The Hindu at Home. Being sketches of Hindu daily life

Chapter I

The Hindu Home. The Hindu's life regulated by rules prescribed by Pages. his religion — Absence of comfort in Hindu Homes — The Vastu Shastram or science of domestic architecture—The Vastu Shastri — Instances of his skill —The site for a dwelling — A deserted village — The position of the house as regards neighbouring dwellings — What timber should be used — The time of year to begin building — The aspect — Foundation laying ceremony — The Purohita — Ceremonies observed at various stages of the erection — Those at the digging of the well ... ... ... ... 1 — 15

Chapter II

The Hindu Home. — [Continued.) The architectural plan of a Hindu house — The massive door-way — The various rooms of the house —The kitchen — The arrangement of rooms must be according to the shastram — Bible imagery ex emplified — The absence of furniture— Sleeping accommodation — Newly married couples do not set up a separate home — Hindu gardens — House warming ceremonies — A declaration and a prayer — Ceremonial defilement of houses — Particularly by death— Purificatory rites — A declaration and a prayer — Minor purifications 16—33

Chapter III

The Hindu Daily Round. The motive for religious observances — Contrasted with Christian motives — Divisions of a Brahmin's life— Early morning observances — Prayers from the puranas — Teeth cleansing — The bath — Prayer to the rivers — Sandyavandanam — Achamanam — Sankalpam — Sun worship— Pitrutarpanam — The Gayatri — Midday Sundyavandanam — Devatar chana—The kitchen its uses and contents — House- VI contents. hold images— Their worship— Nivedanam— Linga- Pages. its— Taking meals— Precautions against interrup tious—Order of sitting — Grace before meat — Drinking water must be ceremonially pure — Evening Sandyavandanam — Prayer to Varuna — If on a journey— If too ill to bathe— Prayer on re tiring for the night — Women have no share in ceremonies — Each house has its private chapel — No public religious teaching — Hopefulnessproduced by the Hindus intensely religious nature ... 34—52

Chapter IV

The Hindu Woman's Religion. Woman's low position in Hinduism — Quotations from Manu on this subject — Definition of a wife in Mahabharata — Sita and Rama in Ramayana — Difficulty of arriving at a clear ideaof woman's religious position — Woman has no religious status apart from her husband — Illustrated by quotations from Hindu writings — Woman's ordinary daily round — Rise before day break — Melukolupu or morning song — Gopika Glta — The tilakam — Cooking — Woman's worship before tbe midday meal — The woman's images not consecrated — Lingam Worship — Lamp Worship — Mother ins tructing her children — Woman can only worship with the consent of her husband — Good deeds of a wife may benefit her husband, but his good deeds confer no spiritual benefit upon her — This illustrated from the code of Parasara — Hindu woman as a widow — Sati — A widow's duties as laid down by Manu— The religion of low caste women — Little more than demonolatry or fetichism — At epidemics — At festivals — Women go pilgrimages — Move ment towards bettering the status of women — The Bible view of woman's status 53-70

Chapter V

The Hindu Sacred Thread. The Yajnopavitam a mark of being a dvija— Quotation from Manu as to who may wear the thread — Others besides the three higher castes wear it — The goldsmith caste and its privileges — Low caste men are not free to dress, or travel about CONTENTS. VII as they may choose — An Orissa Rajah assumed Pages. authority to invest with the thread — The Bengal Vaidyas wear the thread — The material of which the thread should be made — The Kshatriyas an extinct caste — The number of threads and skeins in the Yajnopavitam- — The Brahman's knot — The investiture, when it should be — Ceremonies con nected with the Upanayanam — Sacredness of deer skin — The father teaches the novice the Gayatri — When a new thread must be put on — Defilement necessitating a new thread— Ceremonies connected with replacing a defiled thread — Disposal of dis carded thread — Various ways of wearing the thread — Importance of the thread ... ... ... 71 — 81

Chapter VI

The Hindu Sacred Marks. Anglo-Indian lack of information on Hindu customs — The Pundrams not mentioned in the Vedas — ■ Sacred marks not now distinctive of caste — Hindus divided into worshippers of Vishnu or Siva — Brahma not worshipped — The three schools of philosophy — Urdva Pundrams and Tiryak pundrams — On what parts of the body daubed — Vaishnava marks — The materials with which made — Their colour and shape — Ramanujacharya — Hostility of Ramanujas to Saivas — Vadagalais and Tengalais — Distinguished by shape of forehead mark — Mode of putting on pundrams and the mantrams which should be repeated — Madhva charya and the Madhvas — Their peculiar marks — The Siva marks, how put on and with what materials — Smarthas and Lingatharis — Jangams — The dress ing case — Absolute necessity of putting on marks — Coloured marks changed to white as a sign of mourning — Women's marks — The seal in the forehead mentioned in the Revelation 82—93

Chapter VII

The Hindu Tonsure. Peculiar modes of wearing the hair — Hindus themselves often unable to give a reason for their customs— Cutting off hair symbolical of casting ofE sin — The Sikha, Cudimi, Zuttu— The Roman Catholic tonsure — A Brahmin not a Brahmin withcontents. out his Sikha— Only one notice in the Vedas— A Pages. father should not shave during the six months preceding the child's birth— First hair cutting — In fulfilment of a vow the first hair cutting may be at a place of pilgrimage — If the pilgrimage cannot be made, a portion of the hair if preserved to be taken to the shrine when opportunity offers — Venkateshvara at Tirupati in North Arcot — Also at Dvaraka Tirumala in the Godavery District — The real tonsure is at Upanayanam — A description of the ceremony — The whole ritual elaborated from an obscure mantram — A further ceremony at a temple — Kakapaksham or hair beauty patches — Hindus do not wear beards — Yogis suffer all their hair to grow — The Sanyasi gets rid of all his hair — Hindus generally wear the moustache — Exceptions to this rule; the Dasaris, Ramanujas, Vaidikis, A charyas. — A clean shaven face as a sign of mourning — The Pushkaram festival ; Widows have the head clean shaven — Pilgrims are shaved after a bath in a sacred river — A woman sometimes allows a portion of her hair to be cut off to bring blessings upon her hus band — Vows at times of sickness — No one should shave himself — The village barber — Days and sea sons when shaving should not be done — Whether Christians may wear the sikha. ... ... ... 94 — 108

Chapter VIII

Hindu Marriages. This not an account of the institution, but a des cription of the ceremonies. — No " old bachelors," or " old maids" — More freedom of choice in Vedic times —European choice of a wife contrasted — Marriage amongst Brahmins and Vaisyas cannot precede Upanayanam — In certain sects, the choice is very limited — Manu on the kind of wife to be chosen — Polyandry and Polygamy— Polygamy legislated for by Manu — In these days a man cannot marry even a second wife other than of his own caste — Under what conditions a second wife is usually taken— Unusual for a Hindu to have more than one wife — The custom of Menarikam — Younger brother or sister cannot marry until the elder ones are married ; Mere infants are sometimes married — The horoscope—Money sometimes given to the father of a young girl to persuade him to give his daughter in marriage, especially if tbe would-be bridegroom is an old man— Such gratuities are unlawful — Inscontents.

IX tances of such cases— This unlawful custom chiefly Pages. amongst Brahmins— The Kistna District Association on the sale of girls, and excessive expenditure at marriages— A Pariah girl passed oS as a Brahmin girl — The Prathanam — This not necessarily a binding ceremony ... ... ... ... 109—120

Chapter IX

Hindu Marriages.— [Continued). Fondness of Hindus for marriage festivities — Time chosen for actual marriage — Preliminary preparations — The bridegroom and his party arrive at the bride's home — If a Brahmin, the bride's father ceremoniously plants nine kinds of grain in five vessels — The formal welcome — The actual hour for marriage fixed — The Mangalasnanam — The Punyahavaohanam ceremony — The Bride's parents invest the bridegroom with the complement of his Yajnopavtam — A curtain is fixed up concealing the bride — Mathuparkam — Kanyadanam — The couple are tied together by means of the Brahma knot — Presents given to the bride—The bride's father washes the bridegroom's feet — He then pours water over the clasped hands of the couple, repeating mantrams — The curtain is removed and the young couple see each other — The ox yoke ceremony. — The Mangalasutram — This is fastened round the neck of the bride by the bridegroom — This custom retained in the marriages of native Christians — The Mangalashtakam — Throwing coloured rice — The Bhashikam — Mutual placing of rice, steeped in milk, upon each others heads by the couple — Did the modern English custom of throwing rice at weddings origi nate from these customs — A homam sacrifice by the bridegroom — The Saptapadi — This the most important ceremony, and really the binding one — Marriage song by those present.

The lamp hymn to Rama — The Sthalipakam ceremony. Arundhati— The couple take food together — The marriage feast— The second day ; the couple go in procession, both morning and evening — Husband and wife never mention each other's name — Singing songs ; A Kistna Lullaby — The third day ; the couple again go in procession — Fun and froiic — The fourth day ; passed much the same as the previous day — The bridegroom pretends sulks — Tricks played at the house whilst the procession goes on — The fifth day ; Shesha humam— In the evening the Nakabali ceremony — Throwing upon rs. X contents. each other by the company of coloured powder and Pages. other fun and frolic— The Appaginta ceremony— The couple depart to the bridegroom's home — After three days the bride returns to her parents home until of suitable age to finally join her husband- Marriages sometimes performed at places of pilgri mage — The exorbitant expenditure at marriages a fruitful source of debt and misery 121 — 140

Chapter X

Unorthodox Hindu Marriages. Numbers of nominal Hindus who are really not followers of the Brahminical religion — This fact appears in their marriage ceremonies. — The Malas a3 representing a medium between the orthodox and those who are entirely outside Hinduism — A Mala betrothal — The marriage takes place at the young man's home — The ceremony is performed by night — If by day, a young bull must be set free as a kind of forfeit — The Dasari, or Mala priest — The Ariveni pots — The Panta bangaram — The pandal and pendli arugu — The basikam — The nails of the couple both of hands and feet'pared— Coloured rice applied to the forehead — The Brahma knot — The temporary screen — A silver ring is placed on tho second toe of each foot of the bride by one of the musicians — The cloth is held horizontally as a screen and coloured rice poured into the hands of the couple by the priest — Green-leaf bracelets tied on — The Mangalasutram is produced — Tied on to the neck of the bride whilst the Dasari repeats a blessing — The Dasari' s blessing — This the binding ceremony — The couple pour rice over each other's head- Presents are given — The fathers of the both parties walk round the pendli arugu each carrying an ariveni pot— Arundhati — The couple join hands by holding each other by the little finger — Song, unbolt the closed door — The Ariveni song — By day light, now when they go in procession through the village — This followed by a feast — The Degata game — The final ceremony and declaration — Marriage rites of Madigas.

Of the Yeruklas— The Karakat Vellalans — The Maravans.— The Kalians— The Tottiyans — The Poleiyans— The Todas— The Kotas— The Kurumbas — The Irulas — The Badagas ... 14] CONTENTS. XI

Chapter XI

Hindu Diet. In Vedic times more latitude allowed in diet— Pages. The dietary of Manu much allied to that of Moses — The wisdom of some of the restrictions — Instance of rigidity of brahmanical rules of diet — A Vegetable diet suited to India— Hare considered " varmint" by some English peasants — Economic wisdom of abstaining from beef — The Hindu dietary not to be despised for quality or variety — Details of dietary — Sudras though not vegetarians do not uniformly eat flesh — Reasons for this — True Hindus are water drinkers— It is only low-castes and outcastes who drink intoxicants — A hint to temperance orators — Hindus generally have not more than two meals a day — An early morning light meal is taken by low-castes and outcastes — Universal hospitality to travellers — This enjoined by Manu — Choultries — The broad division of things cooked in water and those cooked dry, or in ghee — Dietary of the out castes — Carrion eaten by the Panchamas — These welcome such food through poverty — Carrion for bidden to Christians by the Missionaries — Reasons for Europeans and Christian converts not having the same privileges as Muhammadans — The teaching of Christ and the New Testament as regards defilement ... ... ... ... ... ... 155—169

Chapter XII

Hindu Festivals. Origin and uses of festivals — Number of Hindu festivals — In one sense festivals answer to the sab bath — Even natives do not often know the origin of particular festivals — The native almanac — Varieties of festivals — According to the Puranas there should be 400 festivals during the year ; — Different systems upon which almanacs are drawn up — Twelve festivals are chosen as representative — Saukrauti ; three days — Also called Pongul — The way of celebrating this festival — The first day called Bhogi — An oil bath— Origin of the word pongul — Maha Sivaratri ; one day — Not observed by strict Vaishnavas — Sivaratri pilgrimages and their observances— The Rudrapadam ; Nandi ! Hara! Hara ! — Method of worshipping the Lingam — Mara Sivaratri — Holi ; 15 days — The festival of the CONTENTS. god of best— Not much observed in the Circars ;— Pages.

Sriramajayanti ; one day— The Ramayanam read- Worship of Rama very popular— Bhadrachalam as a place of pilgrimage— The doings there—Naga saviti; one day — Chiefly celebrated by females worshipping the cobra— Method of such worship— A story illustrative of serpent worship — Krishna jayanti; two days — The Bhagavatam read — Popular amusements illustrative of the doings of Krishna — Vinayakachaturti ; one day — Ganesa worshipped in the form of little clay images — The method of such worship — The Samantakam — A story of Ganesa 170-185

Chapter XIII

Hindu Festivals. — [Continued). Dasara ; ten days — Observed by all Saklas or worshippers of the female principle — No image used at this festival but a Kalasam — Native School masters perambulate with their pupils — Quarrels between Hindus and Muhammadans at Bombay and Poona — Reason given for this animosity — Deepa vali; two days — In memory of Krishna's victory over Narakasura — Chief features are fireworks and light ing up lamps — Kartikapurnima; one day — Com memorative of Siva's victory over the three giants Tripurasura — The gods taken in procession and the reasons for such processions — The Jvalatoranam or flame wreath — Smartha females worship the moon, the method of such worship — Samvatsaradi ; one day — Not a religious festival, but the new year's day — Partaking of a particular dish — Mahalaya Amavasya ; one day — Prescribed ceremonies per formed for deceased ancestors— Sea bathing at certain new moons — Beneficial to bathe at all new moons — At other times it is not good to touch sea water — A description of a sea bathing festival — Local festivals — The Masulipatam Ambariutsavam — A description of this festival — The observance of these festivals merely outward mechanical ritual— A quotation from Isaiah ... ... ... ... 186—198 CONTENTS. XIII

Chapter XIV

Hindu Mendicity. True charity contrasted with Hindu mendicity — Pages. The good resulting from Hindu alms-giving, and the evils resulting from its abuse — Gifts to Brah mins held forth as the highest form of charity — This seen in the laws of Manu — The student stage of Brahmin life during which he must live by alms — A relic of this Vedic custom — A quotation from the Mahabharata on the duty of giving alms to stu dents — Hospitality to travellers a duty — This sup ported by various quotations — Professional mendicants — In modern times al) Brahmins do not live by alms, still the spirit of the old rule is not dead — The Panchangam Brahmin — A specimen of his daily duties — A daily custom of many household to set apart so much grain for mendicants — The Jangam mendicant — His appearance and habits — A song of despair. — A song of Meditation ... 199 — 212

Chapter XV

Hindu Mendicity, — [Continued). The Satanis — These are to the Vaishnavas, what the Jangams are to the Saivas — Chaitanya — Ori ginally this sect was composed of all castes, but now it is chiefly Sudras — The appearance and habits of the Satana — The saviour of the elephant — Song; a Meditation on Vishnu — Marlcha and Sabahu — How Rama obtained Sita — The demon Kakasara — Song ; Praise to Rama — The Dasari or Pariah priest ; His duties and habits — His songs ; Divine Meditation and a Hymn to Vishnu — The Dasari's blessing — The Dasari and the Panchangam Brahmin as astrologers, and their method of calculation — The Sanyasi as a mendicant. The chief gurus of the three great Hindu sects — The various strolling mendicants — Choultries, their founding and their uses — The Mahabharatam on choultries — The ordinary street beggar — Mendicity in England — Difficulty of legislating on mendicity in India — The large numbers who live upon charity and the evils connected therewith — Alms giving as spoken of in the New Testament ... ... ...213 — CONTENTS.

Chapter XVI

Hindu Funerals. Modes of disposing of the dead an interesting Pages. study — The morality of Brahmins as discussed in Manu — Jivanamaskaram ; Panchagavyam ; Prayas chittam — When death is near the dying person is placed on the ground — How and when death in a dwelling defiles it. — Lamenting the dead — The Kar makarta — Cremation or burial follows shortly after death — How the corpse is prepared for removal — The bier — The funeral procession — The untidy state in which cemeteries are kept — The funeral pyre and the Vetty man — Disposal of the corpse on the pyre and Pradakshina ceremony — The Karta applies the fire to the pyre — After the cremation the Karta is shaved — The Nitya karma ceremony — The Preta shila — Ceremonies on returning home — The San chanam ceremony — A few of the unconsumed por tions of the bones aresometimes sent to be cast into the Ganges — The Pretaharam — Final Nitya karma ceremony on tho tenth day ; the Shiladhivasam — The Sutrachchedam or widow degrading rite — Miseries of Indian widowhood — The Ekavanam ceremony on the eleventh day — A ceremony strongly suggestive of the Jewish scape-goat rite — Hindu ideas of mourning — What is entailed by ceremonial defilement — In this description the highest castes have been mostly kept in view ... ... ... 227—243

Chapter XVII

Hindu Funerals. — [Continued.) Burying the dead and Shraddhas— Reasons for burning and for burying— Under certain circum stances those who ordinarily burn their dead bury them— Up to the time of the funeral procession leaving the house the ceremonies are much the same in both cases— The body is buried in a sitting posture— The grave and its surroundings are puri fied by sprinkling with Vibuthi and water— The Jangams lower the body into the grave gradually, repeating a stanza of a certain poem at each move —Chennamallu and his song— Handfuls of earth are thrown into the grave by the Karta and friends at the repeating of a mantram — Rough earthen figures made on the newly filled up grave— For ten CONTENTS. XV days a daily visit is paid to the grave by the Karta Pages. and others when certain ceremonies are performed there — Peculiar custom of burning a bit of stick representing a deceased person — Pauper funerals — Godanam — Ancestral worship — Reasons given for Nityakarma rite — Sapindi k-.ranam or mixing, to gether of the lumps— The Bhoktas — The object of the Sapindi karanam — The object of the Shraddhas — No such rites for deceased Sanyasis — The Masika Shraddha — Manu on Shraddhas— A description of the ordinary Shraddha ceremony — It is for these ceremonies that a Hindu so earnestly desires a son — Shraddhas at certain holy places — Daily observances for deceased ancestors— The wasteful cost of these Shraddha rites and efforts to mitigate the evil— The Christian hope ... ... ... 244—261

Chapter XVIII

Unorthodox Hindu Funerals. Origin of the Pariah — Their funeral rites based on fear — The Malas — No death bed ceremonies beyond taking a dying person out of the house — Death often hastened — Cremation takes place at once — The Malas practically Pagans — Vaishnava rites — They perform sacrifices unorthodox funeral rites must be at a distance from caste funerals — A revolting ceremony on the bier — Position of the pile with head to the south — Subsequent purifications — The jackals — Coffins not used — Repulsive aspect, of a Hindu burying ground — Day funerals and night funerals — Food and provisions for the departed spirit — Throwing food to the birds'before partaking — Ceremonies of the fifteenth day — The night procession and three storied car — Declaration of widowhood— Removal of ornaments — Mala widows not shaved — Presents from relatives towards the expenses — Fear of demons and departed spirits — The Goundans— The Todas — The toda viaticum — The Green funeral and the Dry funeral — Badaga funerals more elaborate than their marriages ... ... ... ... ... 266—283 CONTENTS. XVI

Chapter XIX

Hindu Omens. Belief in omens pervades all classes — Influence of numbers — Influence of precious stones — Omens originally connected with flight of bird, — Setting out on a journey — Forty-three possible good auguries and thirty-four possible evil ones— Distance beyond which omens cease to have influence — A bad omen would cause a pious Hindu to turn back and start again — Influence of snakes — Serpent worship — The cobra in the house — Lizards — The cry of the lizard — The falling down of a lizard brings ill luck to the person on whom it falls — What to do in such a case The crow — Its character, an Ishmael among birds — Dogs — The pariah dog — Nearly always brings bad luck — Cats — Jackals — Sneezing — Breathing — The Blue Jay — The Brahminy Kite — the King Crow —Throbbing of the limbs— Yawning ... ... 284—303

Chapter XX

Hindu Ornaments. Passion for adornment — Universal — Locking upthe precious metals — All savings invested in jewellery — Even a day labourer— Forms a negotiable security Cause of domestic bickering — unmarried persons ought not to wear ornaments — Hebrew women and the decoration of the Temple — Ornaments generally made to order, not stocked — No sham jewellery — No change of fashions — Ornaments for the head twelve different kinds — For the nose — The ear — The neck, twenty -four— The arms and wrists — Glass bangles — The bangle man — Fitting them on the waist, legs, and feet — Anklets — Toe rings — Great inducement to crime — Especially jewellery worn by children — Superstitions regarding jewels — The Ruby — Dia mond — Pearl — Emerald — Sapphire — Cat's — eye — Topaz — Coral — Agate — Castes or classes of jewels. 304—322

Chapter XXI

Concluding Remarks. 323—330 Preface. The Rev. J. E. Padfield, who has been for the last twenty-seven years a Missionary in the Godavery and Kistna Districts of the Madras Presidency, has here brought together in book form a series of articles, the majority of which have been up to the present time, scattered among the monthly issues of The Madras Christian College Magazine. No class of European has a greater opportunity of making a close study of Native life than the Missionaries, the very nature of whose life-work, whether among the hill tribes or among the dwellers in the plains, necessitates a close communion with the Native population. Of these opportunities Mr. Padfield has taken advantage to the full, producing, as the residt of his observations, an epitome of the general life and ceremonial observances of the orthodox Hindu together with some accounts of the customs of the unorthodox.

For myself, engaged as I am almost single handed in an anthropological survey of the races, tribes and castes of Southern India, I welcome this addition to the literature bearing on what are commonly known as " manners and customs." By our cold-weather visitors I am repeatedly cross-questioned as to the significance of sect-marks, caste, and other complex matters relating to Hindu life, and for such the present book will prove an admirable traveller's companion. Not, however, to the transient visitor only, whose interest in Indian affairs c preface. XVIII is ephemeral, will it be of use, but also to the European resident, whose ignorance in connec tion with all matters relating to Native life is proverbial. "Probably," as Mr. Padfield remarks with great truth, " few of the Europeans domiciled in India could give any intelligent account of the reason why the Hindu shaves his head, leaving a top-knot most carefully preserved; why he paints those marks on his forehead, or smears his body with those grey, ash-coloured marks ; or again, for such social customs as perpetual widowhood, or the so great desire for a son, that one must be adopted, if nature denies the precious boon."

To the majority of Europeans the wearing of a thread is probably accepted as a sign that the wearer is a Brahman, and I confess that it is not very long since I discovered that the artisan classes of Madras (Kammalans), the weavers, the Haruva sect of the Badagas of the Nilgiris, and others, don the outward symbol of the second spiritual birth. In connection with the census, 1891, the greatest difficulty was, we are told by Mr. H. A. Stuart, the Census Commissioner, ex perienced in classifying the large number of entries found in the schedules, owing to the great dearth of published information regarding the castes of the Madras Presidency. "The district manuals," he says, " are particularly defective in this particular, and present a marked contrast to the Gazetteers of the sister Presi dency of Bombay.

An exception must, how ever, he made in favour of Mr. Nelson's Madura, Mr. Cox's North Arcot, and Mr. Grigg's Nilgiris. Of the rest, some contain notices of a preface. XIX few castes, and others give lists of varying degrees of accuracy ; but, in the majority, the subject of caste is treated in the most meagre manner, or is omitted altogether." Books there are dealing with the Native inhabitants of Southern India, such as Breeks' ' Primitive Tribes of the Nilgiris,' the Rev. S. Mateer's •* Native Life in Travancore,' ' the Tribes of the Nilgiris by the Missionary Metz,' Colonel Marshall's amusing ' Anthropologist among the Todas,' Colonel Ross King's ' Aboriginal Tribes of the Nilgiris,' and Mullaly's ' Criminal Classes of the Madras Presidency.' Of these six books no less than four relate to the tribes inhabiting the Nilgiris, of whom the Todas have always attracted most attention.

What opinion, I wonder, would the Todas have of European literature, did they know that a Toda mand has recently appeared as " an ancient type of dwellings discovered in the Himalayas" ? For the purpose of travellers in foreign lands a cheap, compact, and portable traveller's anthropometer is now manufactured by Aston and Mander, 25, Old Compton Street, London. Equipped with this apparatus, with a little book entitled ' Notes and Queries on Anthropology,' and with a photographic camera, the Missionary who has the confidence of the Native com munity could do much to advance the cause of anthropology in its relation to the inhabitants of Southern India. There are, in every district, races, tribes, and castes, concerning whose institutions, history, tradition, religion, etc., a wide field for enquiry lies open. Such an enquiry, if combined with a record of anthro pometric data, would be of invaluable assistance XX