Bavuri
This article is an excerpt from Government Press, Madras |
Bāvuri
The Bāvuris, or Bauris, are a low class of Oriya basket-makers, living in Ganjam, and are more familiarly known as Khodālo. They are a polluting class, living in separate quarters, and occupy a position lower than the Sāmantiyas, but higher than the Kondras, Dandāsis, and Haddis. They claim that palanquin (dhooly or dūli) bearing is their traditional occupation, and consequently call themselves Bōyi. “According to one story,” Risley writes,42 “they were degraded for attempting to steal food from the banquet of the gods; another professes to trace them back to a mythical ancestor named Bāhak Rishi (the bearer of burdens), and tells how, while returning from a marriage procession, they sold the palanquin they had been hired to carry, got drunk on the proceeds, and assaulted their guru (religious preceptor), who cursed them for the sacrilege, and condemned them to rank thenceforward among the lowest castes of the community.” The Bāvuris are apparently divided into two endogamous sections, viz., Dulia and Khandi. The former regard themselves as superior to the latter, and prefer to be called Khodālo. Some of these have given up eating beef, call themselves Dāsa Khodālos, and claim descent from one [176]Balliga Doss, a famous Bāvuri devotee, who is said to have worked wonders, analogous to those of Nandan of the Paraiyan community. To this section the caste priests belong. At Russelkonda, a woman, when asked if she was a Bāvuri, replied that the caste is so called by others, but that its real name is Khodālo. Others, in reply to a question whether they belonged to the Khandi section, became angry, and said that the Khandis are inferior, because they eat frogs.
The Bāvuris gave the name of two gōtras, saptha bhavunia and nāga, which are said to be exogamous. The former offer food to the gods on seven leaves of the white gourd melon, Benincasa cerifera (kokkara), and the latter on jak (Artocarpus integrifolia: panasa) leaves. All over the Oriya country there is a general belief that house-names or bamsams are foreign to the Oriya castes, and only possessed by the Telugus. But some genuine Oriya castes, e.g., Haddis, Dandāsis and Bhondāris, have exogamous bamsams.
For every group of villages (muttah), the Bāvuris apparently have a headman called Bēhara, who is assisted by Naikos or Dolo Bēharas, or, in some places, Dondias or Porichas, who hold sway over a smaller number of villages. Each village has its own headman, called Bhollobhaya (good brother), to whose notice all irregularities are brought. These are either settled by himself, or referred to the Bēhara and Naiko. In some villages, in addition to the Bhollobhaya, there is a caste servant called Dangua or Dogara. For serious offences, a council-meeting is convened by the Bēhara, and attended by the Bhollobhayas, Naikos, and a few leading members of the community. The meeting is held in an open plain outside the village. Once in two or [177]three years, a council-meeting, called mondolo, is held, at which various matters are discussed, and decided. The expenses of meetings are defrayed by the inhabitants of the villages in which they take place. Among the most important matters to be decided by tribunals are adultery, eating with lower castes, the re-admission of convicts into the caste, etc. Punishment takes the form of a fine, and trial by ordeal is apparently not resorted to. A man, who is convicted of committing adultery, or eating with a member of a lower caste, is received back into the caste on payment of the fine. A woman, who has been proved guilty of such offences, is not so taken back. It is said that, when a member of a higher caste commits adultery with a Bāvuri woman, he is sometimes received into the Bāvuri caste. The Bēhara receives a small fee annually from each village or family, and also a small present of money for each marriage.
Girls are married either before or after puberty. A man may marry his maternal uncle’s, but not his paternal aunt’s daughter. At an adult marriage, the festivities last for four days, whereas, at an infant marriage, they are extended over seven days. When a young man’s parents have selected a girl for him, they consult a Brāhman, and, if he decides that the marriage will be auspicious, they proceed to the girl’s home, and ask that a day be fixed for the betrothal. On the appointed day the amount of money, which is to be paid by the bridegroom-elect for jewels, etc., is fixed. One or two new cloths must be given to the girl’s grandmother, and the man’s party must announce the number of feasts they intend to give to the castemen. If the family is poor, the feasts are mentioned, but do not actually take place. The marriage ceremony is always celebrated at night. On the evening of the day prior thereto, the bride and [178]bridegroom’s people proceed to the temple of the village goddess (Tākurāni), and, on their way home, go to seven houses of members of their own or some higher caste, and ask them to give them water, which is poured into a small vessel. This vessel is taken home, and hung over the bedi (marriage dais). The water is used by the bride and bridegroom on the following morning for bathing. On the marriage day, the bridegroom proceeds to the bride’s village, and is met on the way by her party, and escorted by his brother-in-law to the dais.
The Bhollobhaya enquires whether the bride’s party have received everything as arranged, and, when he has been assured on this point, the bride is brought to the dais by her maternal uncle. She carries with her in her hands a little salt and rice; and, after throwing these over the bridegroom, she sits by his side. The grandfathers of the contracting couple, or a priest called Dhiyāni, officiate. Their palms are placed together, and the hands united by a string dyed with turmeric. The union of the hands is called hasthagonti, and is the binding portion of the ceremony. Turmeric water is poured over the hands seven times from a chank or sankha shell. Seven married women then throw over the heads of the couple a mixture of Zizyphus Jujuba (borkolipathro) leaves, rice smeared with turmeric, and Cynodon Dactylon (dhūba) culms. This rite is called bhondaivaro, and is performed at all auspicious ceremonies. The fingers of the bride and bridegroom are then linked together, and they are led by the wife of the bride’s brother seven times round the bedi. The priest then proclaims that the soot can soon be wiped off the cooking-pot, but the connection brought about by the marriage is enduring, and relationship is secured for seven generations. The pair are taken indoors, and fed. The [179]remaining days of the marriage ceremonies are given up to feasting. The remarriage of widows is permitted. A widow is expected to marry the younger brother of her deceased husband, or, with his permission, may marry whom she likes.
When a girl attains maturity, she is seated on a new mat, and Zizyphus Jujuba leaves are thrown over her. This ceremony is sometimes repeated daily for six days, during which sweets, etc., are given to the girl, and women who bring presents are fed. On the seventh day, the girl is taken to a tank (pond), and bathed.
The dead are either buried or burnt. The corpse is, at the funeral, borne in the hands, or on a bier, by four men. Soon after the village boundary has been crossed, the widow of the deceased throws rice over the eyes of the corpse, and also a little fire, after taking it three times round. She usually carries with her a pot and ladle, which she throws away. If an elderly woman dies, these rites are performed by her daughter-in-law. At the burial-ground, the corpse is taken seven times round the grave, and, as it is lowered into it, those present say “Oh! trees, Oh! sky, Oh! earth, we are laying him in. It is not our fault.” When the grave has been filled in, the figures of a man and woman are drawn on it, and all throw earth over it, saying “You were living with us; now you have left us. Do not trouble the people.” On their return home, the mourners sprinkle cowdung water about the house and over their feet, and toddy is partaken of. On the following day, all the old pots are thrown away, and the agnates eat rice cooked with margosa (Melia Azadirachta) leaves. Food is offered to the dead person, either at the burial-ground or in the backyard of the house. On the tenth day, the Dhiyani, [180]as the priest is called, is sent for, and arrives with his drum (dhiyani). A small hut is erected on a tank bund (embankment), and food cooked seven times, and offered seven times on seven fragments of pots. A new cloth is spread, and on it food, fruits, a chank shell, etc., are placed, and offered to the deceased. The various articles are put into a new pot, and the son, going into the water up to his neck, throws the pot into the air, and breaks it. The celebrants of the rite then return to the house, and stand in a row in front thereof. They are there purified by means of milk smeared over their hands by the Dhiyani. On the twelfth day, food is offered on twelve leaves.
The Bāvuris do not worship Jagannāthāswāmi, or other of the higher deities, but reverence their ancestors and the village goddesses or Tākurānis. Like other Oriya classes, the Bāvuris name their children on the twenty-first day. Opprobrious names are common among them, e.g., Ogādu (dirty fellow), Kangāli (wretched fellow), Haddia (Haddi, or sweeper caste).
