Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/41

Rh :I. Lakkamma —
 * Tōta dēvaru (garden god).
 * Dodda dēvaru (big or chief god).
 * Dodda Narasayya.
 * Dodda Nanjappa.
 * II. Ellammā —
 * Narasayya.
 * Muddanna.
 * III. Sidde dēvaru.

The Tigalas have a headman, whose office is hereditary, and who is assisted by a caste servant called Mudrē. Council meetings are usually held at a fixed spot, called gōni mara kattē or mudrē gōni mara kattē, because those summoned by the Mudrē assemble beneath a gōni (Ficus mysorensis) tree, round which a stone platform is erected. The tree and platform being sacred, no one may go there on wearing shoes or sandals. The members of council sit on a woollen blanket spread before the tree. Like the Pallis or Vanniyans, the Tigalas call themselves Agni Vanni, and claim to be descended from the fire-born hero Agni Bannirāya. In connection with the Tigalas who have settled in the Bombay Presidency, it is noted that "they are a branch of the Mysore Tigalas, who are Tamil Palli emigrants from the Madras Presidency, and, like the Palli, claim a Kshatriya origin." The Tigalas possess a manuscript, said to be a copy of a sasana at Conjeeveram (Kānchi), from which the following extracts are taken. "This is a Kānchi sāsana published by Aswaththa Narayanswami, who was induced to do so by the god Varadaraja of Conjeeveram. This sāsana is written to acquaint the descendants of the Mahapurusha Agni Bannirāya with