Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/185

Rh The foregoing account of the investiture with the lingam apparently applies to the Mēkanād Udayas. The following note is based on information supplied by the Udayas of Paranginād. The ceremony of investiture is performed either on new year's day or Sivarāthri by an Udaya priest in the house of a respected member of the community (doddamane), which is vacated for the occasion. The houses of the boys and girls who are to receive lingams are cleaned, and festoons of tūd and mango leaves, lime fruits, and flowers of Leucas aspera(thumbē) are tied across the doorways, and in front of the house where the ceremony is to be performed. Until the conclusion thereof, all the people of the village fast. The candidates, with their parents, and the officiating priest repair to the doddamane. The lingams are handed over to the priest, who, taking them up one by one, does pūja to them, and gives them to the children. They in turn do pūja, and the lingams, wrapped in pink silk or cotton cloths, are tied round their necks. The pūja consists of washing the lingams in cow's urine and milk, smearing them with sandal and turmeric paste, throwing flowers on them, and waving incense and burning camphor before them. After the investiture, the novices are taught a prayer, which is not a stereotyped formula, but varies with the priest and village.

Like other Lingayats, the Udayas respect the Jangam, but do not employ the Jangama thirtham (water used for washing the Jangam's feet) for bathing their lingams. In Udaya villages there is no special menstrual hut (holagudi). Milk is not regarded by them as a sacred product, so there is no hāgōttu in their houses. Nor do they observe the Manavalai festival in honour of ancestors. Other ceremonies are celebrated by them, as