The Rural Idiom of Coorgs: The Ritual Complex of Mangala

Chapter – 2

I

• Ritual acts are repeated constantly in society, forming part of a broader ritual complex, which consists of several individual ritual acts.
• Salutation is an individual ritual act that can be either elaborate or simple.
• In elaborate salutation, a younger person touches the older person’s feet three times and then brings the hands to their forehead.
• In simple salutation, a person folds their palms before their chest and bows slightly.
• Salutation is part of the ritual complex of miirta, which is a component of mangala.
• Formerly, mangala referred to various rituals, not just marriage, and the narrowing down to marriage is a recent development.
• Kemmi kutti mangala or ‘mangala at which the ears are bored’ marked a boy’s attainment of social adulthood.
• For girls, the counterpart of kemmi kutti mangala was the pole kancJa mangala, performed upon reaching puberty.
• Mangala was also performed when a woman became pregnant for the first time (ku/iyamme mangala) or after giving birth to ten living children (paitiincJek alapa).
• Nari mangala or ‘tiger mangala’ was performed in honor of a man who killed a panther or tiger.
• Marriage increased a man’s status; a bachelor was considered ritually inferior to a married man, and a mangala was performed for a bachelor’s corpse before burial to elevate the soul.
• If a man had lost two wives, he was ritually married to a plantain tree before marrying his third wife, called biilf’k mangala or ‘plantain mangala.’
• The performance of biilf’k mangala freed the third wife from the bad fate anticipated from the previous marriages.
• Mane mangala or ‘house mangala’ was performed when a man built a new house, while ettu mangala or ‘ox mangala’ has disappeared.
• The ideal marriage in Coorg is between a virgin and a bachelor, called kanni mangala or ‘virgin mangala.’
• Marriage rites are fullest in a virgin’s marriage to a bachelor and more abbreviated for widowers or widows.
• The mangala-part of the marriage ritual is discussed here, while the non-mangala part is discussed in Chapter V.
• There are several types of mangala, and miirta is performed at each, regarded as a typical ritual complex.
• The ritual complex of miirta consists of several acts, and the meaning of each is analyzed using three principles by Professor Radcliffe-Brown.
• The three principles of analysis are: (1) Same or similar customs have the same meaning across different occasions, (2) Common elements exist in different customs practiced on the same occasion, and (3) If two rites are associated on different occasions, they share something in common.
• The central figure of a ritual is referred to as the subject. In miirta, the subject is called the subject of mangala, as miirta is always part of mangala.
• The term subject applies to both the bride and the groom unless a rite is performed exclusively by one, in which case more specific terms are used.

II

• Astrologer selects an auspicious day for mangala and a more auspicious time for miirta, the most important part of mangala.
• The term miirta is a corrupted form of Sanskrit milhurta, meaning a ‘particular division of time’, specifically 48 minutes.
• The house for mangala is cleaned, and its walls are colour-washed. A decorated booth (pandal) with five pillars, one being a branch of a milk-exuding tree, is erected in front.
• Poleyas and Medas beat tom-toms and play pipes, while Coorg youths dance to the music.
• Four Coorgs beat the small Coorg drum called ‘dudi’ and sing traditional songs, recounting the ritual being performed.
• The singers also perform the ‘road song’ (batté pat), which exaggerates what is found on the way while conducting the subject from one part of the house to another.
• At night, after dinner, Coorg singers sing songs about the groom, bride, their ancestors, and the guests present.
• The elaborate preparations and selection of an auspicious day stress the social importance of mangala, marking a change in the subject’s social position.
• Mūrta ritual is the most important part of mangala and is performed at the most auspicious time of the auspicious day.
• The subject of mangala, if male, is ritually shaved by the barber, then bathed by three women relatives whose husbands are alive.
• Women whose husbands are alive have higher ritual and social status than widows, and only unmarried girls and women whose first and only husband is alive can partake in auspicious rituals.
• The subject wears ritual garments and proceeds to the sacred central hall (nellakki nadubadé) where all rituals ideally take place.
• In the central hall is a sacred tripod stool (mukkäli three-legged) where the subject sits, with bell-metal lamps (kutum bolicha) on either side.
• The subject circumambulates the tripod stool and lamps thrice in a clockwise direction, then salutes them before sitting.
• In front of the subject is another stool covered with red silk cloth, with an earthen lamp on a metal dining dish (tali), containing rice.
• The lamp, rice, and betel leaves and areca nuts on the dish are referred to as ‘dish-lamp‘ (tafiyakki-holuk), essential for all rituals.
• During mangala, a kincji (bell-metal vessel) full of milk is placed on the dish-lamp. A relative holds the kincji and the subject drinks milk through the spout.
• The relative performs mūrta towards the subject, starting with three married women who are close relatives.
• The subject’s mother, if alive and not a widow, performs mūrta first, even if the other two women are seniors.
• The relative begins by sprinkling rice on the bell-metal lamps, saluting them, and then saluting the sun-god by throwing rice over their shoulders.
• The relative deposits rice on the joints of the subject’s knees, elbows, shoulders, and head, then presents the subject with a gold or silver coin.
• The subject salutes the relative by touching her feet with both hands and carrying them to his forehead three times.
• The relative blesses the subject, wishing them long life or happiness.