Stanika/ Stānika
This article is an excerpt from Government Press, Madras |
Stānika
The Stānikas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being “Canarese temple servants. They claim to be Brāhmans, though other Brāhmans do not admit the claim; and, as the total of the caste has declined from 4,650 in 1891 to 1,469, they have apparently returned themselves as Brāhmans in considerable numbers.” The Stānikas are, in the South Canara Manual, said to be “the descendants of Brāhmins by Brāhmin widows and outcast Brāhmin women, corresponding with Manu’s Golaka. They however now claim to be Siva Brāhmins, forcibly dispossessed of authority by the Mādhvas, and state that the name Stānika is not that of a separate caste, but indicates their profession as managers of temples, with the title of Dēva Stānika.
This claim is not generally conceded, and as a matter of fact the duties in which Stānikas are employed are clearly those of temple servants, namely, collecting flowers, sweeping the interiors of temples, looking after the lamps, cleaning the temple vessels, ringing bells, and the like. Many of them, however, are landowners and farmers. They are generally Sivites, and wear the sacred thread. Their special deities are Venkatrāmana and Ganapati. Drāvida Brāhmins officiate as their priests, but of late some educated men of the caste have assumed the priestly office. The caste has two sub-divisions, viz., Subramania and Kumbla. Girls must be married in infancy, i.e., before they attain puberty. Widow remarriage is neither permitted nor practiced. Their other customs are almost the same as those of the Kōta Brāhmans. They neither eat flesh nor drink liquor.” It is stated in the Manual that the Stānikas are called Shānbōgs and Mukhtesars. But I am informed that at an inquest or a search the Moktessors or Mukhtesars (chief men) of a village are assembled, and sign the inquest report or search list. The Moktessors of any caste can be summoned together. Some of the Moktessors of a temple may be Stānikas. In the case of social disputes decided at caste meetings, the Shānbōg (writer or accountant) appointed by the caste would record the evidence, and the Moktessor would decide upon the facts.
Of the two sections Subramanya and Kumbla, the former claim superiority, and there is no intermarriage between them. The members of the Subramanya section state that they belong to Rig Sāka (Rig Vēda) and have gōtras, such as Viswamitra, Angirasa, and Bāradwaja, and twelve exogamous septs. Of these septs, the following are examples:—
Arli (Ficus religiosa). Konde, tassel or hair-knot.
Aththi (Ficus glomerata). Adhikāri.
Bandi, cart. Pandita.
Kēthaki (Pandanus fascicularis). Heggade.
The famous temple of Subramanya is said to have been in charge of the Subramanya Stānikas, till it was wrested from them by the Shivalli Brāhmans. In former times, the privilege of sticking a golden ladle into a heap of food piled up in the temple, on the Shasti day or sixth day after the new moon in December, is said to have belonged to the Stānikas. They also brought earth from an ant-hill on the previous day. Food from the heap and earth are received as sacred articles by devotees who visit the sacred shrine. A large number of Stānikas are still attached to temples, where they perform the duties of cleaning the vessels, washing rice, placing cooked food on the bali pitam (altar stone), etc. The food placed on the stone is eaten by Stānikas, but not by Brāhmans. In the Mysore province, a Brāhman woman who partakes of this food loses her caste, and becomes a prostitute.
At times of census, Sivadvija and Siva Brāhman have been given as synonyms of Stānika.
