The moolasthanas in Tulunad have a small temple dedicated to the divine spirit (Daiva or Bootha), Naaga or the Bermer′. As a consequence of socio-cultural evolution, many of these moolasthanas have replaced the original deities with subsequent deities like Durga or other Gods and are located near the beaches or in the proximal areas in the coast. Tulu families have a ritual of visiting their respective moolasthanas at least annually. At the small temple there they conduct ceremonial worships.
I visited one such moolasthana near Hoode, about ten kilometers north of Udupi town. Hoode hamlet is located near the estuary of Sita and Swarna rivers. The word Hoode is a place indicator. ‘Ade, ide, ode’ etc place indicators mean ‘there,here,where’ respectively in Tulu.(Similar words exist in Malayalam).
The moolasthana is located at Bengare near Hoode. The word bengare or bangere has equivalent meaning of a sand spit. Ben+kare stands for ‘a place opposite coastline or beach ’. The lineage indicator bangera is apparently derived from bangare. This is the moolasthana of TuLu people of bangera lineage. Interestingly, all TuLu communities belonging to the lineage of bangera have designated this site as their moolasthana. The present day castes like poojari, sapalya, moolya, marakala etc have been formed on the basis of their trades or professions. But all these TuLu communities carry common lineages tags (surnames) like bangera, putran, anchan etc. Lineage of a person is affixed based on the lineage of his mother (as in matriarchic society).
The common lineage for diverse communities indicates that the lineage system predates the classification of people into diverse communities based on trade or profession. It seems the trade based classification, the
However, due to various reasons, several families migrated southward through Rajasthan Gujarat, Maharastra and settled in sites in the West Coast. It appears that when their offsprings/progenies migrated again within Tulunad, these coastal settlements were again called moolasthanas.
I request other researchers to comment or contribute with any relevant information that they may have.
At least, this concept is there for north Malabar(Kolathunadu, present day Kannur, Kasaragod) region Malayalis.
ReplyDeleteThis explanation is required because in TuLu, word bari has another meaning ‘the side’.
Indeed, bari is tatbhava or Prakrit form(Skt. Vallari). In Malayalam, tavazhi( I think 'zh' here is trill and pronounced 'r')->taay + vazhi->mother's line, is similar to Tulu bari concept.
Curiously, Tulu and Kasaragod Malayali lineages are supposed to be same. I mean you can find Tulu equivalent of Malayali lineage. My own bari is called 'vadiyari' or 'badiyari' and its Tulu equivalent is called 'saliyan' or 'salinnaya'.
Do you have any idea what this bari name means? I don't have any clue about mine!
Nice info!There is no doubt that TuLu and Malayalis share common heritage eventhough Malayali language has evolved along different line probably after 7th century AD.
ReplyDeleteRight now,I have only some nebulous idea about the meaning of Saliyan. I shall get some more info on it before I discuss with you. By the by what the words vadiari / badiari means in Malayalam?
Thanks!
ReplyDeleteBy the by what the words vadiari / badiari means in Malayalam?
Unfortunately, no. In my opinion, the breakdown could be,
baDi* + bari (vaDi* + vari)-> baDiyabari -> badiyari
but the meaning of the first part or its original form I'm not clear.