Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Sudugādusiddha

by Edgar Thurston

Sudugādusiddha. — The name is derived from sudugādu, a burning-ground. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, they are described as being "mendicants like the Jōgis, like whom they itinerate. They were once lords of burning-grounds, to whom the Kulavādi (see Holeya), who takes the cloth of the deceased and a fee for every dead body burned, paid something as acknowledging their overlordship." These people are described by Mr. J. S. F. Mackenzie,*^[1] under the name Sudgudu Siddha, or lords of the burning-ground, as agents who originally belonged to the Gangadikāra Vakkaliga caste, and have become a separate caste, called after their head Sudgudu Siddharu. They intermarry among themselves, and the office of agent is hereditary. They have particular tracts of country assigned to them, when on tour collecting burial fees. They can be recognised by the wooden bell in addition to the usual metal one, which they always carry about. Without this no one would acknowledge the agent's right to collect the fees.

1. • Ind. Am. II, 1873.