Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Mūssad
Mūssad.— For the following note on the Mūssads or Mūttatus of Travancore, I am indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar. They are known as Mūttatus or Mūssatus in Travancore and Cochin, and Potuvals (or Poduvals) or Akapotuvals in North Malabar. The word Mūttatu means elder, and is generally taken to indicate a community, which is higher than the Ambalavāsi castes, as Ilayatu (or Elayad), or younger, denotes a sub-caste slightly lower than the Brāhmans. In early records, the word Mūpputayor, which has an identical meaning, is met with. Potuval means a common person, i.e.y the representative of a committee, and a Mūttatu's right to this name is from the fact that, in the absence of the Nambūtiri managers of a temple, he becomes their agent, and is invested with authority to exercise all their functions. The work of an Akapotuval always lies within the inner wall of the shrine, while that of the Purapotuval or Potuval proper lies outside. The castemen themselves prefer the name Sivadvija or Saivite Brāhman. A few families possess special titles, such as Nambi and Nambiyar. Their women are generally known as Manayammamar, mana meaning the house of a Brāhman. There are no divisions or septs among the Mūttatus.
The origin of the Mūttatus, and their place in Malabar society, are questions on which a good deal of discussion has been of late expended. In the Jātinirnaya, an old Sanskrit work on the castes of Kērala attributed to Sankarāchārya, it is said that the four kinds of Ambalavāsis, Tantri, Bharatabhattaraka, Agrima, and Slaghyavakku, are Brāhmans degraded in the Krita, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali ages, respectively, and that those who were so degraded in the Dvapara Yuga — the Agrimas or Mūttatus — and whose occupation is to cleanse the stone steps of shrines — are found in large numbers in Kērala. According to Kērala Mahatmya, another Sanskrit work on Malabar history and customs, these Mūttatus are also known as Sivadvijas, or Brāhmans dedicated to the worship of Siva, occupying a lower position in Malabar society than that of the Brāhmans. One of them, disguised as a Nambūtiri, married a Nambūtiri's daughter, but his real status became known before the marriage was consummated, and the pair were degraded, and allotted a separate place in society. This tradition is not necessary to account for the present position of the Mūttatus in Kērala, as, all over India, worship of fixed images was viewed with disfavour even in the days of Manu. Worship in Saivite temples was not sought by Brāhmans, and was even considered as despiritualising on account of the divine displeasure which may be expected as the result of misfeasance. It was for a similar reason that the Nambiyans of even Vaishnavite temples on the east coast became degraded in society. The Illayatus and Mūttatus have been long known in Malabar as Nyūnas or castes slightly lower than the Brāhmans, and Avantaras or castes intermediate between Brāhmans and Ambalavāsis. As, in subsequent days, the Brāhmans themselves undertook with impunity the priestly profession in Hindu temples, Saivite as well as Vaishnavite, the Mūttatus had to be content with a more lowly occupation, viz., that of guarding the temples and images. According to Suchindra Mahatmyam, eleven Brāhmans were ordered by Parasu Rama to partake of the remnants of the food offered to Siva, and to bear the Saivite image in procession round the shrine on occasions of festivals; and, according to the Vaikam Sthalapurānam, three families of Sivadvijas were brought over by the same sage from eastern districts for service at that temple. Whatever may be said in regard to the antiquity or authenticity of many of these Sthalapurānams, corroborative evidence of the Brāhmanical origin of the Mūttatus may be amply found in their manners and customs. A fresh colony of Sivadvijas is believed to have been invited to settle at Tiruvanchikkulam in Cranganore from Chidambaram by one of the Perumāls of Kērala, in connection with the establishment of Saivite temples there. They have preserved their original occupation faithfully enough down to the present day.
The houses of Mūttatus are known as illams and mattams, the former being the name of all Nambūtiri houses. They are generally built beside some well known shrine, with which the inmates are professionally connected. The dress of both men and women resembles that of the Nambūtiri Brāhmans, the injunction to cover the whole of the body when they go out of doors being applicable also to the Manayammamar. Girls before marriage wear a ring and kuzal on the neck, and, on festive occasions, a palakka ring. The chuttu in the ears, and pozhutu tāli on the neck are worn only after marriage, the latter being the symbol which distinguishes married women from widows and maidens. Widows are prohibited from wearing any ornament except the chuttu. In food and drink the Mūttatus are quite like the Nambūtiris.
The Mūttatus are the custodians of the images, which they take in procession, and wash the stone steps leading to the inner sanctuary. They live by the naivedya or cooked food offering which they receive from the temple, and various other emoluments. It may be noted that one of the causes of their degradation was the partaking of this food, which Brāhmans took care not to do. The Mūttatus are generally well-read in Sanskrit, and study astrology, medicine, and sorcery. The social government of the Mūttatus rests wholly with the Nambūtiris, who enforce the smartavicharam or enquiry into a suspected case of adultery, as in the case of a Nambūtiri woman. When Nambūtiri priests are not available, Mūttatus, if learned in the Vēdas, may be employed, but punyaham, or purification after pollution, can only be done by a Nambūtiri.
Like the Nambūtiris, the Mūttatus strictly observe the rule that only the eldest male member in a family can marry. The rest form casual connections with women of most of the Ambalavāsi classes. They are, like the Brāhmans, divided into exogamous septs or gōtras. A girl is married before or after puberty. Polygamy is not uncommon, though the number of wives is never more than four. Widows do not remarry. In their marriage ceremonies, the Mūttatus resemble the Nambūtiris, with some minor points of difference. They follow two sutras, those of Asvalayana and Baudhayana,the former being members of the Rig Vēda and the latter of the Yajur Vēda. The former omit a number of details, such as the panchamehani and dasamehani, which are observed by the latter. According to a territorial distinction, Mūssad girls of North Malabar cannot become the daughters-in-law of South Malabar families, but girls of South Malabar can become the daughters-in-law of North Malabar families.
The Mūttatus observe all the religious rites of the Nambūtiris. The rule is that the eldest son should be named after the paternal grandfather, the second after the maternal grandfather, and the third after that of the father. The upanāyana ceremony is celebrated between the ages of seven and eleven, and the Gāyatri hymn may only be repeated ten times thrice daily. In the funeral rites, the help of the Mārān called Chitikan (a corruption of Chaitika, meaning one who is connected with the funeral pyre) is sought. Pollution lasts only ten days. The Mūttatus stand above all sections of the Ambalavāsi group, and below every recognised section of the Brāhman and Kshatriya communities, with whom they do not hold commensal relations in any part of Kērala. They are thus on a par with the Illayatus, but the latter have their own hierarchy, and lead a social life almost independent of the Brāhmans. The Mūttatus seek their help and advice in all important matters. The Mūttatus are, however, privileged to take their food within the nālampalam (temple courts), and the leaf-plates are afterwards removed by temple servants. The Ambalavāsis do not possess a right of this kind. At Suchindram, the Nambūtiri by whom the chief image is served is not privileged to give prāsada (remains of offerings) to any worshipper, this privilege being confined to the Mūttatus engaged to serve the minor deities of the shrine. The washing of the stone steps leading to the inner sanctuary, the mandapa, kitchen, feeding rooms, and bali stones, both inside and outside the shrine, are done by Mūttatus at temples with which they are connected. All Ambalavāsis freely receive food from Mūttatus.
It is further noted, in the Cochin Census Report, 1901, that "there is a pithy saying in Malayālam, according to which the Mūthads are to be regarded as the highest of Ambalavāsis, and the Elayads as the lowest of Brāhmans. Considerable difference of opinion exists as to the exact social status of Mūthads. For, while some hold that they are to be regarded as degraded Brāhmans, others maintain that they are only the highest class of Ambalavāsis. In the opinion, however, of the most learned Vydīkan who was consulted on the subject, the Mūthads are to be classed as degraded Brāhmans. They are supposed to have suffered social degradation by their having tattooed their bodies with figures representing the weapons of the god Siva, and partaking of the offerings made to that god."
A correspondent, who has made enquiry into caste questions in Malabar, writes to me as follows. There are several ways of spelling the name, e.g., Mūssu, Mūssad, and Mūttatu. Some people tried to discriminate between these, but I could not work out any distinctions. In practice, I think, all the classes noted below are called by either name indifferently, and most commonly Mūssad. There are several classes, viz.: —
(a) Ashtavaidyanmar, or eight physicians, are eight families of hereditary physicians. They are called Jātimātrakaras (barely caste people), and it is supposed that they are Nambūdiris slightly degraded by the necessity they may, as surgeons, be under of shedding blood. Most of them are called Mūssad, but one at least is called Nambi.
(b) Urili Parisha Mūssad, or assembly in the village Mūssad, who are said to be degraded because they accepted gifts of land from Parasu Rāma, and agreed to take on themselves the sin he had contracted by slaying the Kshetriyas. This class, as a whole, is called Sapta or Saptagrastan.
(c) Mūssad or Mūttatu. — They appear to be identical with the Agapothuvals, or inside Pothuvals, as distinguished from the Pura, or outside Pothuvals, in North Malabar. They are said to be the descendants of a Sivadvija man and pure Brāhman girl. According to another account, they lost caste because they ate rice offered to Siva, which is prohibited by one of the anāchārams, or rules of conduct peculiar to Kērala. They perform various duties in temples, and escort the idol when it is carried in procession on an arrangement called tadambu, which is like an inverted shield with a shelf across it, on which the idol is placed. They wear the pūnūl, or sacred thread.
(d) Karuga Mūssad. — So called from the karuga grass (Cynodon Dactylon), which is used in ceremonies. Their exact position is disputed. They wear the sacred thread (cf.Karuga Nambūdiris in North Malabar), who cook rice for the srādh (memorial ceremony) of Sūdras.
(e) Tiruvalayanath or Kōvil (temple) Mūssad.— They also wear the sacred thread, but perform pūja in Bhadrakāli temples, incidents of which are the shedding of blood and use of liquor. They seem to be almost identical with the caste called elsewhere Adigal or Pidāran, but, I think, Adigals are a little higher, and do not touch liquor, while Pidārans are divided into two classes, the lower of which does not wear the thread or perform the actual pūja, but only attends to various matters subsidiary thereto.
In an account of the annual ceremony at the Pishāri temple near Quilandy in Malabar in honour of Bhagavati, Mr. F. Fawcett informs us *[1] that the Mūssad priests repeat mantrams (prayers) over the goats for an hour as a preliminary to the sacrifice. Then the chief priest, with a chopper-like sword, decapitates the goats, and sacrifices several cocks. The Mūssads cook some of the flesh of the goats, and one or two of the cocks with rice. This rice, when cooked, is taken to the kāvu (grove) to the north of the temple, and there the Mūssads again ply their mantrams.
- ↑ • Madras Museum Bull., III, 3, 1901.