Gudi (temple). — A sub-division of Okkiliyan, an exogamous sept of Jōgi, and a name for temple Dāsaris,to distinguish them from the Donga or thieving Dāsaris.
Gudigāra. — In the South Canara Manual, the Gudigāras are summed up as follows."They are a Canarese caste of wood-carvers and painters. They are Hindus of the Saivite sect, and wear the sacred thread. Shivalli Brāhmans officiate as their priests. Some follow the aliya santāna mode of inheritance (in the female line), others the ordinary law. They must marry within the caste, but not within the same gōtra or family. Infant marriage is not compulsory, and they have the dhāre form of marriage. Among those who follow the aliya santāna law, both widows and divorced women may marry again, but this is not permitted among the other sections. The dead are either cremated or buried, the former being the preferential mode. The use of alcoholic liquor, and fish and flesh is permitted. Their ordinary title is Setti."
"The Gudigars, or sandal-wood carvers," Mr. D'Cruz writes,*[1] "are reported to have come originally from Goa, their migration to Mysore and Canara having been occasioned by the attempts of the early Portuguese invaders to convert them to Christianity. The fact that their original language is Konkani corroborates their reputed Konkanese origin. They say that the derivation of the word Gudigāra is from gudi, a temple, and that they were so called because they were, in their own country, employed as carvers and painters in the ornamentation of temples. Another derivation is from the Sanskrit kuttaka (a carver). They assert that their fellow castemen are still employed in turning, painting, and other decorative arts at Goa. Like the Chitrakāras
- ↑ * Thurston. Monograph on Wood-carving in Southern India. 1903.
