Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/343

Rh grossly indecent reflections against the Mālas, was also performed, under the excitement of strong drinks, in the presence of the goddess, on the occasion of marriages. One verse ran as follows: "I shall cut with my saw the Mālas of the four houses at Nandyāl, and, having caused them to be cut up, shall remove their skins, and fix them to drums." "The right hand party," it is stated,* "resent the use by the left of palanquins at their marriages, and so the Mālas are very jealous of the Chucklers (Mādigas) carrying the bride and bridegroom through the streets, using tinkling ornaments, etc. Riots sometimes occur when a strong feeling of opposition is raised, to resent what they consider innovations." "The Mādigas," Mr. N. G. Chetty writes, † " belong to the left-hand caste, and often quarrel with the Mālas (right-hand). In 1871 a Mādiga, having contrived to obtain a red cloth as a reward from the Police Superintendent, wore it on his head, and went in procession on horseback by the main bazaar street. This resulted in a disturbance, in which a European Inspector was severely hurt by a Māla, who had mistaken him for the Superintendent. The two factions fixed, by mutual understanding, the streets by which each was to proceed, and no quarrels have since occurred." During the celebration of village festivals, an unmarried Mādiga woman, called for the occasion Mātangi (a favourite deity), abuses and spits upon the people assembled, and they do not take this as an insult, because they think that her spittle removes the pollution. The woman is, indeed, regarded as the incarnation of the goddess herself. Similarly, the Mālas use very obscene language,