Kaniyan
This article is an excerpt from Government Press, Madras |
Kaniyan
Kaniyan, spelt and pronounced Kanisan in Malabar, is a Malayālam corruption of the Sanskrit Ganika, meaning an astrologer. The word was originally Kani, in which form it invariably appears in Malayālam works and Tamil documents. The honorific suffix ‘ān’ has been added subsequently.
The two titles, generally applied to Kaniyans, are Panikkar and Āsan. The former is said to be a common title in Malabar, but in Travancore it seems to be restricted to the north. The word Panikkar comes from pani, or work, viz., that of military training. The fact that most of the families, who own this title at present, were once teachers of bodily exercises, is evident not only from the name kalari, literally a military school, by which their houses are usually known, but also from the Kēralolpatti, which assigns military training as a duty of the caste. Āsan, a corruption of the Sanskrit Āchārya, is a common title among Kaniyans in South Travancore. Special titles, such as Anantapadmanābham, Sivasankaran, and Sankili, are said to be possessed by certain families in the south, having been conferred on them by kings in olden times. Some Kaniyans in the north enjoy the surname of Nampikuruppu.
Kaniyans are divided into two endogamous sections, viz., Kaniyar and Tīnta (or polluting). The occupations of the latter are umbrella-making and spirit-exorcising, while the others remain astrologers, pure and simple. A few families, living at Alengad, are called Vattakan Kaniyans, and are believed to have come there on the eve of Tīpū Sultan’s invasion. The women of the Kaniyans proper do not eat with them. According to tradition, eight sub-septs are said to have existed among the Kaniyans, four of which were known as kiriyams, and four as illams. The names of the former are Annavikkannam, Karivattam, Kutappilla, and Nanna; of the latter Pampara, Tachchazham, Netumkanam, and Ayyarkāla. These divisions were once endogamous, but this distinction has now disappeared.
In a note on the Kaniyans of the Cochin State, Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes that “there is some difference in the social status between the Kaniyans of the southern, and the Kalari Panikkans of the northern parts of the State. The latter profess a kind of superiority in status, on the ground that the former have no kalaris. It is also said by the latter that the occupation of the former was once that of umbrella-making, and that astrology as a profession has been recently adopted by them. There is at present neither intermarriage, nor interdining between them. The Kaniyans pollute the Kalari Panikkans by touch.” In connection with the old village organisation in Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore, Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes further that “every tara or kara (village) consisted of all castemen below Brāhmans, especially the Nāyars of all classes, more or less living in a community, the Kammālans, Izhuvans, Pānāns, Mannans, and other castemen living further apart.
For every such village in the northern part of the State, there was also a Kalari Panikkan, with a kalari (gymnastic or military school), where the young men of the village, chiefly the Nāyars, were trained in all kinds of athletic feats, and in arms. The institution of the kalaris has now disappeared, though the building remains in some places, and the Panikkans are now mainly astrologers and village schoolmasters. According to their own statement, Parasurāma, the great coloniser of Kērala, established kalaris throughout the kingdom, and appointed them as the masters to train Sūdra young men in all kinds of feats (one thousand and eight in number), for the protection of the country against foreign invaders. The Nāyars, who then formed the fighting race, were mostly trained by the Panikkans. In memory of this, the Kalari Panikkans of the northern portions of the State, and of South Malabar, profess even now a preceptorship to the Nāyars, and the Nayars show them some respect, being present at their marriages and other ceremonies. The Pannikkans say that the Nāyars obtained their kalaris from them. There are still a few among the Panikkans, here and there, fit to teach young men various feats. The following are the names of some of them:—
(1) Pitichu Kali. Two persons play on their drums (chenda), while a third person, well dressed in a kacha, and with a turban on his head, and provided with a sword and shield, performs various feats in harmony with the drum beating. It is a kind of sword-dance.
(2) Parishathalam Kali. A large pandal (booth) is erected in front of the house where the performance is to take place, and the boys below sixteen, who have been previously trained for it, are brought there. The performance takes place at night. The chenda, maddhalam, chengala, and elathalam (circular bell-metal plates slightly concave in the middle) are the instruments used in the performance. After the performance, the boys, whom the Āsan has trained, present themselves before him, and remunerate him with whatever they can afford. Parties are organised to give this performance on all auspicious occasions in rural districts.
(3) Kolati. Around a lighted lamp, a number of persons stand in a circle, each with a stick a foot in length, and as thick as a thumb, in each hand. They begin to sing, first in slow time, and gradually in rapid measure. The time is marked by each one hitting his neighbours’ sticks with his own on both sides. Much dexterity and precision are required, as also experience in combined action and movements, lest the amateur should be hit by his neighbours as the measure is accelerated. The songs are invariably in praise of God or man. The Kaniyans, according to one tradition, are Brāhman astrologers, who gradually lost their position, as their predictions became less and less accurate. Concerning their legendary history, Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes as follows. “Once, says one of these legends, when the god Subrahmanya, son of Siva, and his friend were learning astrology, they knew that the sound of a lizard close by foreboded some evil to the mother of the former.
The friend practiced some magical rite, which averted the evil. His mother, who had been in a state of unconsciousness, suddenly woke up as if from slumber, and asked the son ‘Kany-ar,’ i.e., who it was that she looked at. To which the son replied that she was looking at a Kaniyan (astrologer). The Kaniyans still believe that the umbrella, the stick, the holy ashes, and the purse of cowries, which form the paraphernalia of a Kaniyan nowadays, were given by Subramanya. The following is another tradition regarding the origin of the caste. In ancient times, it is said, Pānāns, Vēlans, and Kaniyans were practicing magic, but astrology as a profession was practiced exclusively by the Brāhmans. There lived a famous astrologer, Thalakkaleth Bhattathiripad, who was the most renowned of the astrologers of the time. He had a son whose horoscope he cast, and from it he concluded that his son would live long. Unfortunately he proved to be mistaken, for his son died. Unable to find out the error in his calculation and prediction, he took the horoscope to an equally famous astrologer of the Chōla kingdom, who, aware of the cause of his advent, directed him to adore some deity that might aid him in the working out of his predictions.
Accordingly he came to the Trichūr temple, where, as directed, he spent some days in devotion to the deity. Thereafter he worked wonders in astrology, and became so well known in Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore, that he commanded the respect and admiration of the rulers, who invited him to cast horoscopes, and make predictions. For so doing he was liberally rewarded. One day a Brāhman, hearing that his guru at Benares was seriously ill, consulted the Bhattathiripad whether and how he would be able to see him before his death. The Brāhman astrologer directed him to go to the southern side of the Trichūr temple, where he would see two persons coming towards him, who might gratify his desire to see his preceptor. These persons were really the servants of Yama (the god of death). They asked him to touch them, and he at once found himself at the side of his teacher. The Brāhman was asked who had directed him to them, and, when he told them that it was the renowned Brāhman astrologer, they cursed him, saying that he would become an outcaste. This fate came as no surprise to the astrologer, for he had already perceived from an evil conjunction of the planets that disgrace and danger were impending.
To try to avoid the sad fate which he foresaw, he left his home and friends, and set out on a boating excursion in a river close by Pazhūr. The night was dark, and it was midnight when he reached the middle of the stream. A severe storm, accompanied by rain, had come on, and the river was in flood. He was swept away to an unknown region, and scrambled ashore in torrents of rain and in darkness, when he saw a light in a house near where he landed, and he made for it in an exhausted condition. On reaching it, he lay down in the verandah at the gate of the house, musing on the untoward events of the night, and on his affectionate family whom he had left. The hut belonged to the family of a Kaniyan, who, as it happened, had had a quarrel with his wife that day, and had left his hut. Anxiously expecting her husband’s return, the wife opened the door about midnight, and, seeing a man lying in the verandah, mistook him for her husband. The man was so wrapt in his thoughts of his home that he in turn mistook her for his wife. When the Brāhman woke up from his slumber, he found her to be a Kaniya woman.
On looking at the star in the heavens to calculate the precise time, he saw that the prediction that he would become an outcaste had been fulfilled. He accepted the degradation, and lived the rest of his days with the Kaniya woman. She bore him several sons, whom in due course he educated in the lore of his profession, and for whom, by his influence, he obtained an important place in the Hindu social system as astrologers (Ganikans). It is said that, according to his instruction, his body, after his death, was placed in a coffin, and buried in the courtyard of the house. The spot is still shown, and an elevated platform is constructed, with a thatched roof over it. A lighted lamp is placed at all times on the platform, and in front of it astrological calculations and predictions are made, for it is believed that those who made such calculations there will have the aid of the spirit of their dead Brāhman ancestor, who was so learned in the science that he could tell of events long past, and predict even future birth. As an instance of the last, the following incident may be given. Once the great Brāhman ascetic Vilwamangalath Swāmiyar was suffering severely from pains in the stomach, when he prayed to the divine Krishna for relief.
Finding no remedy, he turned to a Brāhman friend, a Yōgi, who gave him some holy ashes, which he took, and which relieved him of the pains. He mentioned the fact to his beloved god Krishna, who, by the pious adoration of the ascetic, appeared before him, when he said that he would have three births in the world instead of one which was destined for him. With an eager desire to know what they would be, he consulted the Bhattathiripad, who said that he would be born first as a rat-snake (Zamenis mucosus), then as an ox, and thirdly as a tulsi plant (Ocimum sanctum), and that he would be along with him in these births. With great pleasure he returned home. It is also said that the astrologer himself was born as an ox, and was in this form afterwards supported by the members of his family. The incident is said to have taken place at Pazhūr, eighteen miles east of Ernakulam. The members of the family are called Pazhūr Kaniyans, and are well known throughout Malabar, Cochin and Travancore, for their predictions in astrology, and all classes of people even now resort to them for aid in predictions. The Kalari Panikkans in the northern parts of the Cochin State have a different account of the origin of the caste. Once, they say, a sage and astrologer, named a Ganikan, was making prediction to a Sūdra regarding his future destiny. As this was done by him when in an uncleanly state, he was cursed by the Saptharishis (seven sages). The Panikkans who are reputed to be his descendants are ordained to be teachers and astrologers of all castes below Brāhmans.”
According to another legendary account, there were Kaniyans before the time of Bhattatiri, but their astrological attainments are connected with him. Talakulattu Bhattatiri was one of the earliest astrologers of renown, being the author of Muhūrtapadavi, and lived in the fourth century A.D. There is a tradition, believed by the Kaniyans south of Neyyattenkara, that their ancestor was descended from the union of a Gandharva woman with Kani, a Brāhman saint, who lived in the western ghāts. Their grandson propitiated the god Subrahmanya presiding over astronomy, and acquired the surname Nālīka from his never-ceasing truthfulness. Some of the southern Kaniyans even at the present day call themselves Nāli. According to another legend, Paramēswara and his wife Parvati were living happily together, when Agni fell desperately in love with the latter. Eventually, Paramēswara caught them together, and, to save Agni, Parvati suggested that he should hide himself inside her body. On Agni doing this, Parvati became very indisposed, and Paramēswara, distressed at seeing his wife rolling in agony, shed tears, one of which fell on the ground, and became turned into a man, who, being divinely born, detected the cause of Parvati’s indisposition, and, asking for some incense, sprinkled it over a blazing torch. Agni, seeing his opportunity, escaped in the smoke, and Parvati had instant relief. For this service, Paramēswara blessed the man, and appointed him and his descendants to cure diseases, exorcise demons, and foretell events.
The Kaniyans of Malabar have been connected by tradition with the Valluvans of the Tamil country, who are the priests, doctors, and astrologers of the Pallans and Paraiyans. According to this tradition, the modern Kaniyans are traced to the Valluvans brought from the east by a Perumāl who ruled over Kerala in 350 M.E. The latter are believed to have become Kaniyans proper, while the old Kaniyans of the west coast descended to the rank of Tīntā Kaniyans. The chief of the Valluvans so brought was a Yōgi or ascetic, who, being asked by a Nambūtiri concerning a missing article at Pazhūr, replied correctly that the lost ring had been placed in a hole in the bank of the Nambūtiri’s tank (pond), and was consequently invited to settle there permanently.
The Kaniyans are easily recognised by their punctilious cleanness of person and clothing, the iron style and knife tucked into the waist, the palm umbrella with its ribs holding numbers of horoscopes, their low artistic bow, and their deliberate answers to questions put to them. Most of them are intelligent, and well versed in Malayālam and Sanskrit. They are, however, not a flourishing community, being averse to manual labour, and depending for their living on their hereditary profession. There are no more conservative people in Travancore, and none of them have taken kindly to western education. In their clothing they follow the orthodox Malabar fashion. The dress of the males seldom hangs loose, being tucked in in token of humility. The Kaniyan, when wanted in his professional capacity, presents himself with triple ash marks of Siva on his chest, arms, and forehead.
The woman’s ornaments resemble those of the Izhuvans. Fish and flesh are not forbidden as food, but there are many families, as those of Pazhūr and Onakkūru, which strictly abstain from meat. Marriage between families which eat and abstain from flesh is not absolutely forbidden. But a wife must give up eating flesh immediately on entering the house of her vegetarian husband. The profession of the Kaniyans is astrology. Marco Polo, writing as early as the thirteenth century about Travancore, says that it was even then pre-eminently the land of astrologers. Barbosa, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, has a detailed reference to the Kaniyans, of whom he writes that “they learn letters and astronomy, and some of them are great astrologers, and foretell many future things, and form judgments upon the births of men. Kings and great persons send to call them, and come out of their palaces to gardens and pleasure-grounds to see them, and ask them what they desire to know; and these people form judgment upon these things in a few days, and return to those that asked of them, but they may not enter the palaces; nor may they approach the king’s person on account of being low people. And the king is then alone with him.
They are great diviners, and pay great attention to times and places of good and bad luck, which they cause to be observed by those kings and great men, and by the merchants also; and they take care to do their business at the time which these astrologers advise them, and they do the same in their voyages and marriages. And by these means these men gain a great deal.” Buchanan, three centuries later, alludes in the same glowing terms to the prosperity of the Kaniyans. He notes that they are of very low caste, a Nambūtiri coming within twenty-four feet of one being obliged to purify himself by prayer and ablution. “The Kaniyans,” he writes, “possess almanacks, by which they inform people as to the proper time for performing ceremonies or sowing their seeds, and the hours which are fortunate or unfortunate for any undertaking. When persons are sick or in trouble, the Cunishun, by performing certain ceremonies in a magical square of 12 places, discovers what spirit is the cause of the evil, and also how it may be appeased. Some Cunishuns possess mantrams, with which they pretend to cast out devils.” Captain Conner notes twenty years later that “Kanneans derive the appellation from the science of divination, which some of their sect profess. The Kannean fixes the propitious moment for every undertaking, all hysterical affections being supposed to be the visitation of some troublesome spirit. His incantations are believed alone able to subdue it.”
The Kaniyans are practically the guiding spirits in all the social and domestic concerns of Travancoreans, and even Muhammadans and Christians do not fail to profit by their wisdom. From the moment of the birth of an infant, which is noted by the Kaniyan for the purpose of casting its horoscope, to the moment of death, the services of the village astrologer are constantly in requisition. He is invariably consulted as to the cause of all calamities, and the cautious answers that he gives satisfy the people. “Putrō na putri,” which may either mean no son but a daughter, or no daughter but a son, is jocosely referred to as the type of a Kaniyan’s answer, when questioned about the sex of a child in utero. “It would be difficult,” Mr. Logan writes, “to describe a single important occasion in everyday life when the Kanisan is not at hand as a guiding spirit, foretelling lucky days and hours, casting horoscopes, explaining the cause of calamities, prescribing remedies for untoward events, and physicians (not physic) for sick persons. Seed cannot be sown, or trees planted, unless the Kanisan has been consulted beforehand.
He is even asked to consult his shastras to find lucky days and moments for setting out on a journey, commencing an enterprise, giving a loan, executing a deed, or shaving the head. For such important occasions as births, marriages, tonsure, investiture with the sacred thread, and beginning the A, B, C, the Kanisan is of course indispensable. His work in short mixes him up with the gravest as well as the most trivial of the domestic events of the people, and his influence and position are correspondingly great. The astrologer’s finding, as one will solemnly assert with all due reverence, is the oracle of God himself, with the justice of which everyone ought to be satisfied, and the poorer classes follow his dictates unhesitatingly. There is no prescribed scale of fees for his services, and in this respect he is like the native physician and teacher. Those who consult him, however, rarely come empty-handed, and the gift is proportioned to the means of the party, and the time spent in serving him.
If no fee is given, the Kanisan does not exact it, as it is one of his professional characteristics, and a matter of personal etiquette, that the astrologer should be unselfish, and not greedy of gain. On public occasions, however, and on important domestic events, a fixed scale of fees is usually adhered to. The astrologer’s most busy time is from January to July, the period of harvest and of marriages, but in the other six months of the year his is far from being an idle life. His most lucrative business lies in casting horoscopes, recording the events of a man’s life from birth to death, pointing out dangerous periods of life, and prescribing rules and ceremonies to be observed by individuals for the purpose of propitiating the gods and planets, and so averting the calamities of dangerous times. He also shows favourable junctures for the commencement of undertakings, and the grantham or book, written on palmyra leaf, sets forth in considerable detail the person’s disposition and mental qualities, as affected by the position of the planets in the zodiac at the moment of birth. All this is a work of labour, and of time. There are few members of respectable families who are not thus provided, and nobody grudges the five to twenty-five rupees usually paid for a horoscope according to the position and reputation of the astrologer.
Two things are essential to the astrologer, namely, a bag of cowry shells (Cypræa moneta), and an almanac. When any one comes to consult him, he quietly sits down, facing the sun, on a plank seat or mat, murmuring some mantrams or sacred verses, opens his bag of cowries, and pours them on the floor. With his right hand he moves them slowly round and round, solemnly reciting meanwhile a stanza or two in praise of his guru or teacher, and of his deity, invoking their help. He then stops, and explains what he has been doing, at the same time taking a handful of cowries from the heap, and placing them on one side. In front is a diagram drawn with chalk on the floor, and consisting of twelve compartments (rāsis) one for each month in the year. Before commencing operations with the diagram, he selects three or five of the cowries highest up in the heap, and places them in a line on the right-hand side. [In an account before me, three cowries and two glass bottle-stoppers are mentioned as being placed on this side.]
These represent Ganapati (the belly god, the remover of difficulties), the sun, the planet Jupiter, Sarasvati (the goddess of speech), and his own guru or preceptor. To all of these the astrologer gives due obeisance, touching his ears and the ground three times with both hands. The cowries are next arranged in the compartments of the diagram, and are moved about from compartment to compartment by the astrologer, who quotes meanwhile the authority on which he makes the moves. Finally he explains the result, and ends with again worshipping the deified cowries, who were witnessing the operation as spectators.” According to another account, the astrologer “pours his cowries on the ground, and, after rolling them in the palm of his right hand, while repeating mantrams (consecrated formulæ), he selects the largest, and places them in a row outside the diagram at its right hand top corner. They represent the first seven planets, and he does obeisance to them, touching his forehead and the ground three times with both hands. The relative position of the nine planets is then worked out, and illustrated with cowries in the diagram.”
At the chal (furrow) ceremony in Malabar, on the eve of the new agricultural year, “every Hindu house in the district is visited by the Kanisans of the respective dēsams, who, for a modest present of rice, vegetables and oils, makes a forecast of the season’s prospects, which is engrossed on a cadjan (palm leaf). This is called the Vishu phalam, which is obtained by comparing the nativity with the equinox. Special mention is made therein as to the probable rainfall from the position of the planets—highly prized information in a district where there are no irrigation works or large reservoirs for water.”
The science of astrology is studied and practiced by other castes, but the Kani house of Pazhūr is the most celebrated. Numerous stories are related of the astrological skill of the Pazhūr Kaniyans, of which one relates to the planets Mercury and Venus, who, arriving at the house of one of the Kaniyans, were asked by him to wait at the gate. He then jumped into a neighbouring well, to conduct some prayers with a view to keeping them there permanently. In this task he succeeded, and even today a prophecy made at that out-house is believed to be certain of turning out true. In addition to astrology, the Kaniyans practice sorcery and exorcism, which are strictly the occupation of the Tīntā Kaniyans. The process by which devils are driven out is known as kōlamtullal (a peculiar dance). A troupe of Kaniyans, on being invited to a house where a person is suspected of being possessed by a devil, go there wearing masques representing Gandharva, Yakshi, Bhairava, Raktēsvari, and other demons, and dressed up in tender cocoanut leaves. Accompanied by music and songs, they rush towards the affected person, who is seated in the midst of the assembly, and frighten away the evil spirit. For the cure of disease, which is considered as incurable by ordinary methods of treatment, a form of exorcism called kālapāsamtikkuka, or the removal of the rope or evil influence, is resorted to. In this, two Kaniyans take the stage, and play the parts of Siva and Yama, while a third recites in song the story of the immortal Markandēya.
“The Pannikar’s astrology,” Mr. F. Fawcett writes, “he will tell you, is divided into three parts:— (1) Ganīta, which treats of the constellations.
(2) Sankīta, which explains the origin of the constellations, comets, falling stars, and earthquakes.
(3) Hōra, by which the fate of man is explained.
“The Panikkar, who follows in the footsteps of his forefathers, should have a thorough knowledge of astrology and mathematics, and be learned in the Vēdas. He should be sound in mind and body, truthful, and patient. He should look well after his family, and should worship regularly the nine planets:—Sūryan, the sun; Chandran, moon; Chovva, Mars; Budhan, Mercury; Vyāzham, Guru, or Brihaspati, Jupiter; Sukran, Venus; Sani, Saturn; Rāhu; and Kētu. The two last, though not visible, are, oddly enough, classed as planets by the Panikkar. They are said to be two parts of an Āsura who was cut in two by Vishnu. The Panikkars also dabble in magic, and I have in my possession a number of yantrams presented to me by a Panikkar. They should be written on a thin gold, silver, or copper plate, and worn on the person. A yantram written on gold is the most effective. As a rule, the yantram is placed in a little cylinder-case made of silver, fastened to a string tied round the waist. Many of these are often worn by the same person. The yantram is sometimes written on cadjan (palm leaf), or paper. I have one of this kind in my collection, taken from the neck of a goat. It is common to see them worn on the arm, around the neck.”
The following examples of yantrams are given by Mr. Fawcett:—
Aksharamāla.—Fifty-one letters. Used in connection with every other yantram. Each letter has its own meaning, and does not represent any word. In itself this yantram is powerless, but it gives life to all others. It must be written on the same plate as the other yantram.
Sūlini.—For protection against sorcery or devils, and to secure the aid of the goddess.
Māha Sūlini.—To prevent all kinds of harm through the devils, chief of whom is Pulatini, he who eats infants. Women wear it to avert miscarriage.
Ganapati.—To increase knowledge, and put away fear and shyness.
Sarasvati.—To enable its possessor to please his listeners, and increase his knowledge.
Santāna gopalam.—As a whole it represents Srī Krishna. Used by barren women, so that they may bear children. It may be traced on a metal plate and worn in the usual way, or on a slab of butter, which is eaten. When the latter method is adopted, it is repeated on forty-one consecutive days, during which the woman, as well as the Panikkar, may not have sexual connection.
Navva.—Drawn in ashes of cow-dung on a new cloth, and tied round the waist. It relieves a woman in labour.
Asvarūdha (to climb a horse).—A person wearing it is able to cover long distances easily on horseback, and he can make the most refractory horse amenable by tying it round its neck. It will also help to cure cattle.
“The charms,” Mr. Fawcett explains, “are entirely inoperative, unless accompanied in the first place with the mystic rite, which is the secret of the Panikkar.”
Many Kaniyans used formerly to be village schoolmasters, but, with the abolition of the old methods of teaching, their number is steadily decreasing. Some of them are clever physicians. Those who have no pretension to learning live by making palm-leaf umbrellas, which gives occupation to the women. But the industry is fast declining before the competition of umbrellas imported from foreign countries.
The Kaniyans worship the sun, the planets, the moon, Ganēsa and Subramanya, Vishnu, Siva, and Baghavati. On each day of the week, the planet, which is believed to preside over it, is specially worshipped by an elaborate process, which is compulsorily gone through for at least three weeks after a Kaniyan has become proficient in astrology, and able to make calculations for himself.
It is generally believed that the supreme authority in all social matters affecting the Kaniyan rests in British Malabar with the Yōgi already referred to, in Cochin and North Travancore with the head of the Pazhūr house, and in South Travancore with the eldest member of a house at Manakkad in Trivandrum, known by the name of Sankili. Practically, however, the spiritual headmen, called Kannālmas, are independent. These Kannālmas are much respected, and well paid on festive occasions by every Kaniyan house. They and other elders sit in judgment on persons guilty of adultery, commensality with lower castes, and other offences, and inflict punishments.
The Kaniyans observe both the tāli-kettu ceremony before puberty, and sambandham after that event. Inheritance is through the father, and the eldest male of a family has the management of the ancestral estate. Fraternal polyandry is said to have been common in olden times, and Mr. Logan observes that, “like the Pāndava brothers, as they proudly point out, the Kanisans used formerly to have one wife in common among several brothers, and this custom is still observed by some of them.” There is no restriction to the marriage of widows.
Concerning polyandry, Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer states that “among the Kaniyans, as well as among Panikkans, polyandry largely prevails. If the young woman is intended to be the wife of several brothers, the eldest brother goes to the bride’s house, and gives her the cloth, and takes her home the next day along with her parents and relations, who are all well entertained. The young woman and the brothers are seated together, and a sweet preparation is given to them, which signifies that she has become the common wife of all. The Kalari Mūppan (Nāyar headman of the village) also declares her to be such. The guests depart, and the bridegroom (the eldest brother) and the bride are invited to what they call virunnu-oon (sumptuous meal) in the house of the latter, where they stay for a few days. The bridegroom then returns home with the wife. The other brothers, one after another, are similarly entertained along with the bride at her house. The brothers cannot afford to live together for a long time, and they go from place to place, earning their livelihood by astrology. Each brother is at home only for a few days in each month; hence practically the woman has only one husband at a time. If several of them happen to be at home together for a few weeks, each in turn associates with the woman, in accordance with the directions given by their mother.”
The Kaniyans follow high-caste Hindus as regards many of their ceremonies. They have their name-bestowing, food-giving and tuft-making ceremonies, and also a superstitious rite called ittaluzhiyuka, or exorcism in child-birth on the seventh or ninth day after the birth of a child. A Kaniyan’s education begins in his seventh year. In the sixteenth year a ceremony, corresponding to the upanayana of the higher castes, is performed. For forty-one days after, the Kannālma initiates the young Kaniyan into the mysteries of astrology and witchcraft. He is obliged to worship Subramanya, the tutelary god of the caste, and abstains from meat and liquor. This may be taken as the close of his Brahmacharya stage or Samāvartana, as marriage cannot take place before the observance of this ceremony.
On the subject of religion, Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes that “the Kalari Panikkans and the Kaniyans are generally Saivite worshippers, but are not disinclined to the worship of Vishnu also. It is said that their kalaris are forty-two feet long, and contain the images of forty-two deities. The following are the most important of them:—Subrahmanya, Sastha, Ganapati, Vīrabhadran, Narasimha, Ashtabairavas, Hanumān, and Bhadrakāli. Some of their kalaris, which were seen by me, contained stone and metal images of these gods. Every night a lamp is lighted in front of them for their worship. During the Mandalam (forty days) from the first of Vrischikam to the tenth of Dhanu (14th November to 25th December), the senior member of the Panikkan’s family bathes early in the morning, and performs his pūjas to all the gods, making offerings of boiled rice, plantains and cocoanuts. On the fortieth day, i.e., the last day of the Mandalam, a grand pūja is performed individually to every one of the deities in the kalari, and this lasts for twenty-four hours, from sunrise to sunrise, when offerings of boiled rice, parched rice, sheep and fowls are also given. This is the grand pūja performed once in the course of the year. Besides this, some of their deities command their special reverence.
For instance, Subrahmanya is adored for the sake of astrology, Sastha for wealth and offspring. They are also worshippers of Sakti in any of her following manifestations, namely, Bala, Thripura, Mathangi, Ambika, Durga, Bhadrakāli, the object of which is to secure accuracy in their astrological predictions. Further, every member of the caste proficient in astrology daily offers, after an early bath, his prayers to the seven planets. Among the minor deities whom they worship, are also Mallan, Mundian, Muni and Ayutha Vadukan, the first three of which they worship for the prosperity of their cattle, and the last four for their success in the training of young men in athletic feats. These deities are represented by stones placed at the root of some shady tree in their compounds. They also worship the spirits of their ancestors, on the new-moon nights in Karkadakam (July-August), Thulam (October-November), and Makaram (December-January). The Kalari Panikkans celebrate a kind of feast to the spirits of their female ancestors. This is generally done a few days before the celebration of a wedding in their houses, and is probably intended to obtain their blessings for the happy married life of the bride. This corresponds to the performance of Sumangalia Prarthana (feast for the spirits of departed virgins and married women) performed by Brāhmans in their families. At times when small-pox, cholera, and other pestilential diseases prevail in a village, special pūjas are offered to Māriamma (the small-pox demon) and Bhadrakāli, who should be propitiated. On these occasions, their priest turns Velichapād (oracle), and speaks to the village men as if by inspiration, telling them when and how the maladies will subside.”
Kaniyans were formerly buried, but are now, excepting young children, cremated in a portion of the grounds of the habitation, or in a spot adjacent thereto. The ashes are collected on the fourth day, and deposited under water. In memory of the deceased, an annual offering of food is made, and an oblation of water offered on every new moon.
The Potuvans or Kani Kuruppus are the barbers of the Kaniyans, and have the privilege of being in attendance during marriages and funerals. It is only after they have sprinkled water in the houses of polluted Kaniyans that they again become pure. In fact, the Potuvans stand in the same relation to the Kaniyans as the Mārāns to the Nāyars. The Potuvans are not expected to shave the Tīntā Kaniyans.
The Kaniyans are said to keep at a distance of twenty-four feet from a Brāhman or Kshatriya, and half that distance from a Sūdra. The corresponding distances for a Tīntā Kaniyan are thirty-six and eighteen feet. This restriction is not fully observed in Trivandrum, and south of it. It is noted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer that, on marriage occasions, a Nāyar gives a gift of a few annas and betel leaves to the astrologer, standing close beside him, and yet there is no pollution. The Malayālam proverb “On marriage occasions the Nāyars give dakshina (gift), almost touching the hand,” refers to this fact. The Kaniyans cannot enter Brāhmanical temples. They will not receive food from Izhavans, except in a few villages in central Travancore, but this is a regular practice with the Tīntā Kaniyans. It is believed that the Kaniyans proper have no objection to receiving sweetmeats from Kammālans.
The Kaniyans have been summed up as a law-abiding people, who not infrequently add agriculture to their avocations of village doctor, prophet, or demon-driver, and are popular with Christians and Muhammadans as well as with Hindus.
The late Mr. Pogson, when Government astronomer, used to say that his principal native assistant was an astronomer from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. and an astrologer from 5 P.M. to 10 A.M.
