Malakara, Malakar, Mali
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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Malakara, Malakar, Mali
The Malakar, or maker of garlands, belongs to a clean Sudra caste, and is included among the Nava-Sakha. The Malakars of Bengal trace their descent from the garland-maker attached to the household of Rajah Kansa of Mathura, who, when met by Krishna, was asked for a chaplet of flowers, and at once gave it. On being told to fasten it with a string he, for want of any other, took off his sacred thread and tied it, on which Krishna most ungenerously rebuked him for his simplicity in parting with his "Poitha," and announced that for the future his caste would be a Sudra one.
Like others of the higher castes, the Malakars claim to have originally come from Mathura, in the reign of Jahangir. They are few in number, but in every Hindu village there is at least one representative who provides daily offerings of flowers for the temples, and marriage tiaras for the village maidens.
The caste had only one gotra, the Aliman, and in the city of Dacca has two Dals, or unions, between which there is no real difference. If, however, a member of one union marries into a family belonging to the other, the marriage feast will be more expensive than if he took a bride from his own, as he must invite the members of both Dals to the ceremony. The bridal dresses must be made of red silk brought from Murshidabad, as cotton cloth is prohibited. The bride is always carried in a Palki, or palanquin, while the bridegroom rides on a pony, or in a Sedan chair.
A Malakar will not become a cultivator, and never works as a kitchen gardener, the gardeners of Bengal being generally Chandals. In Dacca members of the caste keep shops for piece goods, practise medicine, act as vaccinators, and take service in temples. Their principal occupations, however, are making wreaths, fabricating artificial chaplets and toys from the pith of the Shola (Hedysarum lagenarium). The garlands placed every morning before idols are collected and arranged by Malakars, who nevertheless refuse to paint figures, this being the profession of the Ganaka and Rangrez.
All the tinsel decorations put on the images and their carriages are designed by Malakars. At marriages their services are indispensable, for they prepare the crowns (Mukuta) worn by the bridal pair. Moreover, no bride would consider the attire complete unless her hair was adorned with a Khopa-jura, or ornament for the hair-knot, made with leaves of the Jack tree mixed with white Bela blossoms, while at one side of it they place a rose, or some other bright flower. For the bouquet delivered on the bridal morning the Malakar expects to be paid a rupee.
The profession of a Malakar requires a considerable knowledge of flowers, for some are forbidden to be used in religious services, and others can only be exhibited before the shrines of the deities to whom they belong. Thus the "Dhatura" is sacred to Siv; the "Aparajita" (Clitoria ternatea) to Kalo; the "Bakas" (Justicia adhatoda) to Sarasvati; and the "Asoka" (Jonesia Asoca) to Shasthhi. The "Java" (Hibiscus rosa Sinensis) or China rose, is of most unlucky omen, and cannot be presented to idols, or employed at weddings.
Strong scented blossoms are selected for religious offerings, and these in Bengal are the "Champa" (Michelia Champaca), "Chambeli" (Jasminum grandiflorum), "Juhi" (Jasminum auriculatum), "Bela" (Aegle marmelos), "Gandhraj" (Gardenia florida), and the "Harsingar" (Nyctanthes arbor-tristis).
Chaplets offered to idols must be tied with the dried fibres of the plantain stem, not with string, and if picked and arranged by one not a Malakar they are unclean. From sixteen to twenty-four anas a month are received by the garland-maker for providing a daily supply of flowers to a temple, but as with everything else, the price of bouquets has greatly risen, and a rupee only procures about half the quantity it formerly did.
The Malakars are all Vaishnavas in creed, and it is said none of them worship Siv. The Gosain is the Guru, while their Brahman is common to them and to the Nava-Sakha.
One of the chief occupations of this caste is inoculating for small-pox, and treating individuals attacked by any eruptive fever. Hindus believe that Sitala, the goddess of small-pox, is one of seven sisters, who are designated Motiya, Matariya, Pakauriya, Masurika, Chamariya, Khudwa, and Pansa. The first four are varieties of small-pox, the names referring to the form, size, and colour of the pustules; the fifth is Variola maligna; the sixth is measles; and the seventh is water-pox. Every Malakar keeps images of one or more of these goddesses, and on the first of Chait (March 15th) a festival is held, and the Malakars superintend the details. It is popularly called "Mali-bagh" from the garden where the service is, performed, and thither Hindus and Muhammadans repair with offerings of clotted milk, cocoa-nuts, and plantains in the hope of propitiating the dreaded sisters.
When small-pox rages, the Malakars are busiest. As soon as the nature of the disease is determined, the Kabiraj retires, and a Malakar is summoned. His first act is to forbid the introduction of meat, and all food requiring oil or spices for its preparation. He then ties a lock of hair, a cowrie shell, a piece of turmeric, and an article of gold on the right wrist of the patient. The sick person is then laid on the "Manjh-patta," the young and unexpanded leaf of the plantain tree, and milk is prescribed as the sole article of food. He is fanned with a branch of the sacred Nim, and anyone entering the chamber is sprinkled with water. Should the fever become aggravated and delirium ensue, or if a shild cries much and sleeps little, the Mali performs the Mata pujah. This consists in bathing the image of the goddess causing the disease, and giving a draught of the water to drink. To relieve the irritation of the skin, pease-meal, turmeric, flour, or shell-sawdust, is sprinkled over the body.
If the eruption be copious, a piece of new cloth in the figure of eight is wrapped round the chest and shoulders. On the night between the seventh and eighth days of the eruption the Mali has much to do. He places a waterpot in the sick room, and puts on it Alwa rice, a cocoa-nut, sugar, plantains, a yellow rag, flowers, and a few Nim leaves. Having mumbled several Mantras, he recites the "Qica," or tale, of the particular goddess, which often occupies six hours.
When the pustules are mature, the Mali dips a thorn of the Karaunda (Carissa) in Til oil, and punctures each one. The body is then anointed with oil, and cooling fruits given. When the scabs (Dewli) have peeled off, another ceremonial, called "Godam," is gone through. All the offerings on the waterpot are rolled in a cloth, and fastened round the waist of the patient. These offerings are the perquisite of the Mali, who also receives a fee.
These minute, and to our ideas absurd, proceedings are practised by the Hindus and Muhammadans, including the bigoted Farazi, whenever small-pox, or other eruptive fever attacks their families. Government vaccinators earn a considerable sum yearly by executing the Sitala worship, and when a child is vaccinated a portion of the service is performed.
