Gudiya, Gudia

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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.

Gudiya

The Gudiyas are the sweet-meat sellers of the Oriya country. They rank high in the social scale, and some sections of Oriya Brāhmans will accept drinking water at their hands. Sweet-meats prepared by them are purchased for marriage feasts by all castes, including Brāhmans. The caste name is derived from gudo (jaggery). The caste is divided into two sections, one of which is engaged in selling sweet-meats and crude sugar, and the other in agriculture. The former are called Gudiyas, and the latter Kolāta, Holodia, or Bolāsi Gudiyas in different localities. The headman of the caste is called Sāsumallo, under whom are assistant officers, called Bēhara and Bhollobaya. In their ceremonial observances on the occasion of marriage, death, etc., the Gudiyas closely follow the Gaudos. They profess the Paramartho or Chaitanya form of Vaishnavism, and also worship Tākurānis (village deities).

The Gudiyas are as particular as Brāhmans in connection with the wearing of sect marks, and ceremonial ablution. Cloths worn during the act of attending to the calls of nature are considered to be polluted, so they carry about with them a special cloth, which is donned for the moment, and then removed. Like the Gudiyas, Oriya Brāhmans always carry with them a small cloth for this purpose.

The titles of the Gudiyas are Bēhara, Sāhu, and Sāsumallo. In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the caste name is given as Godiya.