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Narikorava Studies

Some ceremonies of the Narikoravas

K.R.Rajagopalan, J.P.Vijayathilakan and Gift Siromoney
Chapter 5 in Studies on Vaagrivala, Edited and Compiled by J.P.Vijayathilakan
STAT-27/77, February 1977
Part of this chapter appeared in Folklore (Calcutta), Vol.xiv, No.1, January 1973.
A Tamil translation appeared in Aaraaichi, Vol.3, No.2, October 1972

The caste system among the Narikoravas and the ceremonies they perform at
various important functions in their lives makes interesting study. Through the
help of a questionnaire and by direct interview with the elders in the group we
collected information about their caste divisions and the ceremonies they perform
at birth, marriage and death. They also told us about the various poojas they
perform. We describe here the details regarding their caste system, religious and
other domestic ceremonies. We also have a small section on disputes among the
Narikorava people.

1. CASTE DIVISIONS AND RELIGION

There are broadly two main groups of Nari Koravans--those who sacrifice
the buffalo and those who sacrifice the goat.The latter are more numerous in
Orakadu village. They have four different castes or divisions among them viz.
Gujarathi (perhaps from Gujarat), Mevaado (perhaps from Mewar), Dhaabi and
Se$liyo.( A fifth division, Pava$r, was added, based on a later study). Each group
is distinguished by the goddess they worship and is subdivided into a number of
smaller groups bearing different names The Gujarathis worship Paravetteeswari
or Paravettamman (Paarvati) and are divided into—Jumblo, Govinda, Raamu,
Panwaar and Manikyo. Mevaados worship Bhadra Meenakshi or Madura
Meenakshi and are divided into five smaller groups—Dheto, Daarkyo, Heero,
Navel and Naamo. Kali or Durgaa is the goddess of the Dhaabi group whose
subdivisions are Datto, Manyo and Makhro. Sel or Kanniamma is the goddess of
the Seliyo group. It has only one class called Veethiyo.
 Our informant, Pardesi, a gaunt middle-aged man in the early forties with a
forbidding moustache and an imposing figure, was a Datto of the Dhaabi group
and gave his family history. According to him the earliest (first) Kuruvikaran was
one Kaaliaraaja, a king who went to the forest for hunting and lost his way. The
goddess Kaali appeared to him in the form of a bat and assured him of her
protection by a saying, which means -- "you beget children in the forest, I shall
bring them up in the plateaus". Henceforth that group took Kaali as their deity.
Pardesi reeled off the names of fifteen ancestors from the original Kaaliaraja viz.-
- Vaatsinya, Dhaadar, Dhamsi, Mehpal, Panchi, Tularam Mahoon, Makhundar,
Dhaadar, Manyo, Sandal, Appa, Harna, Gulpanisingh, Raman Singh down to
Pardesi himself. He has a son Kumar and a grandson Munna. It is interesting to
note that Pardesi, an illiterate person is able to remember the long list of names
of his ancestors while some of us do not even remember the names of our great-
grand father!

The Narikoravans are all Hindus and are intensely religious in their own
way Though they visit temples occasionally, they worship their goddesses in
their own places. The idols of the goddesses are kept in a bundle of clothes called
by them as 'sami moottai' meaning "God's bundle". Each family has a sami
moottai which is reverently and carefully looked after by the head of the family.
The sami moottai contains packs of the blood of the animals they sacrifice in
cloth and other clothes dipped in the animals' blood. These they claim are many
generations old.

Four silver plated reliefs (about 10 cms high) of their goddesses are kept in
triangular shaped cushion like bags. In two figures breasts are prominently
displayed. The figures are represented with only two hands each, and not a single
hand is represented in the abhaya (protection) or varadha (boon-giving) pose
commonly associated with deities. Each figure is represented with a long skirt-
like lower garment, a tall head-dress, bangles, arm-band and necklace. The first
figure wears a blouse, has a prominent belly and holds a flower in each hand.
(Women of the Narikorava tribe wear their skirt in the same manner low on the
hip). It also wears a long garland with the two ends loose. The second and third
figures do not seem to have blouses, but are definitely female. They wear leg
ornaments. A flower with six petals is held in the left hand and a bird--probably a
parakeet--in the right hand held at shoulder level. On the lower sides two
peacocks are depicted and just above them parakeets upside down.(Many
Narikoravas do not eat the parakeet) The fourth figure is more or less identical
with the first figure, except that it displays a siraschakra and it is not clear
whether it is a female. So the four different figures represent two sets of deities.

There is also a blood soaked paavaadai (skirt) called 'sami-paavadai'.

Women are not allowed to touch the sami moottai and the sami moottai of one
group should not be touched by other groups. They are very reluctant to open and
show the sami moottai to others. At the time of the 'pooja' or worship the head of
the family unties his hair and spreads it out and opens the sami moottai. He wears
the blood stained skirt and places the silver-plated reliefs of the goddesses on the
triangular cushions which are kept on the opened sami moottai. Flowers and
kumkum (coloured turmeric powder) are placed in front of the goddesses. The
blood of the sacrificed animal is also put in front of the goddesses and the head of
the family dances in front of the goddesses and rolls on the blood. When a son
marries, a part of the father's sami moottai is given to him. The oldest piece of
cloth is transferred to his sami moottai for sometime and then returned to the
father's sami moottai. But the eldest son inherits the sami moottai of his father so
that it will have the oldest blood-soaked cloth, which is normally seven or eight
generations old.

Whenever they perform a pooja they invite all their relatives -- the
Gotrakaars (who are related to him on the paternal side) are paid five rupees per
head as gift; while the Sambandhees (who are related by marriage) are paid two
rupees each.

2. SOME OF THEIR CEREMONIES:

They shave the head of the child whether it is male or female on the fifth day
and name the child -- usually the male child takes the name of the city or village
where it is born as e.g. Nellore Singh or Guntur Singh. Only the women have a
feast consisting of cooked rice, jaggery (brown sugar) and ghee (clarified butter).

The dresses and ornaments for the bride called maangani are bought on the
previous day and the bride and bridegroom tie the kankanam (a thread dipped in
turmeric) to one another on that day. The groom pays a parisam (money) amount
to the bride's people (this is around Rs.500/- now); and gives a feast to all the
relatives. Betel leaves and dakshina (gift or money) are distributed to all. In the
evening, the groom ties the taali (string dipped in turmeric) made of black beads
to the bride. On the day of the wedding, another taali of black beads is tied to the
bride by the groom. The festivities on this day take place in the bride's home.
While their normal diet is of boiled rice only, on almost all pooja and festive days
they restrict themselves to raw rice only. Drinking is quite a normal affair on all
occasions. The women swing a series of lamps round the couple--perhaps to
'ward off the evil eye'. The next day, the Kankana Visarijanam (or removing the
Kankanams) is done. The couple sit on opposite sides of a big vessel full of
water. The bride's brother puts into the vessel a number of rings and slips a small
coin along-with. Both the couple simultaneously search for the coin inside the
water and one who gets it first is deemed the winner. (This custom appears to be
followed among many Hindus also). The couple feed each other with idli (rice
cake) and there is the ceremonial bath. The festivities then end.
 3. AT DEATH:

The dead body cannot normally be kept overnight and must be cremated the
same day. If death takes place on a Friday, a chicken is also taken along with the
body and is let off free at the burial ground. The body is decked with new clothes
and flowers and is placed on a bier made of fresh bamboos and is carried on the
shoulders. The funeral procession is made up of friends and relatives who blow
the horns, beat drums, sing and dance alongside. After the burial, they have a
bath and only then return home. For men, eleven days of mourning are observed
and for women only ten days. The obsequies or karumadhi is performed the next
day.

Each family takes their sami moottai and they go to a place which is outside
their dwelling area. Rice and vegetables are distributed to all the families and the
cooking is done in the open. The cooked rice (raw rice only) and the saambhaar
(a kind of soup) is kept in the plates all together near one place. The family in
which death occurred, takes the sami thattu (a wooden plate of about 60 cms by
30 cms which is used only on occasions) and places alternately cooked rice and
sweets on the plate. The relatives also place their share of rice etc. The deceased's
name is uttered and a handful of the mixture is taken out and made into a ball and
is kept aside. Those balls of rice are to be given to dogs only. Then the food is
thoroughly mixed and distributed to all present. The other foods in the plates are
taken by the families back and is eaten at home. The mud pots used for cooking
are all broken at that place. The people have a bath and then return home.

During the course of the year, whenever money is available, they perform
the first annual ceremony by killing a goat and giving feast to all the relatives.
After this, there are no more ceremonies.

4. THE POOJA:

When money is available each family performs a Pooja to its deity.

Generally expenses amount to five hundred rupees. For Kaali or Durga one goat
is to be sacrificed. Kaali prefers toddy or arrack and two bottles of that are to be
provided. Durga does not like this and for that deity two bottles of Ginger beer
are to be kept. They require one bag of rice, 12 cocoanuts, a maund of flour, 6
viss of jaggery, 2 viss of oil, 1/2 viss of ghee and two rupees worth of camphor.
Lot of flowers are also required. The sambandhees and the gotrakaars are invited
and paid their dakshinas. There are the usual dances, drinking and singing during
pooja. The priest dons the blood-stained skirt with tiny globular bells, sacrifices
the goat and drinks the blood after offering it to the goddess. They have a good
feast thereafter.
 Some special poojas are alao performed but these appear to have gone out of
use now-a-days. One of them is the Seven pots Pooja.

5. SEVEN POTS POOJA:

This costs noney and a good deal of determination as well. Three stones are
placed on the ground to form an oven and a series of seven pots of decreasing
sizes are taken. The biggest should be enough to hold one to one and a half
measures of rice and the smallest could hold about 1/8 measure of rice. Raw rice
alone is taken, is well washed and kept in the various vessels allowing enough
water in each pot for purposes of cooking.The pots are then placed on the oven in
decreasing size with the smallest pot on the top. A fire is lighted below. The
group of people have their drinks, sing and dance around the pots. This stops
when the rice in the topmost pot boils out. The priest will take that pot down and
place it aside; then with his bare fingers he will stir the rice in the next pot. The
water will not be warm (so they claim and believe) -- as anyone in the audience
could check up by dipping his fingers! Again singing and dancing continue till
the rice in the now-topmost pot boils out; this again is taken off and kept aside.
As before, the rice in the next pot is stirred by bare fingers only and it would be
found cold to the touch as before; this procedure continues till the rice in the
biggest pot boils out. Then all the rice is mixed in the sami thattu with jaggery
etc. and is distributed to all present. The people firmly believe in the above and
our informant Pardesi told us that he had witnessed such a Pooja but had not been
the priest on such an occasion.

6. MILK POOJA:

Another Pooja called the Milk Pooja has also been given up in recent years.
Pancakes are made out of moistened wheat flour and are put into boiling oil for
frying. The priest, i.e. the head of the family performing the Pooja, will dip his
fingers into the oil to see whether the cake is well fried or not and this will be
repeated a number of times. His fingers will not got scalded even though he dips
them again and again in the boiling oil!

7. DISPUTES AMONG THE NAKIKORAVAS:

The main disputes are of two kinds. The first relating to saamisothu (or the
bundle in which the metal plaques depicting the deities are kept) of the various
families and the other to marital relations between the members of the tribe.

A man in the tribe has high prestige if he has a prestigeous sami moottai.
The older the contents, the greater the prestige. An older man may bequeath his
sami moottai to one of his younger relatives (if he has no children) but the other
relatives may use all kinds of devices to get the moottai. They may act friendly
towards the owner of the sami moottai or advance some money. The rivalry
between the different individuals for possession of the sami moottai leads to
disputes.

A primary marriage is one when an unmarried man weds an unmarried

woman. If a man has contracted other forms of marriage he will again marry to
have a primary marriage. Widows often attach themselves to other men as wives
after the death of their husbands. A. woman may desert a husband and go and
live with another man. A complaint will be made by the husband to the leaders.
The man who has taken the woman is asked to pay back the former husband the
expenses incurred by the former husband for marrying the woman (marriage
expenses) which is about Rs.1000/-. In one case the husband demanded an
additional amount of Rs.1000/- for having brought up the wife for many years
before marrying her. Mr Raghupathy( a social worker among Narikoravas, has
married a Narikorava girl and the couple run a school for Narikorava children
near Saidapet) suggested Rs.600/- (instead of Rs.2000/-) a sum acceptable to the
new husband but not to the old.

The old husband threatened to hold the kudumi (tuft of hair at the back of
the head) of the uncle of the new husband. This uncle was highly respected by
the group because of (i) his sami sothu and (ii) his model behaviour (good name).
But if someone were to hold his tuft then it will be a great insult and his name
will be spoilt. This dispute was not yet over. In the meanwhile the new husband
wished to have a new bride (who is not married) and asked for Indira Gandhi, a
girl who was studying in the Narikorava school at Saidapet.

There was another case where a man and a woman ran off together without
the permission of the parents (when the parents were away). They had a nikka, an
emergency marriage before Mr.Raghupathy (exchanged garlands in front of him)
with some other people as witnesses. When the parents come they have to settle
accounts. The man may have to pay back the marriage expenses to the former
husband of the girl. The girl is pregnant now. They have to wait till the child is
born so that they may celebrate the marriage. (Marriage is not celebrated if the
woman is pregnant).

At Vayalur there is a leader named Palani. He has introduced a new code:

the people of Vayalur will not give their women in marriage to men who are not
settled. As a consequence a new group has settled down at Perunagar near
Vayalur. They have no brick houses but yet they are settling down.

One of the Perunagar men was involved in theft of jewellery. (He had joined
a group of thieves). It is said that the Narikoravas of Chinglepet area steal
chicken. They are also said to steal small articles from shops. The shoplifters ask
the salesman to get some thing kept far away from where he is sitting and steal
some articles and hide them in their arm-pits. They also cover themselves with a
cloth. It is said that the people from Villupuram area (who wear a lot of bead
necklaces) go in a group and ask for change for ten rupees. When the change is
given they swear that they got less and try to get some more money. They also
sell nari-kombu "jackal horn", so called. Some jackals or cats have straight claw
which they sell as peria nari-kombu (from jackal) and sinna nari-kombu (from
cat).

Those who settle down have a tendency not to wear a lot of bead necklaces.
(They wear gold-colored glass beads). Men wear the dhoti and women the sari.

Even though the Narikoravas have been reported to be living in Tamil Nadu
for a few centuries now, their caste system, their modes of worship and their
ceremonies differ very much from the common practices in Tamil Nadu and the
influence of their neighbours have not changed them very much

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