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KURUMBA OR
KURUMAN

spirit of the Siva god possessing him — the sign of the divine afflatus upon him. A solemn silence holds the assembly, for the time of the kāranika has approached. The shivering Kuruba utters a cryptic sentence, such as Ākāsakkē sidlu bodiyuttu, or thunder struck the sky. This is at once copied down, and interpreted as a prophecy that there will be much rain in the year to come. Thus every year, in the month of February, the kāranika of Mailar is uttered and copied, and kept by all in the district as a prophecy. This kāranika prognostication is also pronounced now at the Mallari temple in the Dharwar district, at Nerakini in the Ālūr tāluk, and at Mailar Lingappa in the Harapanahalli tāluk."*[1]

The rule of inheritance among the Kurubas is said †[2] to differ very little from that current among Hindus, but the daughters, if the deceased has no son, share equally with the agnates. They belong to the right-hand faction, and have the privilege of passing through the main bazārs in processions. Some Mudalis and ' Naidus' are said to have no objection to eat, drink, and smoke with Kurubas. Gollas and some inferior flesh-eating Kāpus will also do so.

Kuruhina Setti Vīraisaivar. — A synonym of Kurni. Kuruhina means literally a sign, mark, or token. Kuruvina Banajiga occurs as a synonym of Bilimagga.

Kurukkal. — See Gurukkal (Brāhman).

Kurukula Vamsam. — The name, derived from Kuru, the ancestor of the Kauravas, assumed by some Pattanavans.

Kurumba or Kuruman.— As bearing on the disputed question of the connection between the Kurumbas who dwell in the jungle, and the Kurubas (shepherds

  1. • Madras Mail, November 1905.
  2. † Manual of the North Arcot district.