Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/78

MOGER called Pattanavan, because they live in pattanams or maritime villages. Like other Tulu castes, the Mogērs worship bhūthas (devils). The principal bhūtha of the fishing community is Bobbariya, in whose honour the kōla festival is held periodically. Every settlement, or group of settlements, has a Bobbariya bhūthasthana (devil shrine). The Matti Brāhmans, who, according to local tradition, are Mogērs raised to the rank of Brāhmans by one Vathirāja Swāmi, a Sanyāsi, also have a Bobbariya bhūthasthana in the village of Matti. The Mogērs who have ceased to be fishermen, and dwell in land, worship the bhūthas Panjurli and Baikadthi. There is a caste priest, called Mangala pūjāri, whose head-quarters are at Bannekuduru near Barkūr. Every family has to pay eight annas annually to the priest, to enable him to maintain the temple dedicated to Ammanoru or Mastiamma at Bannekuduru. According to some, Mastiamma is Māri, the goddess of small-pox, while others say that she is the same as Mohini, a female devil, who possesses men, and kills them. For every settlement, there must be at least two Gurikāras (headmen), and, in some settlements, there are as many as four. All the Gurikāras wear, as an emblem of their office, a gold bracelet on the left wrist. Some wear, in addition, a bracelet presented by the members of the caste for some signal service. The office of headman is hereditary, and follows the aliya santāna law of succession (in the female line).

The ordinary Tulu barber (Kelasi) does not shave the Mogērs, who have their own caste barber, called Mēlantavam, who is entitled to receive a definite share of a catch of fish. The Konkani barbers (Mholla) do not object to shave Mogērs, and, in some places