Kantha Brahman
This article is an extract from
THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. Ethnographic Glossary. Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. . |
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Kantha Brahman
This despised Brahman, sarcastically named Mahabrahman, or Mahapatra, performs for Hindustani families the same offices as the Agradana does for Bengali. They formerly occupied as many as forty houses in Dacca, and a large reservoir of water is still known as "Kantha Ka Talao," but now only one man, whose ancestors came from Patna, resides there.
This, the most abhorred of Hindustani Brahmans, notorious for avarice, bad temper, and drunkenness, is considered a degraded branch of the Sawalakhia tribe. They have good grounds for being irascible. They are compelled to live apart, and when seen in public, boys hoot and pelt them. Many absurd stories are told of their doings�one is, that every morning the Kantha drives a peg into the ground, and throws stones at it. If he hits it, he goes home in great glee, regarding his success as an omen of the early death of some rich person. On the other hand, if his aim is bad, he returns disconsolate.2
1 The meaning of this word is obscure, but it may be the Sanskrit Kantha, a rag, or patched garment, worn by ascetics.
2 The story of Rousseau and Goethe trying to forcaste the future by a similar experiment is well known.
As soon as the funeral service is finished he must fly, and he is lucky if his home is reached with only the execrations of the crown ringing in his ears.
The Kantha Brahman attends at the funerals of all high caste Hindustanis in Dacca, preparing the Pinda, or obsequial ball of rice, and providing the plantain, sesamum seed, and barley to be put in the hands of the corpse before cremation begins. He, too, is the only person who can repeat certain Mantras, or prayers, over the pyre.
At the Sraddha the Kantha prepares ten Pindas, and one for the "Ekadasi," oblations to the manes of the departed. For doing this he receives from the poor presents of curdled milk, sugar, and parched rice (Chura); from the rich, sweetmeats and pieces of cloth.
At the cremation service he gets no remuneration ; but at the ensuing Sraddha it is customary for the poor to give him twenty anas, the rich any sum up to one hundred rupees, in return for his labour.
