Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/141

Rh is the rule in the caste. Divorces are permitted. Widows may marry again, but have to spend two nights alone at two different temples. Their wedding ceremonies are carried out by widows only, and the woman is not afterwards allowed to take part in religious or family observances." A synonym of both Kurnis and Dēvāngas is Jāda or Jāndra, meaning great men. A further synonym of the Kurnis is said to be Kunigiri. The term Nēse, meaning weaver, is applied to several of the weaving castes, including the Kurnis. The following extract is taken from an appeal for subscriptions in aid of the publication of the Bhavish yottara Purāna by the Kurnis in a village in the Bellary district. " Greetings from all the Kuruhine Setti Virasaivas residing in Hirihala village of Bellary tāluk. The wish of the writers is that all, old and young, should rejoice in the sixty-six gōtras, sixty-six rūdras, and sixty-six rishis. He who reads the order of these sixty-six gōtras of the Kuruhina Settis will enter Sivaloka. His twenty-one generations will attain to the position of ganas (attendants) of Sivaloka. Such was the order of Iswara. This is the end of the chapter in the Nīlakantha Mallikarjūna Bhavishyat purāna acquired by Shanmukha from the Iswara shruti of the Haravātula." The gōtras are described as being of the Brāhman, Kshatriya, and Vaisya sub-divisions of the caste, and of Shanmukha's Sūdra caste: — Rh