Rūdrākshala

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This article is an excerpt from Castes and Tribes of Southern India By Edgar Thurston, C.I.E., Superintendent, Madras Government Museum; Correspondant Étranger, Société d’Anthropologie de Paris; Socio Corrispondante, Societa,Romana di Anthropologia. Assisted by K. Rangachari, M.A., of the Madras Government Museum. Government Press, Madras 1909.

Rūdrākshala

The drupe of Elæocarpus Ganitrus.—An exogamous sept of Karna Sālēs. The drupes are polished, and worn as a rosary or necklet by Saivite Brāhmans, Pandārams, Nāttukōttai Chettis, and others. They are supposed to be the tears of ecstasy which Siva (Rūdra) once shed, and are consequently sacred to him. They have a number of lobes (or faces), varying from one to six, divided externally by deep furrows. Those with five lobes are the most common, but those with one (eka mukha) or six (shan mukha) are very rare, and have been known to be sold for a thousand rupees. One form of the drupe is called Gauri shanka, and is worn in a golden receptacle by Dīkshitar Brāhmans at Chidambaram, and by some Pandārams who are managers of matams (religious institutions). The plate represents a Telugu Saivite Vaidiki Brāhman clad in a coat of rudrāksha beads, wearing a head-dress of the same, and holding in his hand wooden castanets, which are played as an accompaniment to his songs. Until he became too old to bear the weight, he wore also a loin-cloth made of these beads.