We Hegdes from Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Shimoga districts of Karnataka belong to a brahmin sub sect called Havyaka Brahmins. We have some traditions of our own, a language of our own - which is slightly different from kannada. But I am not an authority on the subject, nor have I read any book on comparative analysis of Karnataka brahmin traditions. And as most modern secular Hindus I find it more amusing to make fun of our traditions rather than celebrating them - may be because I do not understand it completely.
I attended a marriage yesterday. So let us talk about few of rituals in this marriage ceremony. On the previous day of the marriage called Naandi - which means beginning of any good thing.
The groom will wear a simple dress, and a wooden footwear (since we can't conjure up wooden paduka so easily, he will wear foot-wear made from dried skin of areca flower) and with a sack on his shoulder, will declare that he will go to Kashi. Here he is saying, he wants to become a sage - sanyasi there.
And no, it is not because he and his parents have not been able to find a bride, even after searching chappanaivattaru(chappan - 56 in hindi, aivattaru - 56 in kannada) desha and trilokas. This tradition was practiced even when the grooms were very much in demand.
Now enters the brother of bride. He will stop the groom and beg him not to continue his journey because this boy will give his sister in marriage. The brother will snatch the sack from him. And the groom eagerly obliges. This is called Kashi yatre.
Then a barber comes to shave the groom. This ritual is called panne. I am not sure of the intentions. May be the groom who just now canceled his kashi yatre is in a very bad form. Or may be he just want to look well groomed.
But one word I had been hearing since childhood but never really understood was danuvettiddu. This ritual is kind of invisible and only heard in the songs.
Havyaka women are the most hard working in nature (with one exception - me). If they find half an hour free time from their cooking - cleaning - repeat ritual, they would go to areca fields - and to remove weeds there. They will plant some cucumbers and other vegetables in the fields and water them daily, or they will collect dried coconut leaves and make brooms from them. And in the harvest season they will remove the shell of areca seeds till midnight.
But in ceremonies like marriage or upanayana, they find themselves idle, the concept which they do not like. The cooking and cleaning will be given to outside helpers. So these women will sing songs describing each puja or ritual with melodious songs. They would practice these haadu a fortnight in advance. There will be special authors who write such songs.
That is where I heard the word danuvettiddu. Do you know this danuvettiddu song? I don't remember second portion. I have not brought my glasses to read from the patti (note book) etc. I thought danu has got something do with cow - dana. Little did I realize this is a song which describes how Rama wins Sita in by lifting the famous shiv dhanush - the bow - dhanu and breaking it !!!.
If I were Sita's father, I would have decided, this boy would certainly break anything he touches, and certainly not the right groom for my daughter.
On second thoughts, if parents today were to hold competition for suitors of their daughters, what would such competition be?
A few guesses are
I attended a marriage yesterday. So let us talk about few of rituals in this marriage ceremony. On the previous day of the marriage called Naandi - which means beginning of any good thing.
The groom will wear a simple dress, and a wooden footwear (since we can't conjure up wooden paduka so easily, he will wear foot-wear made from dried skin of areca flower) and with a sack on his shoulder, will declare that he will go to Kashi. Here he is saying, he wants to become a sage - sanyasi there.
And no, it is not because he and his parents have not been able to find a bride, even after searching chappanaivattaru(chappan - 56 in hindi, aivattaru - 56 in kannada) desha and trilokas. This tradition was practiced even when the grooms were very much in demand.
Now enters the brother of bride. He will stop the groom and beg him not to continue his journey because this boy will give his sister in marriage. The brother will snatch the sack from him. And the groom eagerly obliges. This is called Kashi yatre.
Then a barber comes to shave the groom. This ritual is called panne. I am not sure of the intentions. May be the groom who just now canceled his kashi yatre is in a very bad form. Or may be he just want to look well groomed.
But one word I had been hearing since childhood but never really understood was danuvettiddu. This ritual is kind of invisible and only heard in the songs.
Havyaka women are the most hard working in nature (with one exception - me). If they find half an hour free time from their cooking - cleaning - repeat ritual, they would go to areca fields - and to remove weeds there. They will plant some cucumbers and other vegetables in the fields and water them daily, or they will collect dried coconut leaves and make brooms from them. And in the harvest season they will remove the shell of areca seeds till midnight.
But in ceremonies like marriage or upanayana, they find themselves idle, the concept which they do not like. The cooking and cleaning will be given to outside helpers. So these women will sing songs describing each puja or ritual with melodious songs. They would practice these haadu a fortnight in advance. There will be special authors who write such songs.
That is where I heard the word danuvettiddu. Do you know this danuvettiddu song? I don't remember second portion. I have not brought my glasses to read from the patti (note book) etc. I thought danu has got something do with cow - dana. Little did I realize this is a song which describes how Rama wins Sita in by lifting the famous shiv dhanush - the bow - dhanu and breaking it !!!.
If I were Sita's father, I would have decided, this boy would certainly break anything he touches, and certainly not the right groom for my daughter.
On second thoughts, if parents today were to hold competition for suitors of their daughters, what would such competition be?
A few guesses are
- Wait in the shopping mail for 4 hours, without complaining when our dear daughter selects, deselects, reselects around 30 items which certainly she does not need.
- Has enough cash in the card to pay for all these items and still has enough money to take her to a fancy restaurant
- Can keep mum when our princess talks for 2 hours endlessly with her friend, concluding with the promise that she will call again next day
- Does not question about one thousand and thirty five friends she has on social networking sites
- Buys latest mobiles, laptops and cameras for her as soon as soon as the new models arrive
- Does not go out with friends - male or female , nor talk to them for more than a minute. But does not mind answering her hundred enquiries about his female colleagues.
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