Yogi Gurukkal

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This article is an excerpt from Castes and Tribes of Southern India By Edgar Thurston, C.I.E., Superintendent, Madras Government Museum; Correspondant Étranger, Société d’Anthropologie de Paris; Socio Corrispondante, Societa,Romana di Anthropologia. Assisted by K. Rangachari, M.A., of the Madras Government Museum. Government Press, Madras 1909.

Yōgi Gurukkal

The Yōgi Gurukkals are described in the Madras Census Report, 1891, as “a Malayālam-speaking beggar caste. They are also priests in Kāli temples, and pial schoolmasters. They bury their dead in a sitting posture (like Sanyāsis).” The pial, it may be noted, is a raised platform under the verandah, or on either side of the door of a house, in which village schools are held.

The Yōgi Gurukkals are scattered about Malabar, and their chief occupation seems to be the performance of worship to Kāli or Durga. They officiate as priests for Mukkuvans and Tiyans. Among the Mukkuvans, pūja (worship) to Kāli at the annual festival has to be done by a Yōgi Gurukkal, whereas, on ordinary occasions, it may be done by a Mukkuvan, provided that he has been initiated by a Yōgi Gurukkal. In their customs, the Yōgi Gurukkals closely follow the Nāyars. It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that “the Yōgi Gurukkals of North Malabar are a caste which, though low in the social scale, is not regarded as conveying distance pollution. They perform sakti pūja in their own houses, to which no one outside the caste is allowed to attend; they also perform it for Nāyars and Tiyans. They are celebrated sorcerers and exorcists, and are also schoolmasters by profession.”