stream milk from cows which have calved for the first time during the year; and, in the afternoon, throw more milk and some flowers from the Mahalingasvami temple into the fire pit, and then walk across it. Earth is next thrown on the embers, and they walk across twice more. A general feast closes the ceremony, and next day the first ploughings are done, the Kurumba sowing the first seeds, and the priests the next lot. Finally, a net is brought. The priest of the temple, standing over it, puts up prayers for a favourable agricultural season; two fowls are thrown into it, and a pretence is made of spearing them; and then it is taken and put across some game path, and some wild animal (a sambhar deer if possible) is driven into it, slain, and divided among the villagers. This same custom of annually killing a sambhar is also observed at other villages on the plateau, and in 1883 and 1894 special orders were passed to permit of its being done during the close season. Latterly, disputes about precedence in the matter of walking through the fire at Melur have been carried as far as the civil courts, and the two factions celebrate the festival separately in alternate years. A fire-walking ceremony also takes place annually at the Jadayasvami temple in Jakkaneri under the auspices of a Sivachari Badaga. It seems to have originally had some connection with agricultural prospects, as a young bull is made to go partly across the fire-pit before the other devotees, and the owners of young cows which have had their first calves during the year take precedence of others in the ceremony, and bring offerings of milk, which are sprinkled over the burning embers."

At the Sakalathi festival, in the month of October, Badagas, towards evening, throw on the roofs of their houses flowers of Plectranthus Wightii, Crotalaria obtecta, Lobelia nicotianoefolia, Achyranthes aspera, and Leucas aspera. On the following day, they clean their houses, and have a feast. In the afternoon, numbers of them may be seen in the streets drawing in front of their houses pictures in wood-ashes of buffaloes, bulls, cows, ploughs, stars, sun and moon, snakes, lizards, etc. They then go into their houses, and wash their hands. Taking up in his clean hands a big cake, on which are placed a little rice and butter, the Badaga puts on it three wicks steeped in castor oil, and lights them. The cake is then waved round the heads of all the children of the house taken to a field, and thrown therein with the words "Sakalathi has come." The cake-thrower returns home, and prostrates himself before a lamp placed in the inner room, and repeats a long formula, composed of the various synonyms of Siva.

In the month of November, a festival called Dodda Habba (big feast) is celebrated. In the afternoon, rice is cooked in whey within the hagottu, and eaten on minige leaves. Throughout the day the villagers play at various ball games.

A festival, which is purely local, is celebrated near Konakore in honour of Mahangkali. A buffalo is led to the side of a precipice, killed by a Kurumba with a spear, and thrown over the edge thereof. There is a legend that, in olden days, a pujari used to put a stick in the crevice of a rock, and, on removing it, get the value of a buffalo in fanams (gold coins). But, on one occasion, he put the stick in a second time, in the hopes of gaining more money. No money, however, was forthcoming and, as a punishment for his greed, he died on the spot.

All Badaga villages, except those of the Udayas, have a hut, called holagudi, for the exclusive use of women during their monthly periods. A few months before a girl is expected to reach puberty, she is sent to the holagudi, on a Friday, four or five days before the new moon day. This is done lest, in the ordinary course of events, the first menstruation should commence on an inauspicious day. The girl remains in the holagudi one night, and returns home on the following day clad in new cloths, leaving the old ones in the hut. When she arrives at her house, she salutes all the people who are there, and receives their blessing. On Sunday she goes to the houses of her relations, where she is given kadalai (Cicer arietinum) and other food. She may not enter the inner apartment of her house until she has seen the crescent moon. Badaga women observe five days menstrual pollution. If a woman discovers her condition before washing her face in the early morning, that day is included in the pollution period. Otherwise, the period must be prolonged over six days. On the third day she bathes in cold water, using the bark of Pouzolzia (thorekolu), and on the fourth day is allowed a change of clothing after a bath. On this day she leaves the hut, and passes a portion of the night in the verandah of her house. After cooking and eating her evening meal, she bathes, and enters the outer room. Early on the following morning, the spot which she has occupied is cleaned, and she bathes in a stream. Returning home, she eats her food in the outer room, where she remains till next morning. Even children may not be touched by a menstruating woman. If, by chance, this happens, the child must be washed to remove the pollution, before it can be handled by others. This restriction is apparently not observed by any other tribe or caste.

Writing concerning marriage among the Badagas, Harkness states [81] that "it is said to be common for one who is in want of labourers to promise his daughter in marriage to the son or other relative of a neighbour not in circumstances so flourishing as himself. And, these engagements being entered into, the intended bridegroom serves the father of his betrothed as one of his own family till the girl comes of age, when the marriage is consummated, and he becomes a partner in the general property of the family of his father-in-law."

A man may marry a girl belonging to the same village as himself, if he and she are not members of the same exogamous sept. In most cases, however, all the inhabitants of a village are of the same sept, and a man has to take as his wife a girl from a village other than his own.

Among all sections of the Badagas, adult marriage is the general rule, though infant marriage is also practised. Marriage is preceded by a simple form of courtship, but the consent of the parents to the union is necessary. A girl does not suffer in reputation if she is rejected by a number of suitors, before she finally settles down. Except among the Udayas, the marriage ceremony is of a very simple nature. A day or two before that fixed for taking the girl to the house of her husband-elect, the latter proceeds to her village, accompanied by his brothers, who, as a token of respect, touch the feet of all the Badagas who are assembled. The bride is taken to the house of the bridegroom, accompanied by the Kota band. Arrived there, she stands at the entrance, and her mother-in-law or sister-in-law brings water in a vessel, and pours it into her hands thrice. Each time she lets the water fall over her feet. The mother-in-law then ties round her neck a string of beads (male mani), and leads her to the outer room (edumane), where cooked samai (Panicum miliare) and milk is given to her. This she pretends to eat, and the bridegroom's sister gives her water to wash her hands with. The bride and two married women or virgins (preferably the bridegroom's sisters) go to a stream in procession, accompanied by the Kota musicians, and bring therefrom water for cooking purposes in decorated new pots. The bride then salutes all her new relations, and they in turn give her their blessing. The ceremonial concludes with a feast, at the conclusion of which, in some cases, the bride and bridegroom sit on the raised verandah (pial), and receive presents.