Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/360

HALEPAIK Vaishnava Brāhman settled in the village of Sankarappakōdlu near Wondse in that tāluk. Though Venkataramana is regarded as their chief deity, they worship Baiderkulu, Panjurli, and other bhūthas (devils). The Pūjaris (priests) avoid eating new grain, new areca nuts, new sugarcane, cucumbers and pumpkins, until a feast, called kaidha pūja, has been held. This is usually celebrated in November- December, and consists in offering food, etc., to Baiderkulu. Somebody gets possessed by the bhūtha, and pierces his abdomen with an arrow.

In their caste organisation, marriage and death ceremonies, the Halēpaiks closely follow the Billavas. They do not, however, construct a car for the final death ceremonies. As they are Vaishnavites, after purification from death pollution by their own caste barber, a Vaishnavite mendicant, called Dāssaya, is called in, and purifies them by sprinkling holy water and putting the nāmam on their foreheads.

There are said to be some differences between the Halēpaiks and Billavas in the method of carrying out the process of drawing toddy. For example, the Halēpaiks generally grasp the knife with the fingers directed upwards and the thumb to the right, while the Billavas hold the knife with the fingers directed downwards and the thumb to the left. For crushing the flower-buds within the spathe of the palm, Billavas generally use a stone, and the Halēpaiks a bone. There is a belief that, if the spathe is beaten with the bone of a buffalo which has been killed by a tiger, the yield of toddy will, if the bone has not touched the ground, be greater than if an ordinary bone is used. The Billavas generally carry a long gourd, and the Halēpaiks a pot, for collecting the toddy in.