Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Dakkala
Dakkala. — Dakkala or Dakkali is the name of a class of mendicants who beg from Mādigas only. In the Kurnool district they are said to have divided the district with the Mushtis, and not to beg except within their own limits.
The following story is told as regards the origin of the Dakkalas. A smith was asked to make a bottu (marriage badge) for Siva's wedding, and for this purpose required bellows, firepot, hammer, etc. Jāmbuvadu called his eldest son, and prepared the various implements from sundry parts of the body, except the backbone. Being highly pleased at this, the gods endowed the backbone with life, and the son went to his father Jāmbuvadu, who failed to recognise him, and refused to admit him. He was told that he must live as a beggar attached to the Mādigas, and was called Dakkala because he was brought to life from a vertebral column (dakka).
The Dakkalas wander from place to place. They may not enter Mādiga houses, outside which meals are given to them by males only, as females are not allowed to serve them. Mādiga women may not tread on the footsteps of the Dakkalas.