Srinivas’ work of Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India (1952) is one of the best contributions to an understanding of how the structural-functional approach maybe used for understanding the ritual and social life of people. At Oxford, under the masterly supervision of A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, the founder of the structural-functional approach, Srinivas reanalyzed the Coorg data and prepared a piece of work which endeavoured to answer the questions: what does ritual do? What is the contribution of ritual to society? It was in this work that there occurred the concept of Sanskritisation; earlier the concept of Brahmanisation was replaced.
Coorg is a tiny, mountainous province in south India, bounded on the north and the east by Mysore state and on the west and south Canara and Malabar districts of Madras presidency. The isolation and the inaccessibility of Coorg, with its steep mountains, dense forests and heavy rainfall contributes to the maintenance and elaboration of the distinctive mode of life and culture of Coorgs.
Social Structure of Coorg
The existence of the sub-divisions among Coorgs does not prevent them from regarding themselves and from being regarded by others, as a single group. Coorgs consider themselves to be Kshatriyas who constitute the caste of rulers and soldiers in traditional hierarchy and rank next only to Brahmins, who are priests and scholars. Coorg formed a compact unit in relation to other castes. They possessed wealth and power, they like dancing and competitive games involving the exercise of skill and strength, hunting and soldiering. In the Vedic and classical caste system these virtues are attributed to Kshatriyas, the caste of warriors and kings who are next to Brahmin in hierarchy. The resemblances between the Coorgs and the Vedic Kshatriya are striking indeed in the matter of values and it is understandable that Coorg should regard themselves as Kshatriya. The classical Kshatriya, as one of the three ‘twice born’ castes were entitled to perform certain rituals at which sacred verses (mantras) from the Vedas were recited by the priests. But the Coorgs do not perform any of these rituals and Vedic mantras are not recited when a Coorg is given a name, or marries or dies. Coorgs, like other caste Hindus, object very strongly to eating of beef, and the strength of their objection was early recognised by the British who banned all slaughter of cattle for the table in Coorg in 1835. But the Coorg dietary includes pork and liquor and this is occasionally singled out for comment by other castes.
The co-relation between status and dietary practices is particularly strong in the interior of south India and the Coorg claim to be considered as Kshatriyas comes up against this fact. Coorgs rightly point out that the Rajputs of north India eat pork and this has not prevented them from being generally regarded as Kshatriyas. However, Rajputs eat only wild pig and not the domesticated one. There are mainly forty castes and tribes in Coorg. But Coorgs come into intimate contact with a few of them.
The nuclear unit of the Coorg society is the okka (or the patrilineal joint family) and only the male members of an okka have any rights in the ancestral estate. Women born in okka leave it on marriage while the women who come into it by marriage have extremely limited rights in the ancestral estate. No woman may be head of an okka. A Coorg proverb says ‘a woman may not be the head of an okka and a bitch may not be given a share of the game it helps to kill in a hunt’. Only sons can continue the okka. But when there are no sons, a daughter or a widow of a dead son is married in either the okka parije or makka parije any which has the effect of granting the children of either form of union membership of their mother’s natal okka. If it is not possible to perpetuate the okka in either of these ways a boy from another okka is adopted. There is sexual division of labour, men generally doing the work outside the house while women do the work inside. The tasks done by men are in a vague way regarded as superior to those done by women. The men cultivate or supervise the cultivation of land by low castes labourers. However, agriculture is not and has never been their sole occupation. The army has always attracted Coorgs and nowadays educated Coorgs are to be found in every profession. Coorg women’s activities are on the whole confined to the house. They cook food for the twenty or thirty members of the okka. They look after children and servants, the storing of food, the raising of pigs and fowls and so on. The younger women have to bring water from the domestic pond or well and carry manure in reed baskets to the fields.
Women are expected to observe a stricter code of conduct than men. Different ideals are held up for men and women. Strength, skill in fighting and hunting and courage are admired in a man. A proverb states ‘men should die on the battlefield and women should die in child-bed’. The killer of a tiger or panther and mother of ten children were both accorded the honour of a mangala ceremony.
But nowadays under the influence of the western ideas the Coorg women are once again coming to the fore. Education is more widely spread among Coorg women than among the women of other castes, including Brahmins. They are nurses, teachers, and doctors and do not hesitate to live outside Coorg. The economic position of Coorgs and the fact that they marry comparatively late are some of the factors responsible for the greater spread of education among Coorg women.
Membership of the okka is extremely important and lack of membership in some okka or other tantamounts to social extinction. Elders consequently try hard to see that the children of extramarital alliances get berthed somewhere. It is right and proper that the father of the children should secure them membership of his okka, but if for some reason or the other he cannot be persuaded to do so the children are made members of their mother’s okka. A nad is a bigger unit than a village and it is usually more homogenous culturally than a larger area which includes it and few other nads. A nad might differ from other nads in the matter of the date of observance of important festivals such as the harvest festival, and the festival of arms. The articles used in the harvest festival ritual might also vary in different nads and this is due to the fact that in each area the plants locally prolific are chosen to express a wish for growth.
THE RITUAL FUNCTIONS AMONG COORGS
(a)The Ritual Complex of Mangala
Formerly mangala was performed to mark the attainment of social adulthood by a boy when his ears were ritually bored by the goldsmith. This mangala, the first to be performed for a boy, was called kemmi kutti mangala or the mangala at which the ears are bored. The wearing of the ear rings was symbolical of the attainment of the social adulthood. One who was physiologically an adult but who had not undergone the ear boring mangala did not count as adult for ritual and social purposes. The counterpart of ear boring mangala for a girl was the mangala performed when she attained puberty. This was called pole kanda mangala or mangala performed on the sighting of defilement. The menstrual flow was regarded as defiling and formerly a woman observed seclusion for three days during her periods. Mangala was also performed when a woman became pregnant for the first time. A woman who had given birth to ten children all of whom were alive was entitled to a form of mangala known as paitandek alapa. A man who killed a panther or tiger had the right to nari mangala or tiger mangala being performed in his honour. Marriage increased a man’s status and a bachelor was regarded as socially and ritually inferior to a married man. Mangala was performed to a bachelor’s corpse before burying or cremating it presumably in order to raise the status of the soul of the dead bachelor. A man who had lost two wives in succession was ritually married to a plaintain tree before marrying his third wife. The marriage to the plaintain tree was called balek mangala or plaintain mangala and the tree was cut down soon after the mangala. Formerly when a man built a new house he performed mane mangala or house mangala. Mangala was performed for the head of the house on this occasion. Another form of mangala which has entirely disappeared now is ettu mangala or ox mangal. The ideal and usual marriage in Coorg is for a virgin to marry a bachelor and this is called kanni mangal or virgin mangala.
The astrologer selects an auspicious day for the performance of mangal and an even more auspicious part of the day for the performance of murta which is the most important part of the mangala. Four Coorgs beat the small Coorg drum called dudi and some traditional songs are sung at various points during mangala. These songs give an account of the ritual that is being performed. The singers also sing the road song while the subject of mangala is taken from from one part of the house to another and the road song gives a traditionally exaggerated account for everything that is found en route.
Mangala indicated the movement of the subject from one position in the social structure to another, marking a change in his social personality. Murta ritual is the most important part of mangala and consequently it is performed during the most auspicious part of the auspicious day and the subject undergoes a series of preparatory and purificatory rites before sitting down for the murta. The subject of mangala (if male) is ritually shaved by the barber after which he is given a bath by three women relatives whose husbands are alive.
The ancestral estate the most valuable part of which is the rice field is regarded as sacred. A Coorg is not allowed to walk in it wearing his sandals just as he is not allowed to enter the inner parts of the ancestral house or a temple with his sandals on. He is not allowed to whistle or hold an umbrella over his head while walking in the ancestral estate: both these acts are not consistent with the ritual respect which the estate has to be accorded. The entire rice field is cut up into a number of small rectangular plots ridged up on all the four sides. Each plot is referred to by a distinct name and one of these plots is regarded as the main plot and it has the same name as the entire rice field. The traditional association between an okka and its ancestral estate is symbolised in the custom of burying the umbilical cord of the eldest son of the head of the okka in the main plot of the ancestral estate. The eldest is the one who is going to become the head of the okka he will have to look after the ancestral rice field. The main plot stands for the entire rice field and it is entirely proper that the umbilical cord of the future head of the okka should be buried in the main plot. Thus a Coorg continues to take an interest in the affairs of his okka even after his death, which means that he continues to care for the rice field on which the prosperity and happiness of the okka and thus indirectly of the total society depends. The Kaveri festival includes a rite called bottu and this is intended to protect the growing crop in the woods on the estate and the domestic well. One of the most important calendar festivals of the Coorgs is the putri when the paddy sheaves are ritually cut.
(b) The Concepts of Pole and Madi
The Kodagi term for ritual purity is madi and this term is found in all other Dravidian languages except Malyalam and pole which means ritual impurity is found in all Dravidian languages except Telugu. Pole is used in Kodagi in two senses: one, in which it means ritual impurity generally and another in which it means certain specific forms of ritual impurity. In the latter cases it is usual to add the necessary prefixes, for instance kurudu pole (blind pollution) or tinga pole (monthly pollution) refers to the impurity of a woman in her periods and petta pole or purudu pole refers to birth pollution.
A man is in a condition of ritual impurity in relation to a member of a higher caste while he is in a condition of ritual purity towards a member of a lower caste. The concept of ritual purity and impurity systemise and maintains the structural distance between different castes. Caste hierarchy, on the other hand, makes these concepts relative, except with reference to castes at either extreme. Nail and hair parings are impure and they have to be thrown far away from the house. Poverty will result if they are scattered in the house. Birth and death both result in ritual impurity for the entire household for several days. This ritual impurity will not disappear even if the impure person has a dozen baths a day. But once the prescribed period is over the individual attains his normal ritual status after a bath.
If the crows perch on a roof and caws, the death of someone under that roof is presaged. A man who sees two crows mating will die soon after unless he sends a false message announcing his death to his kinsmen. The harvest festival and the ‘festival of arms’, are both significant in this connection. The Kaniya astrologer decides what periods of time are auspicious for worshipping weapons and for cutting branches of the tree. He also decides when the village (or nad) should have the collective hunt, in which direction the hunting party should go if they want the hunt to be successful and finally the man who should lead the hunt. The weapons are cleaned and kept either in the sacred central hall or in the southwestern room. They are marked with sandal wood paste. The weapons are worshipped with flowers and a favourite flower used for worship on this occasion is toku which derives its name from the fact that it looks like a gun. Curried meat and cooked rice-flour are offered on plantain leaves to the weapon. All the adult males in every okka in the village or nad have to co-operate in the collective hunt that is held after the festival of arms. Each okka takes its dogs to the hunt. Every dog gets a portion of the meat of the animal killed. Every man taking part in the hunt gets a share and those who hit the game first and second get an extra share each. He who first hit the game is also entitled to the animal’s head while the one who was the first to touch the killed animal’s tail is given one of the front legs in addition to his ordinary share.
Conclusion
Srinivas’aim in this book is to show the interconnection of religion with society, and how religion contributes to an overall continuity of the social order. Among the Coorgs, Srinivas says that the patrilineal, patrilocal, and patriarchal joint family is at the core of the system and its continuity is the most important aspect.
Brief Notes:
- kemmi kutti mangala or the mangala at which the ears are bored
- kanda mangala or mangala performed on the sighting of defilement(Puberty)
- Mangala was also performed when a woman became pregnant for the first time.
- paitandek alapa(Ten Children)
- Mangala was performed to a bachelor’s corpse
- The marriage to the plaintain tree was called balek mangala or plaintain mangala
- mane mangala or house mangala
- ettu mangala or ox mangal.
- kanni mangal or virgin mangala.
- kurudu pole (blind pollution)
- tinga pole (monthly pollution)
- petta pole or purudu pole refers to birth pollution.