Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Khodūra
Khodūra.— The name is derived from khodu, bangle. The Khodūras, Mr. Francis writes,*[1] are " manufacturers of the brass and bell-metal bangles and rings ordinarily worn by the lower class Odiyas. Their headman is called Nahako Sāhu, and under him there are deputies called Dhoyi Nahako and Bēhara. There is a fourth functionary styled Aghopotina, whose peculiar duty is said to be to join in the first meal taken by those who have been excommunicated, and subsequently readmitted into the caste by the caste panchāyat (council). A quaint custom exists, by which honorific titles like Sēnāpati, Mahāpātro, Subuddhi, etc., are sold by the panchāyat to any man of the caste who covets them, and the proceeds sent to Pūri and Pratābpur for the benefit of the temples there. It is said that the original home of the caste was Orissa, and that it came to Ganjam with Purushōttam Dēva, the Māharāja of Pūri. In its general customs it resembles the Badhōyis." I am informed that the name of the fourth functionary should be Aghopotiria, or first leaf man, i.e., the man who is served first at a public dinner.
- ↑ • Madras Census Report, 1901.