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The Todas |
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Acknowledgements I offer my thanks
to Dr. Jakka Partasarathy (Director TRC) for helping me choose a research field and for his useful suggestion. I offer my
special thanks to all informants who provided me with valuable data. Introduction The Nilgiri district
is one of the smallest districts in Tamil Nadu. Etymologically, the word 'Nilgiri' means The Nilgiri district
has little history as its inhospitable climate and thick forests never attracted invaders except the tribals. The first description
of the nilgiri plateau was mentioned in a Kannada inscription as early as 1117 AD. In the early 19th century the
British discovered the Nilgiri hills as a temperate haven. According to the tribal
survey report 1998 the scheduled tribe population in the Nilgiri district is as follows: Toda 1680 Kurumba 7995 Irula 7250 Paniya 7480 Kattunayakan 1565 The
aim of this research My interest in Anthropology
prompted me pursue research on the Toda tribe. I studied some aspects of folklore and I have described some of their legends
in these essays. The first article
is a general introduction to the Toda tribe. It also describes some of their marriage rites. The second article is a more
specific one on the deities in the Toda tradition. The third article examines the possible effects of Hinduism and Christianity
on the Toda religion. In course of my study I have identified several topics of further research. I hope this work serves
as a good introduction to the Todas and their practices. 1.The
Todas: An Introduction The Todas are found
only in the Nilgiri district. They follow pastoral life and live in 64 settlements called munds. The munds consist of a few
half-barrel shaped living quarters, a temple for worship, cattle pen huts and grasslands for their buffaloes. The residential
huts have a small living space and are provided with small doors supposedly to stop stray animals from entering them. Physically,
the Todas are tall in stature and well proportioned. They are fairly colored and thus a contrast from the general Tamil populace.
They can be easily recognized by their traditional dress which has an impressive work of embroidery and their distinctive
hairstyle. They are traditional lacto vegetarians, their main diet being milk and its products. The Toda community
is divided into 2 endogamous clans- the tharthazdi and the develioll. The Exogamous clans include the peiki, the pekkan, the
kuttan, the kenna and the todi. The word Toda is definitely a name they came to acquire. As they became known to the South
Indian populace living around the Nilgiris, they must have been called ‘Tudavar’ by the Kannada people. It means
‘those who live on top’. It must have seemed an apt description for the tribe who occupied only the highest summits
in the mountains of the Nilgiris. Alternatively, it may be that the name comes from the Tamil word Toruvan or toran which
means herdsman. For the Todas themselves they are just o.l, ‘the men’. Regarding their place
of origin, the Todas insist that God created them in the Nilgiris and that they were its oldest inhabitants. The study of
ancient history however reveals the presence of a race that was markedly different in its culture. This led to speculation
regarding their origin and migration. Scholars opined that the Todas migrated from the West, based on the fact that most settlements
of the Todas are concentrated on the western slopes of the Nilgiris. Linguistically, their language resembles Tamil but is
strikingly different in pronunciation of certain phonemes. The Toda tongue is assumed to have branched off from the pre-Tamil
about 2000 years back. Among the interesting
rituals, there are the marriage rites. The suitor has to prove his worth to the girl’s family by lifting a heavy stone
to his shoulders. The marriage ceremony itself is a celebrated event among all Todas. The members of the clan assemble at
a customary place, mostly a tree. A group of settlements of clans might regard a single tree as their place of marriage. The
particular tree has a hole which is made to accommodate the lamp, which is has a very important role in rituals. Child-marriage
is prevalent with the actual consummation being delayed until maturity. The lady has her husband’s name tattooed over
her left hand. When the girl is pregnant
we come across the ‘bow and arrow’ ceremony in which the girl is presented with the bow and the arrow. This particular
rite may suggest an aspiration for a brave boy. In spite of the commitment shown by the girl towards her husband, we find
that a marriage that does not produce children is dissolved and the girl remarries. In the records, we find instances of polyandry
and even adelphic polyandry. . 2.
Deities in Toda Religion Pithi was the first
deity. He was born near Anto in a cave resembling the Toda hut. The Anto is probably a place in the Nilgiris. The shape of
the cave might have given the inspiration for building residential places of that type. The legend may have been created after
the Todas first thought of building homes of that shape to show that the half-barrel shaped hut was the natural mode of living.
On was the son of
Pithi. He created the buffaloes and the Todas in that order. In the Toda tradition we find instances where buffaloes are credited
with almost human intelligence. Many of the Todas maintain that they worship the buffalo as a deity. On created 1600 buffaloes,
behind the last buffalo came man, the first Toda. On took one of the man’s ribs from the right side of his body and
made a woman, the first Toda woman. On is now the ruler of the dead souls, after he went there to visit his son Puv and stayed
back in his son’s company.. Pinarkurs was On’s
wife. She created some buffaloes too. On’s buffaloes were the special ones that the Todas possess, the Nilgiri buffalo.
Pinarkurs’ buffaloes were ordinary. This must be a system devised by the Todas to distinguish their breed of long-horned
buffaloes and exalt their status. The Toda traditions do account for the creation of other buffaloes, but do not account for
the creation of other humans. On created only the Todas. The other human beings are unaccounted for. Teikirzi was On's
sister. She became in charge of affairs after On left for the realm of the dead. By some accounts the magnificent breed of
long horned buffaloes were created by this great female deity. It is possible that On was the creator, but after he left,
Teikirzi was credited with creation in hymns of exaggerated praise. Teikirzi dwells everywhere. She defined the rules by which
the Toda is to live by. She divided the Todas into 14 clans and gave the various Toda settlements their sacred names. Teipakh was Teikirzi’s
brother and was the river god. Tell is another important deity. Tell lives much the
same kind of life as the mortal Toda, having his dairies and his buffaloes. Many of the Toda deities have been described in
a similar manner. They tend to their buffaloes, thus giving a religious hue to the task of catering to the buffalo. In addition clans
have individual deities. Presently most of these deities still inhabit the summits of the hills but are not seen by mortals.
This legend must have been created to account for unexplained phenomena. The summit of hills were regarded as the abode of
these deities as this explanation seems to make sense to people who, living at
a height, regarded themselves superior to the others. The deities living at a higher altitude also reflected the Todas’
proximity to the deities, implying superiority over other races in matters of divinity. 3.
Effects of other faiths on Toda religion The 1891 census listed
the Todas as Hindus. In 1901, the Todas were listed as animists with a few of them being listed as Hindus. The issue seems
contentious until the basic nature of the Hindu religion is considered. Hinduism is all-encompassing in its belief system.
The Supreme Court defines a Hindu as anyone who accepts the divinity and the superiority of the Vedas, but that definition
seems to be outdated as many Hindus do not regard the Vedas as divine. Nothing can be said with certainty about the exact
influence of Hinduism or any other religion on Toda culture, but we seek to throw some light on the possibilities of such
influences. In addition to the
buffalo and the local deities, the Todas also pay respects to the deities of other tribes. If a Toda is asked if he worships
one of these deities, he will almost certainly assent. This is characteristic of the Hindu tradition where a new entrant into
the stream of the divine is welcomed. It is probable that the Toda acquired this trait due to coexistence with various groups
like their own. Similarly, the caste
system is characteristic of Hinduism. The Todas divide themselves into 2 clans, one claiming superiority over the other, in
the name of God. One marked difference is that they do not claim sole authority of the words of God, like the Brahmin. They
were just created superior. The preference for the boy over the girl child may be an effect of sustained link with Hindu customs.
The system in the Todas is now rigid and boys of the lower class can enter the upper caste mund, while their female counterparts
cant. In case of an inter-caste marriage, the low-caste woman who gives birth to a boy is accepted into the upper class, while
she earns no such privileges on giving birth to a girl. The temple of the
Todas welcomes only men, it is for this reason that boys are kept in isolation for 8 months immediately after birth, so that
they are not exposed to the impurities. Many of the Toda ceremonies
involve an odd number of men. The purification chants are recited 7 times, while other chants are recited 3 times. The numbers
bear significant similarities to other mainstream Hindu rituals. The Toda temples were seen as relic temples by some scholars,
hence paving way for ancestor worship, which is again characteristic of the Hindu faith. The Todas also claim to worship the
‘Panja Pandavar’, a reference to the Pandavas of Mahabharat fame. Additionally, the Toda deities, like their Hindu
counterparts have human characteristics. On, the creator of beings had a son, he grieved when his son died; He desired to
live with him, signifying attachment which is not a feature associated with divinity. On examining the Toda
dairy prayer, we find some similarities in pattern to the mode of worship exercised in Christianity and Islam. Whether this
shows a degree of influence or is indicative of a common source of revelation is a matter open to debate. The holy prayer
is uttered in the throat and is said twice a day. The prayer like many Christian hymns and Muslim prayers has two parts, the
first signifying the attributes of God, and the second asking for favors or specific needs. The Toda prayer May be blessed, May
be merciful May there be no disease May there be no destroyer May there be no poisonous
animals May there be no wild
beasts May be kept from steep
hills May be kept from floods May there be no fire May rain fall May clouds rise May grass flourish May water spring For the sake of them
may it be well to us The Todas worship
with one hand in a semi-namaste position. They hold the lamp or the sacred buffalo horn in the other. They bare the right
shoulder, which again reminds one of the Muslim ritual of pilgrimage in which they bare their right shoulder, though the improbability
of such an influence remains is unquestionable due to the immense geographical distance between the Muslim place of pilgrimage
and the Toda regions. Another important
similarity is the prevalence of the belief that man was created first and the woman was created from him. We find this in
the legend of On, who took one of the man’s ribs from the right side of his body and made a woman. This concept is mentioned
in the Bible and in the Quran. Though the possibility of Muslim influence is meager, the Christian influence theory cannot
be over ruled taking into account the extent of their missionary activities. 1.
The Todas W H R Rivers 2.
The Todas of 3.
Essays in folkloristics Alan Dundes 4.
Communication, language and development Dr Chidambaranatha Pillai 5.
Ootacamund-A History Frederick Price
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