Gondhali

Gondhali A class of Marathi musicians and dancers, to be found in all the Districts of the Maratha- wada, but especially in the District of LJsmanabad. They take their name from their professional dance, gondhal, the word being probably derived from the tumultuous row (Marathi equivalent gondhal} which the Gon- dhalis raiijp while performing the dance. Their traditions say that they were descended from the sage Jamdagni and his wife Renuka. According to another account, they are identical with the Maitriyas of olden times, who were regarded as the progeny of a Vaidehika father and an Ayogava mother.

Internal Structure

The Gondhalis are divided into two sub- castes : Kadamrai and Renurai, who neither intermarry nor eat together. These two classes are distinguished from each other by their distinct badges (^ mendicancy, the former wearing a garland of cowrie shells, and the latter a vweath of cowrie shells alternated, with small silk tassels. Both are devotees of Bhavani, the consort of Shiva, the Kadamrais begging at the feet (Marathi — k.adarn) of the goddess, which privilege is said to be denied to the Renurais. There is a third class of Gondhalis, called Akarmasis, probably the illegitimate offspring of the above mentioned two sub-castes. The Gondhalis have the same exogamous sections as those of the Maratha Kunbis, from whom they seem to be separated by reason of their having adopted the occupation of begging. A man may not marry a woman of his own section. He may marry the daughters of his sister, his father's sister and his mother s brother. Polygamy is permitted, there being no rule to limit the number of wives a man may have.

Marriage

Gondhali girls are married either as infants or as adults, between the ages of three and sixteen. A father receives for his daughter a price which is said to vary from. Rs. 25 to Rs. 200, according to the means of the bridegroom. The marriage ceremony extends over five days and comprises rites which are in vogue in the Maratha castes. On the first day, the bride and bridegroom are smeared with turmeric paste and oil, in their own houses separately. After this the bridegroom is conducted, in procession, to Hanuman's temple, worships the god and returns, bearing the Deoa\, i.e., the leaves of the mango, saundad (Prosopis spicigera), palas (Butea jrondosa), umbar (Ficus glowerata), and mi {Calotropis gigantea). These are ceremonially tied to one of the posts of the wedding booth. Bhavani and other tutelary deities are propitiated with sacrifices, and relations and friends are feasted in their names. The second is the actual wedding day, when the bridal pair are made to stand face to face, either in bamboo baskets, or on leafy plates, and are sprinkled over with grains of rice by the priest. The remaining three days are spent in feasting and merrymaking, and in the performance of such rites as are of minor importcince. Widows are allowed to marry again and divorce is recognised by the caste.

Religion

The principal deities of the Gondhalis are Bhavani of Tuljapur and Renuka Devi of Mahur, in whose honour they cele- brate, with pomp, the festival of Navaratra, which falls in the month of Aswin (September-October). On the 1 0th of Aswin, a Horn, or sacrificial fire, is ignited, oblations of liquor are offered and goats are sacrificed to their patron deities. In the month of Asadha (June- July), Man Ai, Pochamma, Sitala Devi, and other animistic deities, are honoured with sacrifices of goats. Besides these, the members of the caste worship the greater gods of the Hindu pantheon and observe all Hindu festivals. Brahmans are engaged on ceremonial and religious occasions.

Disposal of the Dead

The dead are either buried, or burnt, in a sleeping posture with the head pointing to the south ; the Sradha is performed on the 10th day after death. Ancestors in general are propitiated in the month of Bhadrapad (August- September) with oblations of water. Spirits of ancestors, especially of female ancestors,' are appeased with sacrifices and offerings of flowers and fruits.

Child Birth

A woman after child-birth is regarded as impure for ten days and it is said that during the period of her lying-in she is not allowed to sleep on a cot, because their patron deity, Renuka, sleeps on a cot at Mahur. On the fifth day after birth, Satwai, the guardian of infants, is worshipped with offerings of dentifrice and food. A girl on attaining puberty is held unclean for three days.

Social Status

Socially, the Gondhalis rank below the Maratha Kunbis.. They eat the flesh of deer, fowls and fish and drink spirituous and fermented liquors. They do not eat the leavings of other castes.

Occupation

The Gondhalis are professional mendicants. They sing and dance to the music of a drum, cymbals and a tuntune (a fiddle) and solicit alms from door to door and from village to village, in honour of their tutelary deities, Renuka and Bhavemi. But they are particularly engaged for the performance of the gondhal, a tumul- tuous dance in honour of Devi Bhavani, celebrated at the marriage ceremonies of the Maratha Brahmans and other Maratha castes. On these occasions, the Gondhalis, a choir of five men, are entertained at a feast by day and at night, at ten, they commence the dance, after having worshipped the goddess and her lord Shanker, who is repre- sented by a metal pot containing water, betel leaves and areca nuts, topped with a cocoanut. Both the deities are installed on a low wooden stool, covered with a bodice cloth, decked with beauti- ful designs in turmeric and ^an^um, and overhung with garlands of flowers suspended from a tripod of three sugar canes.

The puja con- sists of the offerings of flowers, the waving of lamps fed with ghi and the burning of incense and camphor and is held by the principal member of the household. Each gondhal is opened with the cries of ' Udeh, Udeh ' (victory to the goddess) and begins with an invocation to Khandoba of Jejuri, Tukai, Yamai, mother Bhavani (Ai Bhavani), and other minor and greater gods. One of the band holds in his hand a lighted torch (the emblem of the goddess) and the precentor, clothed in a long oily gown, and wearing cowrie shell necklaces and jingling anklets, smears it with sandal paste and kunkuw and makes a low obeisance before it. To his audience, composed of men and women of the household and outsiders, he relates stories from the Rama^ana and other mythological stories, singing and daiicing, all the while, to a drum, cymbals and fiddle, played upon by his three companions, who stand behind him. Often he enlivens his narrative with humourous episodes and ingenious jokes which he plays upon the torch bearer. The performance is occa- sionally kept up till the small hours of the morning. The gondhal ends with a supplication for blessing to the goddess Bhavani. A few of the Gondhal is have now settled down and taken to agriculture.