Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 58

SPECIAL CASTE CUSTOMS
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of the nearest relative, must submit to this eruel
mutilation
Many other castes exist in various districts which are
distinguished by practices no less foolish than those above
mentioned.
Generally speaking, there are few castes which are not
distinguished by some special custom quite apart from the
peculiar religious usages and ceremonies which the com-
munity may prescribe to guarantee or sanction civil con-
In the cut and colour of their clothes and in the
tracts.
style of wearing them, in the peculiar shape of their jewels
and in the manner in which they are displayed on various
parts of the person, the various castes have many rules,
each possessing its own significance. Some observe rites
of their own in their funeral and marriage ceremonies
others possess ornaments which they alone may use, or
flags of certain colours, for various ceremonies, which no
other caste may carry. Yet, absurd as some of these
practices may appear, they arouse neither contempt nor
dislike in members of other castes which do not admit
them. The most perfect toleration is the rule in such
matters.
As long as a caste conforms on the whole to the
recognized rules of decorum it is permitted to follow its
own bent in its domestic affairs without interruption, and
no other castes ever think of blaming or even criticizing
it, although its practices may be in direct opposition to
mother
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own.
There are, nevertheless, some customs which, although
scrupulously observed in the countries where they exist,
are so strongly opposed to the rules of decency and decorum
generally laid down that they are spoken of with dis-
approbation and sometimes with horror by the rest of the
community. The following may be mentioned among
their
practices of this nature.
In the interior of Mysore, women are obliged to accom-
pany the male inmates of the house whenever the latter
retire for the calls of nature, and to cleanse them with
water afterwards. This practice, which is naturally viewed
instead of the two ringers being
This custom is no longer observed
amputated, they are now merely bound together and thus rendered unfit
for use.
Ed.
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