sacred verses. On the
eleventh day after a death, when presents for the use of the deceased
are made to a priest as his representative, the priest lies down in
the new bed which is given to him, and the members of the family rub
his feet and attend on him as if he were the dead man. He is also
given a present sufficient to purchase food for him for a year. The
Sundis worship Suradevi or the goddess of wine, whom they consider
as their mother, and they refuse to drink liquor, saying that this
would be to enjoy their own mother. They worship the still and all
articles used in distillation at the rice-harvest and when the new
mango crop appears. Large numbers of them have taken to cultivation.

Tamera

1. The Tamera and Kasar

_Tamera, Tambatkar_. [663]--The professional caste of coppersmiths,
the name being derived from _tamba_, copper. The Tameras, however,
like the Kasars or brass-workers, use copper, brass and bell-metal
indifferently, and in the northern Districts the castes are not
really distinguished, Tamera and Kasar being almost interchangeable
terms. In the Maratha country, however, and other localities they
are considered as distinct castes. Copper is a sacred metal, and the
copper-smith's calling would be considered somewhat more respectable
than that of the worker in brass or bell-metal, just as the Sunar
or goldsmith ranks above both; and probably, therefore, the Tameras
may consider themselves a little better than the Kasars. As brass
is an alloy made from copper and zinc, it seems likely that vessels
were made from copper before they were made from brass. But copper
being a comparatively rare and expensive metal, utensils made from
it could scarcely have ever been generally used, and it is therefore
not necessary to suppose that either the Tamera or Kasar caste came
into being before the adoption of brass as a convenient material for
the household pots and pans.

2. Social traditions and customs

In 1911 the Tameras numbered about 5000 persons in the Central
Provinces and Berar. They tell the same story of their origin which has
already been related in the article on the Kasar caste, and trace their
descent from the Haihaya Rajput dynasty of Ratanpur. They say that
when the king Dharampal, the first ancestor of the caste, was married,
a bevy of 119 girls were sent with his bride in accordance with the
practice still occasionally obtaining among royal Hindu families,
and these, as u