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• Coorg is primarily an agricultural country, with the majority of the community dependent on land. Even those employed in government have family members in the ancestral house handling land cultivation.
• Over a hundred years ago, rice was the most important crop in Coorg. There was no coffee at that time.
• A Coorg okka (family unit) and the Poleyas (its slaves) cultivated ancestral rice-fields, with the Poleyas doing manual labor under the supervision of Coorg masters.
• From May to January, Coorgs were preoccupied with the cultivation of rice. The harvest was sold in Malabar, requiring an annual caravan involving every okka in the village. Social activities like festivals and weddings occurred after the men returned from Malabar.
• Ritual attention is given to every stage of rice cultivation: ploughing, sowing, transplanting, and harvesting. The granary and the measures used for rice also receive ritual attention.
• The ancestral estate, particularly the rice-field, is considered sacred. Coorgs are prohibited from walking on the estate with sandals and must not whistle or hold an umbrella there, maintaining ritual respect.
• The rice-field is divided into small plots, each with a distinct name. The main plot, which shares its name with the entire rice-field, is particularly significant.
• The umbilical cord of the eldest son is buried in the main plot of the ancestral estate, symbolizing his future role as the head of the okka.
• During ancestor-propitiation rites, the Banna oracle, possessing an ancestor’s spirit, may inspect the rice-field to ensure it is well cared for.
• Every stage of rice cultivation is marked by ritual. The main plot is ritually ploughed on the first of Aries, marking the beginning of the new year according to the solar calendar. Ritual ploughing precedes regular ploughing.
• Paddy is sown at an auspicious time in nurseries, and the young plants are transplanted when they reach 10-12 inches. This requires careful coordination, especially on large estates.
• The Kävëri festival includes the bortu rite (meaning “fear”), meant to protect the crop, woods, and domestic well.
• The putri (new rice) festival is one of the most important in Coorg. It celebrates the ritual cutting of the paddy sheaves, marking the culmination of the festival that lasts 9-10 days, with singing, dancing, and games.
• The cutting of the paddy sheaves happens on the full-moon day in Scorpio under the krittiké or rõhini constellations.
• The hereditary astrologer of the Subramanya temple in Padi (Nälknäd) used to decide the day and time for the cutting of sheaves for all of Coorg Proper (except Kiggatnad).
• Local astrologers would then determine which member from each high caste okka would perform the rite of cutting the sheaves. The selected person had to wear a white gown.
• On the festival day, leaves and creepers are gathered for the rite of néré kaļļuvudu, with local trees and creepers symbolizing fertility and growth in vegetable nature. This wish for growth is common in harvest festivals in south India.
• A part of the kitchen floor is cleaned with a solution of cow dung and a new mat is spread on it.
• A tripod-stool is placed on the mat, and a dish-lamp is put on the stool.
• A harvest-basket containing leaves and short lengths of creepers is kept near the dish-lamp.
• At an auspicious time, a leaf of each variety is taken and arranged with a short length of inyoli creeper crowning the pile of leaves.
• The leaves are rolled around the creeper and secured with achchi fibre, and several such rolls are made.
• The harvest-basket is filled with paddy and placed near the dish-lamp.
• Two measures and a small pot filled with paddy, rice, and rice-flour are placed on the paddy in the basket.
• A new bamboo vessel (kutti) is brought in, and milk, honey, and ghi are poured into it along with bits of coconut, fresh ginger, green rattan cane, and gingelly grains.
• The new sickle brought by the blacksmith is placed in the bamboo vessel.
• The members of the okka eat cooked harvest yam (putri genasu) mixed with honey and ghi.
• At the auspicious time fixed by the astrologer, the sheaf-cutter leaves the house with the bamboo vessel, followed by a girl carrying the dish-lamp and a band marching ahead.
• Upon reaching the rice-field, the sheaf-cutter salutes the sacred eastern direction and the field, ties a leaf-roll to a rice plant, and pours a little of the bamboo vessel’s contents on it.
• Everyone shouts ‘poli, poli, dēva’ (increase, increase, O god), and a shot is fired.
• The sheaf-cutter cuts an odd number of plants.
• After returning home, the sheaf-cutter’s feet are washed, and he is given milk to drink. The bamboo vessel is deposited in the kitchen.
• The sheaf-cutter prepares yēļakki pu!! (seven rice-pudding), kneading together rice-flour, plantains, milk, honey, and seven of each: new rice grains, gingelly grains, tiny stones, bits of coconut, ginger, and green rattan cane.
• Small balls of this mixture are offered to the lamps in the south-western room and the ancestor-shrine, and later everyone eats some of it.
• Leaf-rolls (nére) and sheaves are tied to every part of the house.
• The sweet dish payasa is prepared with seven new rice grains.
• The rites performed at the harvest festival stress the great value of rice to Coorgs.
• The astrologer decides not only when the sheaves should be cut but also who should be chosen for the task.
• New articles are used in the ritual, and there are elaborate taboos surrounding the sheaf-cutter.
• Solidarity rites are performed towards the sheaves, using valuable articles like milk and honey before cutting them.
• Some rites, like tying plants and creepers to every part of the house and praying for increase, express a desire for plenty.
• The ritual eating of new rice and vegetables like yams is another aspect of the harvest rites.
• On New Year’s Day, a clod of ploughed earth is brought home and deposited in the granary.
• When a man sees paddy in the ear for the first time, he tells the granary there will be a bumper harvest.
• At the Käveri festival, pilgrims carry home a handful of rice from the granary (called akshaya patra, the mythical vessel of increase) to ensure a bumper harvest.
• Rice is essential to the Coorg’s survival and was the chief source of wealth.
• Rice cultivation is the most important activity for the okka, the nuclear unit of Coorg society.
• Proper rainfall is crucial for a good crop, with rain being beneficial only when it comes at the right time.
• Abundance of rice means food, wealth, and the ability to perform sacrifices to ancestors and festivals for deities.
• Rice provides the means to marry sons and daughters, support servants, hold feasts, and fulfill obligations.
• Because of its enormous social importance, rice, and everything associated with it, receives ritual attention.