Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Rājpuri
Rājpuri.— The Rājpuris, or Rājāpuris, are a Konkani-speaking caste of traders and cultivators in South Canara. Concerning them, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows.*[1] "The Rājāpuris, also called Bālōlikars, were originally traders, and perhaps have some claim to be considered Vaisyas. In social status they admit themselves to be inferior only to Brāhmans. They wear the sacred thread, profess the Saiva faith, and employ Karādi Brāhmans as priests in all their ceremonies. Their girls should be married before the age of puberty, and marriage of widows is not permitted. The marriage ceremony chiefly consists in the hands of the bride and bridegroom being united together, and held by the bride's father while her mother pours water over them. The water should first fall on the bride's hands, and then flow on to those of the bridegroom. This takes place at the bride's house. A curious feature in the ceremony is that for four days either the bride or bridegroom should occupy the marriage bed; it must never be allowed to become vacant. [This ceremony is called pajamadmai, or mat marriage.] On the fourth day, the couple go to the bridegroom's house, where a similar 'sitting' on the marriage bed takes place. They are mostly vegetarians, rice being their chief food, but some use fish, and rear fowls and goats for sale as food. Many are now cultivators." It may be noted that, among the Shivalli Brāhmans, the mat is taken to a tank in procession. The bride and bridegroom make a pretence of catching fish, and, with linked hands, touch their foreheads.
In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Rājāpuri Konkanasta is given as a synonym of the Rājāpuris, who are said to be one of the sixty-six classes of Konkanasta people, who inhabited the sixty-six villages of the Konkan. In the Census Report, 1901, Kudāldēshkara and Kūdlukāra are returned as sub-divisions of Rājāpuri. The Kūdlukāras are Konkani-speaking confectioners, who follow the Brāhmanical customs.
- ↑ * Manual of the South Canara district,