Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/150

KURUBA and live by their milk. He taught him how to milk the sheep and boil the milk, and sent him to a distant town, which was occupied by Rākshasas, to fetch fire. There the giants were keeping in bondage a Brāhman girl, who fell in love with Undala Padmanna. They managed to escape from the clutches of the Rākshasas by arranging their beds over deep pits, which were dug for their destruction. To save her lover, the girl transformed him into a lizard. She then went with him to the place where his flock was, and Undala Padmanna married a girl of his own caste, and had male offspring by her as well as the Brāhman. At the marriage of these sons, a thread kankanam (bracelet) was tied to the wrist of the caste woman's offspring, and a woollen kankanam to that of the Brāhman girl's sons. The sons of the former were, therefore, called Atti (cotton) Kankanadavaru, and those of the latter Unni (woollen) Kankanadavaru. The latter are considered inferior, as they are of hybrid origin. A third sub-division is that of the Andē Kurubas, named after the small vessel (andē) used in milking goats. In a note on the Kurubas of Ālūr, Thikka, meaning a simpleton, is given as the name of an important division. It is noted in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that the Kurubas have not taken kindly to education, and are by nature so simple that Kuruba has, in some places, become a byword for a simpleton. The Kurubas are also known as Hālu Mata, or milk caste, as they believe that they were created out of milk by Rēvana Siddēswara. In Hindustani they are called Dhangars, or rich people. Some, in spite of their poor dress and appearance, are well-to-do. At the Madras census, 1901, Kāvādiga, Kumpani, and Rāyarvamsam (Rāja's clan) were returned by some members of the community. In Mysore, the Kurubas are