FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172  
173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   192   193   194   195   196   197   >>   >|  
it seems a legitimate deduction that rosaries or strings of beads of a sacred wood were substituted for flower-garlands as ornaments for the gods in view of their more permanent nature. Having been thus sanctified they may have come to be worn as a mark of holiness by saints or priests in imitation of the divine images, this being a common or universal fashion of Hindu ascetics. Subsequently they were found to serve as a useful means of counting the continuous repetition of prayers, whence arose the phrase 'telling one's beads.' Like the Sanskrit _mala_, the English word rosary at first meant a garland of roses and subsequently a string of beads, probably made from rose-wood, on which prayers were counted. From this it may perhaps be concluded that the images of the deities were decorated with garlands of roses in Europe, and the development of the rosary was the same as the Indian _mala_. If the rose was a sacred flower we can more easily understand its importance as a badge in the Wars of the Roses. 5. Sub-castes The caste has numerous endogamous groups, varying in different localities. The Phulmalis, who derive their name from their occupation of growing and selling flowers (_phul_), usually rank as the highest. The Ghase Malis are the only subcaste which will grow and prepare turmeric in Wardha; but they will not sell milk or curds, an occupation to which the Phulmalis, though the highest subcaste, have no objection. In Chanda the Kosaria Malis, who take their name from Kosala, the classical designation of the Chhattisgarh country, are the sole growers of turmeric, while in Berar the Halde subcaste, named after the plant, occupy the same position. The Kosaria or Kosre subcaste abstain from liquor, and their women wear glass bangles only on one hand and silver ones on the other. The objection entertained to the cultivation of turmeric by Hindus generally is said to be based on the fact that when the roots are boiled numbers of small insects are necessarily destroyed; but the other Malis relate that one of the ancestors of the caste had a calf called Hardulia, and one day he said to his daughter, _Haldi paka_, or 'Cook turmeric.' But the daughter thought that he said 'cook Hardulia,' so she killed and roasted the calf, and in consequence of this her father was expelled from the caste, and his descendants are the Ghase or Halde subcaste. Ever since this happened the shape of a calf may be seen in the flower
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172  
173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   192   193   194   195   196   197   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
subcaste
 

turmeric

 

flower

 

Hardulia

 

sacred

 
images
 
garlands
 

objection

 
rosary
 

prayers


Kosaria

 

daughter

 
highest
 

occupation

 
Phulmalis
 

country

 
growers
 
occupy
 

Wardha

 

prepare


position

 

Kosala

 

classical

 

designation

 

Chanda

 

happened

 

Chhattisgarh

 

silver

 

called

 

necessarily


destroyed

 
relate
 

ancestors

 

thought

 

descendants

 
father
 

expelled

 
consequence
 

roasted

 
killed

insects
 

bangles

 
abstain
 
liquor
 

entertained

 

cultivation

 
boiled
 

numbers

 
Hindus
 

generally