Kudumi or Kudumikkar
This article is an excerpt from Government Press, Madras |
Kudumi or Kudumikkar
The Kudumis are mainly found in the sea-board taluks of Parūr, Shertally, and Ambalapuzha, in Travancore. The name is believed to be a corruption of the Sanskrit Kudumbi, meaning one connected with a family. By others it is derived from a Konkani word, meaning Sūdra. The popular name for the caste is Idiya (pounder), in reference to the occupation of pounding rice. Kadiya, apparently derived from Ghatiyal, or a person possessed, is a term of reproach. The title Chetti is now assumed by members of the caste. But the well-known title is Mūppan, or elder, conferred on some respectable families by former Rājas of Cochin. The authority of the Trippanithoray Mūppan is supreme in all matters relating to the government of the caste. But his authority has passed, in Travancore, to the Turavūr Mūppan, who has supreme control over the twenty-two villages of Kudimis. The belief that the Mūppans differ from the rest of the Kudimis, so as to make them a distinct sept, does not appear to be based on fact. Nor is it true that the Mūppans represent the most ancient families of Konkana Sūdras, who emigrated to Kērala independently of the Konkanis. Chief among them is the Koratti Mūppan of Trippanithoray, who has, among other privileges, those of the drinking vessel and lighted lamp conferred on him by the Cochin rulers. Every Kudumi village has a local Mūppan. A few families enjoy the surname Kammatti, which is believed to be of agricultural origin.
The Kudumis speak a corrupt form of the Konkani dialect of Marāthi. They are the descendants of these Konkana Sūdras, who emigrated from Goa on account of the persecutions of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, and sought refuge along with their masters, the Konkana Brāhmans, on the coast of Travancore and Cochin. Most of them set out as the domestic servants of the latter, but a few were independent traders and agriculturists. Two varieties of rice grain, chethivirippu and malarnellu, brought by them from the Konkan, are still sown in Travancore. One of the earliest occupations, in which they engaged, was the manufacture of fireworks, and, as they were bold and sturdy, they were enlisted as soldiers by the chieftains of Malabar. Relics of the existence of military training-grounds are still to be found in many of their houses.
On a raised mud platform in the court-yard of the Kudumi’s house, the tulasi (Ocimum sanctum) or pīpal (Ficus religiosa) is invariably grown. Fish and flesh, except beef, are eaten, and intoxicating liquor is rather freely imbibed. The women wear coloured cloths, usually black, and widows are not obliged to be clad in white. A gold mukkutti is an indispensable nose ornament. Tattooing is largely resorted to by the women. The occupation of the Kudumis is service in the houses of the Konkana Brāhmans. They also prepare beaten rice, act as boatmen, porters, and agricultural labourers, clean tanks and wells, and thatch houses. The Mūppans manufacture, and give displays of fireworks, which have a local reputation at the great Konkani temple of Turavūr in the Shertallay taluk.
They worship at the temples of the Konkana Brāhmans, as well as their own. But they are not pronounced Vaishnavites, like the Brāhmans, as the teachings of Madhvāchārya did not reach the lower ranks of Hinduism. On Sunday only one meal is taken. Maddu or Madan is their chief minor deity, and water-sheds are erected to propitiate him. Brahma is adored for nine days in the month of Kumbham (February-March) from the full-moon day. The pīpal tree is scrupulously worshipped, and a lighted lamp placed beside it every evening.
A woman, at the menstrual period, is considered impure for four days, and she stands at a distance of seven feet, closing her mouth and nostrils with the palm of the hand, as the breath of such a woman is believed to have a contaminating effect. Her shadow, too, should not fall on any one. The marriage of girls should take place before puberty. Violation of this rule would be punished by the excommunication of the family. During the marriage ceremony, the tulasi plant is worshipped, and the bride and bridegroom husk a small quantity of rice. The mother of the bridegroom prepares a new oven within the house, and places a new pot beside it. The contracting couple, assisted by five women, throw five handfuls of rice into the pot, which is cooked. They then put a quantity of paddy (unhusked rice) into a mortar, and after carefully husking it, make rice flour from it. A quantity of betel and rice is then received by the bride and bridegroom from four women. The tāli is tied round the bride’s neck by the bridegroom, and one of his companions then takes a thread, and fastens it to their legs. On the fifth day of the marriage rites, a piece of cloth, covering the breasts, is tied round the bride’s neck, and the nose is pierced for the insertion of the mukkutti. Inheritance is generally from father to son (makkathāyam), but, in a few families, marumakkathāyam (inheritance through the female line) is observed. Widow remarriage is common, and the bridegroom is generally a widower. Only the oldest members of a family are cremated, the corpses of others being buried. The Kudumis own a common burial-ground in all places, where they reside in large numbers. Pollution lasts for sixteen days.
The Kudumis and the indigenous Sūdras of Travancore do not accept food from each other. They never wear the sacred thread, and may not enter the inner courtyard of a Brāhmanical temple. They remove pollution by means of water sprinkled over them by a Konkana Brāhman. Their favourite amusement is the koladi, in which ten or a dozen men execute a figure dance, armed with sticks, which they strike together keeping time to the music of songs relating to Krishna, and Bhagavati.
