Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/393

Brāhman priests at their funerals; and yet they worship the Pāndavas, the spirits of the hills (or, as they call them, the sons of Rācha), their ancestors including women who have died before their husbands, and the deity Muthyālamma and her brother Pōturāzu, Sāralamma, and Unamalamma. The last three are found in nearly every village. Other deities are Doddiganga, who is the protector of cattle, and is worshipped when the herds are driven into the forests to graze, and Dēsaganga (or Paraganga), who takes the place of the Maridamma of the plains, and the Muthyālamma of the Kōyas as goddess of cholera and small-pox. The shrine of Sāralamma of Pedakonda, eight miles east of Rēkapalle, is a place of pilgrimage, and so is Bison Hill (Pāpikonda), where an important Reddi festival is held every seven or eight years in honour of the Pāndava brothers, and a huge fat pig, fattened for the occasion, is killed and eaten. The Reddis, like the Kōyas, also observe the harvest festivals. They are very superstitious, believing firmly in sorcery, and calling in wizards in time of illness. Their villages are formed into groups like those of the Kōyas, and the hereditary headmen over these are called by different names, such as Dora, Mūttadar, Varnapedda, and Kulapatradu. Headmen of villages are known as Pettadars. They recognise, though they do not frequently practice, marriage by capture. If a parent wishes to show his dislike for a match, he absents himself when the suitor's party calls, and sends a bundle of cold rice after them when they have departed. Children are buried. Vaishnavite Reddis burn their adult dead, while the Saivites bury them. Sātānis officiate as priests to the former, and Jangams to the latter. The pyre is kindled by the eldest male of the family, and a feast is held on the fifth day after the