Tambala

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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.

Tambala

The Tambalas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “Telugu-speaking temple priests. Their social position differs in different localities. They are regarded as Brahmans in Godāvari, Kistna and Nellore, and as Sūdras in the other Telugu districts.” It is noted, in the Census Report, that the

Tambalas are described by C. P. Brown as a class of beggars, who worship Siva, and who beat drums; secular priests, etc. These men are generally Sūdras, but wear the sacred thread. “It is said that, during his peregrinations in the north, Sankarāchārya appointed Tamil Brāhmans to perform temple services in all the Saiva shrines.

Hence the Telugu people, in the midst of whom the Tamilians lived, called them the Tambalas (Tamils). They are not now, however, regarded as Brāhmans, whatever their original position may have been. They will eat only with Brāhmans. Most of them are Saivites, and a few are Lingayats. The Smarta Brāhmans officiate as their priests at birth, marriage, and death ceremonies. They do not eat animal food, and all their religious rites are more or less like those of Brāhmans. Their usual titles are Aiya and Appa.”