ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

tion, on the other side a joyful dance, enlivened by music and clapping of hands, keeping time with the steps of the dancers.

7. The whole party rejoins and goes through seven different kinds of traditionary dances.

8. The parties separate again and are seated. On each side two speakers rise, telling by turns incredible stories to the other party. "I saw the other day a little hare attacking a tiger, and breaking its neck, &c." Reply: "Did you? That is nothing: I saw a buffalo flying over the mountains," &c.

9. Invocation by three men, of Ayappa, Mahádéva and Bhagavati. This appears to be the conclusion of the ancient, traditionary performances.

10. Seven different dances accompanied by the beating of sticks, every man carrying one in each hand. The clatter of the sticks keeps time with the music performed by the band outside.

11. Gymnastic tournament. strength and agility.

All kinds of feats of

12. Finalé like No. 9 and No. 1. Seventh day of the Huttari.

The great day. Fullmoon. Early in the morning, some time before the first dawn of the day, a quantity of Ashvatha-(ficus religiosa) Kumbali-(a wild tree growing all over Coorg) and Kéku-(also a Coorg jungle-tree) leaves, some hundred of each for great houses, a piece of a creeper, called Injadi, rather rare in Coorg, but common in the Malayálam (this circumstance may perhaps be an indication of the Malayalam origin of the Huttari festival) and some fibrous bark, called Achchi, are collected, and deposited in a shady place for the use of the evening. Sunrise.

During the day the house is cleansed, the vessels scoured, and every thing wears the appearance of a great holiday. Beggars come to the doors, and are dismissed with presents. The village-Méda brings the

THE GREAT HUTTARI-DAY.

51

Huttari-basket (Huttari-pachya) and receives in return rice and plantains. The village-potter appears with the little Huttari-pot, and receives his holiday-gift, rice, plaintains, &c. The carpenter offers a new spoon, the Holeya a new mat. Each carries away his Huttariportion. The Astrologer follows, communicates the important news of the exact time of the full-moon, and claims his share of the Huttari-bounty. The cattle are well washed and scrubbed. The slaves have an extraallowance of rice-in-the-husk. Breakfast and dinner

are served to the family as usual.

At sunset the whole house prepares for a hot bath. The precedence in bathing is given to the person, whom the Astrologer may have chosen in the morning for the ceremony of cutting the first sheaves of the harvest. On his return from bathing, he repairs to the threshing-floor, spreads the new mat, which the Holeya has brought, seats himself upon it with the leaves gathered in the morning, and, while the rest are engaged in their ablutions, cuts the Injadi-creeper into very small pieces, rolls each piece into three leaves (one Ashvatha, one Kumbali, one Kéku-leaf) in the fashion of a native cheroot, and binds round the middle of the little bundle a bit of Achchi-fibre-string. leaf-bundles are laid in the Méda's new basket.

The

Now the women, fresh from the bath, take a large brass or copper-dish and strew it with rice. A lamp is lighted and placed in the dish. This is done in the

house.

The dish with The sheaf-cutter

After these preliminaries, the whole household sets out in procession towards the fields. the burning lamp is carried in front. follows with basket and sickle in one hand, and a bamboo-bottle of fresh-drawn milk in the other. The whole company, as they proceed, shout: pôli ! i. e. increase!

increase! Arrived at the chosen spot, the young man

binds one of the leaf-scrolls from his basket to a bush of rice (three or four plants are generally placed together, when the transplantation takes place, and they grow in good fields into great bushes filling a large hand in cutting) and pours milk into it. Having paid this honor to the bush of rice, he proceeds to cut an armfull in its neighbourhood. From this store he distributes two or three stalks to every one present, not forgetting to put some stalks into the bamboo-vessel, in which he has brought the milk. Care, however, is taken, lest any one touch the person of the cutter of the first-fruits. All return to the threshing-floor. A bundle of leaves is adorned with a stalk of rice, and fastened to the post in the centre of the threshing-floor. The company moves from the threshing-floor to the door of the house. Here the mistress of the house meets the festive party, washes the feet of the cutter of the first-fruits of the season, and presents to him, and after him to all the rest, a brass vessel filled with a mixture of milk, honey and sugar, from which each takes a draught. Now the company proceeds into the kitchen. The Huttari-mat is spread; upon it the brass-dish, the rice-sheaf and the basket with the leafbundles are placed. Each bundle is adorned with a stalk of rice, and the chosen (the priest I might almost say) distributes the bundles to the members of the family, who disperse to bind the festive token to every thing in house and garden, doors, stools, roofs, trees, &c. This done, he sits down to knead the Huttaridough, which consists of rice-meal, plantains, milk and honey, well mixed. To this mass seven new ricecorns, seven small pebbles, seven pieces of dry ginger, seven cardamomum-seeds, and seven corns of sesamum are added. Each one receives a little of this dough upon an Arali-(Ashvatha) leaf and eats it. Thus the ceremony terminates and the chosen of the day is al

AFTER-HUTTARI-DAYS.

53

lowed to mix with the rest of the company. Supper follows, consisting of sugared rice, into which a handful of new rice is thrown, and of a substantial common repast of rice and curry.

After supper, the men of the village assemble in a house chosen for the Huttari-meeting. Songs are chanted in honor of the members of the house, living and dead. Thus the commencement is made of the Huttari-chants, which are performed at every house, belonging to the village, in the course of that night. If the village is large, several singing-parties are formed. Before dawn the chants must be completed. The Dévara-kattu (Gottesfriede in German) is at an end. No one during the seven holy days of Huttari dares quarrel, or fight, or even use offensive language to a brotherCoorg. Joy and peace are to reign.

But the Coorgs have not yet done altogether, with their pleasant festival. Four after-Huttari-days are added to the holy week. On the eighth day the Urukólu, the village-stick-dance, collects the whole community. The women of two or three houses repair together to the Urumandu, a pair leading and a second pair following, all four beating cymbals and chanting ancient songs or impromptu verses. When they have arrived at the place of meeting, they sit down in groups with the children, and look at the dances performed by the men, who go through the evolutions of Coorg-saltation, beating small rattans, of which they carry one in each hand, while they move to the time of a music, which proceeds from a group of Holeyas, stationed between the assembly of the Coorgs and that of their own people, who enjoy themselves, in the same fashion as their masters, at a little distance.

The afternoon is spent in this manner until 5 o'clock, when the whole male community goes to the Nèmakada-mane, (the house of appointment) some house cho

sen for the season. Supper is there served to the company. After supper a play of music, masks and dances commences. One lad is dressed as a dancinggirl; he is accompanied by a Jangama. Both dance for half an hour to the music of four men singing and beating small drums. Then two Brahmans, from Pálghatt make their appearance. They are asked, who they are, whence they have come, what errand, and so on, and answer with as much of wit and fun as they can muster. After they have danced for some time, two Máplis, with hempen beards, speaking Malayálam, join the party. Questions are asked and answers given in the same style. Then a Vodda and his wife enter. (These are tank-diggers from Orissa.) They are in search of work, make a contract and perform their puja. These are succeeded by two Gádikas (men who travel about, begging, with snakes which they cause to dance &c.) Last of all a troop of little boys comes in, dressed as Jógis, covered with ashes and fantastically dressed. The whole party set out from the Némakadamane, to perform in all the houses of the village. They continue at their work till 12 o'clock the following day, when dinner is served in another house of appointment; breakfast having been taken in due time at a third.

After dinner, on the ninth day, the Nádukólu begins. This is an assembly of the whole district. Every thing is done as at the Urukólu, only on a larger scale. At five the parties from different villages separate and go home. The night is spent again with plays and masked dances.

In the afternoon of the tenth day, the Dévarakólu (stick-dance in honor of Bhagavati) takes place in every village. The entertainment is quite the same as on the two preceding days, Also the succeeding night and following morning are spent as above described.

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »