March of Patriots

Ancient Nadavara Marriages

Raj Gaonkar

The concept of lineology was widely accepted to avoid marriages between close relatives.
Since the ancient times, the inbreeding or breeding with blood relatives was known to have
genetically damaging consequences on offspring and future generations. In the patrilineal
society, at birth an individual becomes part of the father's line of descent. The matrilineal
system considers the ancestry from the female string or mothers lineage. Majority of the
people in India are unilineal; they belong to either the patrilineal or matrilineal system.
Even though the Nadavara sect was patrilineal, the process of matchmaking considered the
lineology of both sides, fathers line (Daiwadi), the mothers line (Bali). Perhaps the
application of dual constraints of lineology in matchmaking helped to prevent inbreeding
and also made it difficult to find a mate in a small community. Bali system was borrowed
probably in the eighteenth century from the communities residing in Konkan. They forbade
marriages between Daivadis and were also somewhat alarmed by their Balis. It vindicates
the fact that the early Nadavaras were exogamous. However, the rules dictating the
exogamy among Ndavaras had exceptions; one could marry the daughter of a paternal aunt
or a maternal uncle, Nuptials involving first cousins are unacceptable in the western
countries.

In the ancient epic of Mahabharata, Queen Pramila supposedly ruled Nari Rajya (kingdom
of women), the present-day Nagaland. The subjects of Nari Rajya belonged to the
matrilineal society. The Kalachuri queen of Gersappa, Chennabhairadevi in the sixteenth
century adopted matrilineal system. Suppoosedly since then Balis are used by many non-
Brahmin castes in Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada. Among Nadavaras,
matrilineal marriage arrangement was secondary to their accustomed patrilineal custom.
The Bali system did not play any major role other than prohibiting a few marriages between
distant cousins, but did not stop them from marrying their first cousins. Sixteen Balis
originating from 16 ancestral alpha-women were in vogue among Nadavaras. The
Nadavaras of present (Generations X and Y) arent aware or ignore the Bali system. The

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structure of Balis is still well intact among other castes such as, Hawlakki Gauda and
Mogweera.

In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Nadavara allegiance was split between the Kalachuri
and Hoysala kingdoms. The expatriates of Rashtrakuta clan were loyal to the Hoysala
dynasty. Both groups might have faced problems in matrimonial matchmaking due to the
limited options in choosing brides and grooms. Biased divide between the sects was
seemingly ignored to overcome the constraints in matchmaking. The religious rituals
practiced by the Nadavaras since the times of Vijayanagara indicate that possibly the two
factions were united during the Vijayanagara Empire, and also upon their arrival in
Malenadu after the fall of Vijayanagara, Nadavaras belonged to one homogeneous group.
In Uttara Kannada Nadavaras were habitual conservatives. The conservative mind-set is
usually drawn from the preservation of affluence and privileged status. In the twentieth
century, abruptly declining financial conditions tainted their conservative stance. Even then
marrying outside the Nadavara community was absolutely forbidden until the mid-
twentieth century. The matchmaking, in addition to the union of two young people, took
into consideration the compatibility of the two involved families. The unity of the families
and their relatives was a major issue.

Around the end of the nineteenth century, Nadavara wedding traditions were quite
different compared to their present customs. They carried forward the quaint traditions of
the regal family weddings. The symbolic wedding rituals were cherry picked from both
Hinduism and Jainism. The marriage celebration lasted for five days and even for seven
days. For the first three days in the evenings, both the wedding parties carried out Homas
(fire-sacrifice) at their dwellings separately. On the first day of Homa the brides relatives
visited the groom and applied Chandan (red sandalwood) paste on grooms fore head. The
ritual meant to keep the groom safe from any evil spirit. The fire was placed in Agnikonda
(fire ditch), a specially dug trench beneath a high thatched roof, built for the occasion.
During Homa the priests chanted and poured Ghee (purified butter) into the fire and the
attendees released barks of Ashwatha tree in the ditch. The ritual played an important role
in strengthening the bonds of alliance among relatives and friends. In the past, when
feudalism was still prevalent, it was difficult for warriors to survive without friendship and
team spirit.

Any kind of text on rituals and routines of ancestral Nadavara weddings was hard to find.
The narration from an old retired school teacher who gathered the oral history of Nadavara
clan from her elders became resourceful in presenting the ancient wedding rituals. Yet the
wedding routines described might have been practiced by a few elite Nadavara families
and wasnt of an average Nadavara wedding. On the eve of the wedding, five relatives

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from the grooms side visited the bride with flowers and clothes, and especially a head
ornament that would be worn by her at the wedding ceremony. The bride wore red sari
and flowers around braided hair. After a formal dinner at the brides place the guests
departed. The visit from the grooms party might be a last-minute meeting regarding the
wedding preparations. This tradition conceptually was similar to the rehearsal dinner of the
Western weddings. The brides family assumed most of the wedding preparations and expenses.
Usually the bride with elaborate costumes and ornaments is the center of a wedding ceremony but in
the ancient Nadavara weddings the groom was the focal point of the celebration.

Oath taking ceremony fell on the fourth day of the wedding. Eight professionally trained
palanquin bearers belonging to the Boyer sect carried the groom, wearing a saffron or red
turban, in a specially decorated palanquin. The grooms wedding party procession began
with friends and family members along with a carpenter, blacksmith, potter, barber,
goldsmith, and washer-man. His brothers and cousins were the assigned escorts for the
occasion. Two Kumbaras (potters) were the assigned torch bearers and carried day light
torches on either side of the palanquin. In the olden times, a day light torch was held only
for royalty or noble person as an expression of rendering respect. But in the nineteenth
century Nadavaras werent royalty at all. Instead they were suspiciously scrutinized by the
colonialism. Possibly such wedding rituals had trickled down from the opulent era of
Vijaynagara. The porters carrying fruits and clothes in bamboo baskets and Vajantris (music
group) stayed ahead of the procession. The band consisted of five musical instruments
(Pancha Vadya). The grooms procession was received by the brides brothers. The brides
sister greeted the groom with the Vedic worshipping gestures (Aarti). The brides sister
greeted the groom with the Vedic worshipping gestures (Aarti).

The wedding rituals had unique meanings. Bride wore the head ornament presented to her
by the grooms family. Significance of the eye-catching head ornament is unclear. Was it
used to distinguish bride from the wedding flock? The brides maternal uncle and his wife
played a major role in the wedding ceremony. The uncle escorted his niece to the podium.
The bride in an attempt to show her made up pretty face pretentiously stood facing the
family temple with a beguiling smile. The Jain monks sitting on the podium witnessed the
wedding ceremony. The bride and groom stood up during the ceremony. The end of brides
sari was tied to the grooms scarf hanging down from his shoulders by the brides sister.
The tied knot was symbolic of the fact that they were united by the marriage. Then the
main ritual, the couple exchanged garlands. The groom with the help of someone tied
Mangala Sutra, a necklace strung with black beads and gold seed beads around the
brides neck. Black bead necklace around a womans neck signified that she was a married
woman. The ritual of exchanging garlands symbolized mutual faithfulness. The wedding
ceremony was carried out with bride and groom standing up except for briefly sitting in
front of the holy fire with the Hindu priest.

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A wedding brings people closer together and at times it also amplifies differences. The Jain
monks after the garland exchange ritual, held a meeting in the family temple with the
parents to bridge the differences, if any between the two wedding parties. The celebration
ended with the wedding feast followed by entertainment. Dance performances by
Devadasis and amusement by professional comedians were the most awaited events of the
function. Attendees made fun of the newlywed couple. After the wedding ceremony the
bridegroom went back home with the bride seated next to him in the palanquin. If the
grooms residence was far away, his family and friends camped near the brides place just
for the occasion. The safety of the newlywed couple was of a major concern. The brothers
and cousins of the bride escorted the newlywed couple to the grooms quarters and they
returned on the fifth day of the wedding after a big feast at the grooms place. As the
Nadavara financial conditions deteriorated, the wedding ceremony was viewed as a
scandalous waste of money. They started cutting corners but still a Nadavara wedding is an
enjoyable event filled with lots of fun and frolic. The wedding prayers (Mantra) wished the
bride a long prolific married life with many children. The restraint of monogamy was
imposed on the bride even after her husbands death. The statute of the Nadavara
matrimonial wasnt democratic.

Why did Jain monks witness and endorse the wedding while the Hindu priests performed
the ceremony? It can be perceived as conflict of religious interests or reinforcement of multi-
religious beliefs. As the Vaishnava Kshatrtriyas founded the Jain religion, there might not
be a distinct separation between the two beliefs, Hinduism and Jainism. The twenty-fourth
Tirthankara (Jain Saint) of Jainism, Mahavir, who was by birth a Vaishnava Kshatriya
prince, preached non-violence even before the conception of Buddhism. With the influence
of the prevalent Hindu trend, gradually Nadavaras leaned more towards Vaishnavism, and
their ancestral Jain heritage vanished little by little. Nadavaras were ethnically different
from other communities around them. The homogenization of cultures has brought the
Nadavara customs closer to the local cultural norm. Still residues from the rituals of the
past can be noticed in Nadavara weddings.