Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/57

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
41
CHENCHU

The bashingham *[1] was made of the leaf of a wild tree,

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

Wild turmeric was used for the kankanam †[2],

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

Wearing a garment made of the leaves of the paru tree,

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

Wearing a bodice made of the leaves of the pannu tree,

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

Roaming over inaccessible hills,

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

Wandering through dense forests,

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

Committing acts that ought not to be done,

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

Obalesa's marriage was celebrated,

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

A four-cornered dais was made.

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

On the dais arrows were stuck,

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

Bamboo rice was used to throw on the heads of the pair,

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

Cocoanut cups were stuck on the points of the arrow,

Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.

The marriage was thus celebrated.

At a dance in my honour, men and women executed a series of step dances in time with a drum (thappata) resembling a big tambourine, which, at the conclusion of each dance, was passed to and fro through a blazing fire of cholum straw to bring it up to the proper pitch. An elderly hag went through a variety of gesticulations like those of a Dēva-dāsi (dancing-girl). A man dressed up in straw and fragments of mats picked up near my camp, and another disguised as a woman, with bells round his ankles, supplied the comic business.

  1. * Marriage chaplet worn on the forehead,
  2. † Wrist-threads dyed with turmeric.