66-XJ
The Morafu are an original tribe of Karnata, who are admitted by all parties to be ■Sudra, and who, as being cultivators of the land, are called Woculigaru; whichby the MuiTulmans has been fhortened into Wocul. In the two Bala-pura dift.lclsthey are very numerous, and formed a part of the native foot militia, called in thislanguage Candafhara. They are cultivators of the ground, both as mailers andfervants, and occafionally hire thexnfelves as porters. They form three tribes;Morafu, properly fo called, Morafu Mofcu, and Teligu Morafu, which laft would,appear from the name to be a tribe of the Telingana nation. Thefe tribes eattogether, but do not intermarry; and even in each tribe perfons- confine theirmarriages to a few families, whofe defcent is known to be pure. My informants areof the Morafu, properly fo called, and mull be diftinguifhed from the impure tribecalled Morafu Whallias, who are not Sudra.
The men of this tribe, but not the women, can eat with thofe of another tribe of cul-tivators called Sadru. A ■'rincipal objefl of.worlhip with this call is an image calledKala-Bhairava , which fignih ^s the black dog. The temple is at Sitibutta, near Calanore,about three codes eaft from hence. The place being very dark, and-the votaries beingsadmitted no farther than the door, they are not fure of the form of the image ; butbelieve, that it reprefents a man on horfeback. The god is fuppofed to be one of thedeftroying powers, and his wrath is appeafed by bloody facrifices. The throats of goatsand fheep are cut before the door of the temple as facrifices, and the flefh is boiled fosva feall to the votaries. In this the prieft, or pujari, never partakes. He is a Satanana,and worfhips the god by offerings of flowers and fruit. He, as ufual, confecrates waterby pouring it over the head of the image, and afterwards fells it to the votaries. Atthis temple a very fingular offering is made. When a woman is from 15 to 20 yearsof age, and has borne fome children, terrified left the angry deity fhould deprive her ofher infants, fhe goes to the temple, and, as an offering to appeafe his wrath, cuts off oneor two of her fingers of the right hand. To the deftru&ive female lpirits called Gun-goma, Yellama, Marima, and Putalima, the Morafu offer facrifices. They do not prayto either Vifhnu, or Siva. None of them here have ever feen a Guru belonging to theircall; but they have heard, that about the time of their birth (about 50 years ago), aSri Vaiflxeavam Brahman came to the place, and was called their Guru. The pan-cbanga afts as their purohita at marriages, and at the ceremonies performed, both an-nually, and at the new moons, in commemoration of their deceafed parents. TheBrahmans, when ti.ey fubjugated the different rude tribes in the fouth of India , feem tohave made very little difficulty about religious opinions and cuftoms. Every tribe feemsto hav .- retained their own; and the Brahmans were contented with an acknowledg-ment of their authority, and with contributions given for the performance of certainceremonies, much connefted with aftrology and magic ; by pretenfions to which theirpower was probably extended. They themfelves have perhaps been influenced by thefuperftitions of their converts, whofe gods, being malignant fpirits, they adopted asfervants of Ifwara, the power of deftruftion. The Brahmans, when in ficknefs and, ;iiftrefs, invoke with fear and trembling the power of Bhairava , and of the femaleSaktis ; who were formerly, perhaps, confidered by the natives as the malignant fpiritsof the woods, mountains, and rivers ; and worfhipped by facrifices, like the gods of therude tribes which now inhabit the hilly region call from Bengal, and whofe poverty hashitherto prevented the incurfions of the facred orders of their more learned wefternneighbours.
None of the 'Morafu can read or write; and they never take the vow of Daferi.They believe in tranfmigration as a ftate of reward and punilhment, and. of courfe
believe