Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Nūvvala

by Edgar Thurston

Nūvvala (gingelly : Sesamum indicum). — An exogamous sept of Kamma and Mēdara. Gingelly seeds, from which an oil is extracted, "form an essential article of certain religious ceremonies of the Hindus, and have therefore received the names of hōma-dhānya or the sacrificial grain, and pitri-tarpana or the grain that is offered as an oblation to deceased ancestors." (U. C. Dutt) During the death ceremonies of some Brāhmans, libations of water mixed with gingelly seeds, called tīlothakam, and a ball of rice, are offered daily to two stones representing the spirit of the deceased.