The Oddēs are in some places Vaishnavites, in others Saivites, but they also worship minor deities, such as Ellamma, Ankamma, etc., to whom goats and sheep are sacrificed, not with a sword or knife, but by piercing them with a spear or crowbar. Writing at the commencement of the nineteenth century, Buchanan states *[1] that "although the Woddaru pray to Vishnu, and offer sacrifices to Marima, Gungama, Durgama, Putalima, and Mutialima, yet the proper object of worship belonging to the caste is a goddess called Yellama, one of the destroying spirits. The image is carried constantly with their baggage; and in her honour there is an annual feast, which lasts three days. On this occasion they build a shed, under which they place the image, and one of the tribe officiates as priest or pujāri. For these three days offerings of brandy, palm wine, rice, and flowers are made to the idol, and bloody sacrifices are performed before the shed. The Woddas abstain from eating the bodies of the animals sacrificed to their own deity, but eat those which they sacrifice to the other Saktis."
The dead are generally buried. By some Oddēs the corpse is carried to the burial-ground wrapped up in a new cloth, and carried in a dhubati (thick coarse cloth) by four men. On the way to the grave, the corpse is laid on the ground, and rice thrown over its eyes. It is then washed, and the nāmam (Vaishnavite sect mark) painted, or vibūthi (sacred ashes) smeared on the forehead of a man, and kunkumam (coloured powder) on that of a female. Earth is thrown by those assembled into the grave before it is filled in. On the karmāndhiram day, or last day of the death ceremonies, the
- ↑ * Journey through Mysore, Canara, and Malabar.
