Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/169

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77
BADAGA

to the god of day, proceeds to the tu-el or yard, in which the cattle have been confined, and, again addressing the sun as the emblem of Siva, asks his blessing,and liberates the herd. He allows the cattle to stray about in the neighbourhood of the village, on a piece of ground which is always kept for this purpose, and, having performed his morning ablutions, commences the milking. This is also preceded by further salutations and praises to the sun. On entering the house in the evening, the Burgher addresses the lamp, now the only light, or visible emblem of the deity. ' Thou, creator of this and of all worlds, the greatest of the great, who art with us, as well in the mountain as in the wilderness,who keepeth the wreaths that adorn the head from fading, who guardeth the foot from the thorn, God,among a hundred, may we be prosperous.'"

The Badaga understands the rotation of crops well. On his land he cultivates bearded wheat (beer ganji), barley, onions, garlic, potatoes, kirē (Amarantus), sāmai (Panicum miliare), tenai (Setaria italica), etc.

"Among the Badagas," Mr. Natesa Sastri writes, "the position of the women is somewhat different from what it is among most peoples. Every Badaga has a few acres to cultivate, but he does not mainly occupy himself with them, for his wife does all the out-door farm work, while he is engaged otherwise in earning something in hard cash. To a Badaga, therefore, his wife is his capital. Her labour in the field is considered to be worth one rupee per day, while an average male Badaga earns merely three annas. A Badaga woman, who has not her own acres to cultivate, finds work on some other lands. She thus works hard for her husband and family, and is quite content with the coarsest food — the korali (Setaria italica) flour—leaving the