Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume III - South Asia - O doc

214
Okkaliga
Okkaliga
ETHNONYMS:
Gangadikira
Okkalu,
the
peasant
caste,
Vokkaliga,
Wokkaliga
The
Okkaligas
are
the
dominant
landowning
and
culti-
vating
caste
in
the
multicaste
population
of
southern
Karnataka
State
in
southwestern

peninsular
India.
Among
the
hundreds
of
villages
in
which
Okkaligas
live
is
Rampura
(population
1,523,
735
of
whom
are
Okkaligas,
ca.
1955),
which
is
the
focus
of
this
entry
and

which
displays
many
of
the
features
typical
of
Okkaliga
villages
in
India.
The
village
of
Rampura
is
located
on
the
Mysore-Hogur
bus
road
about
32
kilometers
from
Mysore.
The
village

is
a
cluster
of
houses
and
huts
with
thatched
or
tiled
roofs;
nar-
row,
uneven
winding
streets
running
between
the
rows
of
houses.
Surrounding
the
village
are
numerous
plots
owned

by
individual
landowners.
Rampura
is
an
interdependent
unit,
largely
self-sufficient,
having
its
own
village
assembly
(panchayat),
watch,
ward,
officials,
and
servants.
In
the
multicaste
village
of
Rampura
the
relationship
of

castes
ap-
pears
to
be
determined
more
by
the
economic
positions
of
the
various
members
than
by
tradition.
As
agriculture
is
the
pri-
mary
way
of
life
the
peasants
are

the
dominant
caste.
The
he-
reditary
headman
(patel)
and
hereditary
accountant
(shan-
borg)
are
both
peasants.
The
headman's
responsibility
is
to
represent
the
village
to
the
government
and
vice
versa.

The
accountant
keeps
a
register
of
how
much
land
each
head
of
a
family
or
joint
family
has
and
the
amount
of
tax
on
the
land.
The
elders
of
the

dominant
caste
are
spokespersons
for
the
village
and
owe
their
power
not
to
legal
rights
derived
from
the
state
but
to
the
dominant
local
position
of
their
caste.
The
elders

of
the
dominant
peasant
caste
in
Rampura
admin-
ister
justice
not
only
to
members
of
their
own
caste
group
but
also
to
all
persons
of
other
castes
who
seek
their

intervention.
Agriculture
dominates
village
life.
The
cultivation
of
rice
is
the
main
activity
in
the
village.
Meticulous
attention
to
and
irrigation
of
the
rice
is
necessary
throughout
the
period
of

cul-
tivation,
the
rainy
season
from
June
to
January.
The
conclu-
sion
of
the
harvest
is
marked
by
the
festival
of
Sankranti.
Dur-
ing
the
dry
season
other
social
activities

such
as
weddings
occur.
Each
of
the
seventeen
castes
living
in
Rampura
has
a
dis-
tinctive
tradition
with
strong
ties
with
the
same
caste
in
vil-
lages
nearby.
The
village

has
a
vertical
unity
of
many
castes
whereas
each
caste
has
a
horizontal
unity
through
alliances
beyond
the
village.
Other
major
castes
and
their
traditional
occupations
include
the
Kuruba
(shepherd),

the
Musalman
(artisan
and
trader),
Holeya
(servant
and
laborer),
and
the
Madiga
(Harijans).
Although
paddy
and
millet
grain
were
principally
used
in
trade,
money
is
used
more
frequently
today.
Maintenance

of
caste
separation
was
achieved
through
ideas
of
purity
and
pollution.
Beliefs
and
behaviors
including
diet,
occupation,
and
ritual
distinguish
higher
from
lower
castes.
Two
examples
of
this
are
the

rules
governing
the
ac-
ceptance
of
water
or
cooked
food
between
castes
and
the
rule
of
caste
endogamy.
At
one
time
it
was
customary
for
two
families,
one
be-
longing

to
an
upper
caste
and
the
other
to
an
Untouchable
caste,
to
be
linked
in
a
master-servant
relationship
(jajmani).
Independence
has
begun
a
process
of
social
change
in
which
many

of
the
traditional
forms
and
orders
have
been
replaced.
The
regional
language
is
Kannada
and
the
principal
reli-
gion
is
Hindu.
The
principal
temples
in
Rampura
are
the
tem-
ples

of
Rama,
Basava,
Hatti
Mad,
and
Kabbala
Durgada
Man.
These
are
endowed
with
agricultural
land.
The
kin
group
is
agnatic
with
preference
for
cross-cousin
marriage.
Traditionally
the
Okkaligas
live
in

joint
families
with
the
wife
joining
the
home
of
her
husband's
family.
Since
Independence
the
joint
families
have
tended
to
become
smaller.
There
is
a
fairly
strict
sexual
division
of

labor
with
few
women
working
outside
the
home.
Boys
work
on
the
land
early,
while
girls
work
in
and
around
the
house.
An
Okkaliga
is
buried
on
his
or
her

ancestral
land;
and
the
land
is
an
im-
portant
part
of
one's
life
from
an
early
age.
Bibliography
Banerjee,
Bhavani
(1966).
Marriage
and
Kinship
of
the
Gan-
gadikara
Vokkaligas
of

Mysore.
Deccan
College
Dissertation
Series,
no.
27.
Poona:
Deccan
College.
Nanjundayya,
H.
V.,
and
L.
K.
Ananthakrishna
Iyer
(1930).
'Gangadikira
Okkalu."
The
Mysore
Tribes
and
Castes
3:175-
185.
Mysore:
Mysore

University.
Srinivas,
M.
N.
(1963).
"The
Social
Structure
of
a
Mysore
Village."
In
India's
Villages,
edited
by
M.
N.
Srinivas,
21-35.
Bombay:
Asia
Publishing
House.
Srinivas,
M.
N.
(1976).
The

Remembered
Village.
Berkeley:
University
of
California
Press.
SARA
J.
DICK
Oraon
ETHNONYMS:
Dhangad,
Dhangar,
Dhanka
("farmworker"),
Kisan,
Kuda,
Kurukh,
Kurunkh,
Orao,
Uraon
The
Oraons
are
one
of
the
largest
tribes

in
South
Asia,
numbering
1,702,663
persons
at
the
1971
census.
About
half
of
them
live
in
Bihar,
mainly
on
the
Chota
Nagpur
Plateau;
the
remainder
are
in
Madhya
Pradesh,
Orissa,

and
West
Bengal.
They
speak
a
Dravidian
language
known
as
Kurukh.
Oraons
are
closely
related
to
the
neighboring
Munda
tribe,
and
the
headman
of
an
Oraon
village
is
called
munda.

Although
there
are
no
subcastes
among
the
Oraons,
the
Kudas
('navvies")
and
Kisans
("cultivators"),
having
their
distinct
occupations,
tend
to
marry
among
themselves.
Be-
yond
this,
Oraons
observe
village
and

clan
exogamy.
The
pat-
rilineal
extended
family
is
the
ideal
residential
unit,
but
nu-
clear
families
are
nearly
as
common.
On
the
average
a
family
contains
five
to
seven
coresident

members.
Oriya
215
Boys
and
girls
marry
after
puberty,
boys
usually
at
16-20
years.
This
follows
a
period
in
which
both
sexes
sleep
in
a
youth
dormitory
(dhumkuria).
Boys
are

branded
on
the
arm
before
being
admitted
to
this
institution.
The
dormitory
pro-
vides
a
pool
of
agricultural
labor
that
can
be
hired
when
nec-
essary.
Most
Oraons
are
farmers,

and
in
the
past
they
prac-
ticed
shifting
cultivation.
Hunting,
formerly
of
major
importance,
has
been
reduced
during
the
present
century
to
the
status
of
a
ceremonial
event;
there
is

even
a
women's
hunting
ceremony,
held
every
twelve
years.
Although
a
small
minority
of
the
tribe
are
Christians,
the
great
majority
follow
a
Hindu
form
of
worship.
Their
main
de-

ities
are
local,
non-Sanskritic
ones,
such
as
Chandi,
Chau-
thia,
Dadgo
Burhia,
Gaon
Deoti,
and
Jair
Budhi,
names
one
does
not
encounter
elsewhere
in
India.
A
remarkable
feature
of
Oraon

society
is
that
it
is
one
of
the
very
few
on
earth
(along
with
the
neighboring
Mundas
and
Marias)
that
practices
human
sacrifice
(called
otanga
or
orka
by
Oraons).
Although

extremely
rare,
evidence
suggests
the
phenomenon
is
most
prevalent
in
Ranchi
District,
Bihar.
During
the
nineteenth
century,
British
officials
reported
a
much
broader
incidence,
occurring
among
the
Munda,
Oraon,
Gond,

Kond,
and
Santal
tribes.
Police
records
show
that
even
as
late
as
the
1980s
there
were
a
couple
of
sacrifices
a
year
among
the
Munda,
Maria,
and
Oraon
tribes,
and

perhaps
slightly
more
if
one
assumes
that
not
all
cases
reached
police
attention.
These
sacrifices
are
of
course
illegal
and
are
treated
as
homicide
under
Section
302
of
the
Indian

Penal
Code.
Detection
of
culprits
is
made
very
difficult
by
the
fact
that
some
villagers
believe
the
sacri-
fices
are
essential
for
the
fertility
of
their
fields,
and
hence
they

are
not
forthcoming
with
any
information.
The
human
sacrifices
usually
occur
in
remote
places
around
the
begin-
ning
of
the
sowing
season
and
the
associated
festival
of
Sar-
hul.
The

reasons
police
can
distinguish
these
sacrifices
from
other
forms
of
murder
are
several:
(1)
the
timing,
to
coincide
with
the
sowing
ceremony;
(2)
the
victim
is
often
an
orphan
or

a
homeless
person,
someone
who
will
not
be
missed;
(3)
usually
no
personal
animosities
can
account
for
the
kill-
ing;
(4)
the
victim's
throat
is
cut
with
a
knife;
(5)

signs
of
puja
(worship)
are
normally
found
near
the
corpse;
and
(6)
part
of
one
little
finger
has
been
cut
off
and
is
missing.
This
last
item
is
presumably
a

part
of
the
human
offering
that
the
sacrificer
(otanga)
will
bury
in
his
field.
Sometimes
blood
of
the
sacrificial
victim
is
mixed
with
seed
grain
before
it
is
sown.
In

earlier
centuries
the
entire
body
was
probably
cut
up
and
parceled
out
to
the
various
fields
around
a
village.
The
danger
of
detection
now
makes
this
too
difficult.
The
sacrifice

is
nor-
mally
offered
to
a
vindictive
goddess
thought
to
control
the
fertility
of
the
soil.
If
a
human
victim
cannot
be
caught
in
time
for
the
sowing
ceremony,
it

is
said
that
hair,
sputum,
or
some
other
human
bodily
leavings
are
mixed
with
hen's
blood
as
a
token
offering
to
this
goddess.
See
also
Munda
Bibliography
Hermanns,
Matthias
(1973).

Die
Oraon.
Die
religios-
magische
Weltanschanung
der
Primitivstamme
Indiens,
no.
3.
Wiesbaden:
Franz
Steiner
Verlag.
Roy,
Sarat
Chandra
(1915).
The
Oraon
of
Chota
Nagpur.
Calcutta:
Brahmo
Mission
Press.
Roy,
Sarat

Chandra
(1928).
Oraon
Religion
and
Custom.
Ranchi:
Man
in
India
Office.
Russell,
R.
V.,
and
Hira
Lal
(1916).
'Oraon."
In
The
Tribes
and
Castes
of
the
Central
Provinces
of
India,

edited
by
RV.
Russell
and
Hira
Lal.
Vol.
4,
299-321.
London:
Macmillan.
Reprint.
1969.
Oosterhout:
Anthropological
Publications.
Sachchidananda
(1963).
"Some
Recent
Evidence
of
Human
Sacrifice."
In
Anthropology
on
the
March:

Recent
Studies
of
In-
dian
Beliefs,
Attitudes,
and
Social
Institutions,
edited
by
L.
K.
Bala
Ratnam,
344-351.
Madras:
The
Book
Centre.
Sachchidananda
(1964).
Culture
Change
in
Tribal
Bihar:
Munda
and

Oraon.
Calcutta:
Bookland
Private
Limited.
PAUL
HOCKINGS
Oriya
ETHNONYMS:
Odia,
Odiya;
adjective:
Odissi,
Orissi
(Orissan
in
English)
Orientation
Identification.
In
Orissa
State
in
India,
the
Oriya
consti-
tute
the
regional

ethnic
group,
speaking
the
Oriya
language
and
professing
the
Hindu
religion,
to
be
distinguished
from
an
Oriya-speaking
agricultural
caste
called
Odia
found
in
central
coastal
Orissa.
Some
Oriya
live
in

the
adjoining
states.
The
Oriya
language
and
ethnic
group
are
presumably
derived
from
the
great
Udra
or
Odra
people
known
since
Buddhist
and
pre-Buddhist
Mahabharata
epic
times.
Location.
The
state

of
Orissa
is
located
between
17°49'
and
22034'
N
and
81029'
and
87029'
E,
covering
155,707
square
kilometers
along
the
northeastern
seaboard
of
India.
The
large
majority
of
the
Oriya

live
in
the
coastal
districts
and
along
the
Mahanadi
and
Brahmani
rivers.
Orissa
falls
in
the
tropical
zone
with
monsoon
rains
from
June-July
to
September-October.
Western
Orissa
is
afflicted
with

recur-
ring
drought.
Demography.
The
last
national
census
in
1981
records
the
population
of
Orissa
as
26,370,271
persons,
with
a
popu-
lation
density
of
169
persons
per
square
kilometer
as

com-
pared
to
216
for
India
as
a
whole.
Of
the
total
population
of
Orissa,
84.11
percent
speak
Oriya.
Although
rural,
Orissa's
urban
centers
with
5,000
or
more
persons
rose

from
contain-
ing
8.4
percent
of
the
population
in
1971
(81
towns)
to
11.79
percent
in
1981
(108
towns).
Most
of
the
ninety-three
Scheduled
Castes,
which
constitute
15.1
percent
of

Orissa's
population,
speak
Oriya.
Of
the
23.1
percent
of
Orissa's
pop-
ulation
categorized
as
Scheduled
Tribes,
many
speak
Oriya
as
216
ut J
their
mother
tongue.
With
34.23
percent
literacy
in

1981
compared
to
26.18
percent
in
1971,
Orissa
trails
behind
many
Indian
states,
especially
in
female
literacy.
linguistic
Affiliation.
Oriya
belongs
to
the
Indo-Aryan
Branch
of
the
Indo-European
Family
of

languages.
Its
closest
affinities
are
with
Bengali
(Bangla),
Assamese
(Asamiya),
Maithili,
Bhojpuri,
and
Magahi
(Magadhi).
The
Oriya
spo-
ken
in
Cuttack
and
Puri
districts
is
taken
as
standard
Oriya.
The

Oriya
language
has
a
distinctive
script,
traceable
to
sixth-
century
inscriptions.
It
has
thirteen
vowels
and
thirty-six
con-
sonants
(linguistically,
spoken
Oriya
has
six
vowels,
two
semivowels,
and
twenty-nine
consonants).

History
and
Cultural
Relations
Orissa
has
been
inhabited
since
prehistoric
times,
and
Paleo-
lithic,
Mesolithic,
Neolithic,
and
Chalcolithic
cultural
re.
mains
abound.
By
the
fourth
century
B.C.
there
was
a

central-
ized
state
in
Orissa,
though
the
hill
areas
often
nurtured
independent
princedoms
mostly
evolving
out
of
tribal
poli-
ties.
In
261
B.C.,
Orissa,
then
known
as
Kalinga,
was
con-

quered
by
the
Emperor
Ashoka
after
a
bloody
Kalinga
war,
leading
to
the
conversion
of
the
king
into
a
nonviolent
Bud-
dhist
who
spread
Buddhism
in
Asia.
In
the
early

second
cen-
tury
B.C.
Emperor
Kharavela,
a
Jain
by
religion
and
a
great
conqueror,
had
the
famous
queen's
cave-palace,
Rani-
gumpha,
cut
into
the
mountain
near
Bhubaneswar,
with
ex-
quisite

sculptures
depicting
dancers
and
musicians.
Both
eastern
and
western
Orissa
had
famous
Buddhist
monaster-
ies,
universities,
and
creative
savants.
Starting
in
the
first
cen-
tury
A.D.,
according
to
Pliny
and

others,
there
was
extensive
maritime
trade
and
cultural
relations
between
Orissa
(Ka-
linga,
Kling)
and
Southeast
Asian
countries
from
Myanmar
(Burma)
to
Indonesia.
Orissa
was
ruled
under
several
Hindu
dynasties

until
1568,
when
it
was
annexed
by
the
Muslim
kingdom
of
Bengal.
In
1590,
Orissa
came
under
the
Mogul
empire,
until
the
Marathas
seized
it
in
1742.
In
1803
it

came
under
British
rule.
As
early
as
1817
the
agriculturist
militia
(Paik)
of
Orissa
revolted
against
the
British
in
one
of
the
first
regional
anticolonial
movements.
In
1936
Orissa
was

de-
clared
a
province
of
British
India,
and
the
princely
states
with
an
Oriya
population
were
merged
into
Orissa
in
1948-1949.
The
cultures
and
languages
of
south
India,
western
India,

and
northern
India-and
also
those
of
the
tribal
peoples-have
enriched
the
cultural
mosaic
and
the
vocabulary
of
the
Oriya.
Settlements
In
1981,
88.21
percent
of
the
people
of
Orissa
lived

in
vil
ages.
In
1971,
51,417
villages
of
Orissa
ranged
in
population
from
less
than
500
persons
(71.9
percent),
500-900
persons
(18.8
percent),
1,000-1,999
persons
(7.5
percent),
to
more
than

2,000
persons
(1.78
percent).
The
Oriya
villages
fall
into
two
major
types:
linear
and
clustered.
The
linear
settle-
ment
pattern
is
found
mostly
in Puri
and
Ganjam
districts,
with
houses
almost

in
a
continuous
chain
on
both
sides
of
the
intervening
village
path
and
with
kitchen
gardens
at
the
back
of
the
houses.
Cultivated
fields
surround
the
settlement.
In
the
cluster

pattern
each
house
has
a
compound
with
fruit
trees
and
a
kitchen
garden.
The
Scheduled
Castes
live
in
lin.
ear
or
cluster
hamlets
slightly
away
from
the
main
-settlement,
with

their
own
water
tanks
or,
today,
their
own
wells.
In
the
flooded
coastal
areas
one
finds
some
dispersed
houses,
each
surrounded
by
fields
for
cultivation.
In
traditional
Orissa,
two
styles

of
houses
(ghara)
were
common.
The
agriculturists
and
higher
castes
had
houses
of
a
rectangular
ground
plan
with
rooms
along
all
the
sides
(khanja-ghara),
leaving
an
open
space
(agana)
in

the
center.
Mud
walls
with
a
gabled
roof
of
thatch
made
of
paddy
stalks
or
jungle
grass
(more
durable)
were
common.
The
more
affluent
had
double-ceiling
houses
(atu
ghara)
with

the
inner
ceiling
of
mud
plaster
supported
by
wooden
or
bamboo
planks.
This
construction
made
it
fire-
proof
and
insulated
against
the
summer
heat
and
winter
chill.
The
entrance
room

was
usually
a
cowshed,
as
cattle
were
the
wealth
of
the
people.
Men
met
villagers
and
guests
on
the
wide
front
veranda.
Poorer
people
had
houses
with
mud
walls
and

straw-thatched
gable
roofs,
without
enclosed
courtyards
or
double
ceilings.
The
smoke
from
the
kitchen
escaped
under
the
gabled
roof.
The
Oriya
had,
in
common
with
east-
ern
India,
a
wooden

husking
lever
(dhenki)
in
the
courtyard
for
dehusking
paddy
rice
or
making
rice
flour.
Nowadays
houses
with
large
windows
and
doors,
roofs
of
concrete
(tiled
or
with
corrugated
iron
or

asbestos
sheets),
walls
of
brick
and
mortar,
and
cement
floors
are
becoming
common
even
in
re-
mote
villages.
In
the
traditional
house,
the
northeastern
cor-
ner
of
the
kitchen
formed

the
sacred
site
of
the
ancestral
spir-
its
(ishana)
for
family
worship.
Economy
Subsistence
and
Commercial
Activities.
Subsistence
cul-
tivation
of
paddy
is
ubiquitous
as
rice
is
the
staple
food.

Double-cropping,
sometimes
even
triple-cropping
in
irrigated
fields,
and
single-cropping
in
drought-affected
or
rain-fed
areas
are
all
common.
Large-scale
farming
with
heavy
agricul-
tural
machinery
is
still
uncommon.
Plowing
with
two

bullocks
or
two
buffalo
is
usual,
with
a
wooden
plow.
Only
recently
have
iron
plows
been
coming
into
use.
Cash
crops
like
sugar-
cane,
jute,
betel
leaves
on
raised
mounds,

coconuts
and
areca
nuts
(betel
nuts)
are
grown
in
coastal
Orissa,
and
pulses
and
oil
seeds
in
drought-prone
areas.
Recently
coffee,
cocoa,
car-
damom,
pineapples,
and
bananas
have
also
been

raised
on
a
commercial
scale.
Fish
are
caught
in
traps
and
nets
from
vil-
lage
tanks,
streams,
rivers,
coastal
swamps,
and
also
in
the
flooded
paddy
fields.
Fishing
boats
with

outboard
motors
and
trawlers
are
nowadays
used
at
sea.
The
domestic
animals
in-
clude
cows,
goats,
cats,
chickens,
ducks,
and
water
buffalo
among
the
lowest
castes,
as
well
as
pigs

and
dogs
among
the
urban
middle
class.
Industrial
Arts.
Most
large
villages
had
castes
of
artisans
who
served
the
agricultural
economy
in
former
times.
Car-
penters,
wheelwrights,
and
blacksmiths
were

absolutely
nec-
essary.
Some
villages
had
potters
with
pottery
wheels
and
weavers
with
cottage
looms
(cotton
was
formerly
grown
and
yam
spun).
Today,
industrial
products
are
displacing
the
vil-
lage

products
except
for
the
wooden
plow
and
cart
wheels.
Some
cottage
industries,
especially
the
handloomed
textiles
(including
the
weaving
of
ikat,
cotton
textiles
that
are
tied
and
dyed),
are
producing

for
export.
Brass
and
bell-metal
utensils
and
statues
and
silver
and
gold
filigree
ornaments
have
a
wide
clientele.
Oriya
217
Trade.
In
villages,
peddling
and
weekly
markets
were
the
usual

commercial
channels.
Since
World
War
11
ration
shops
have
sold
scarce
essential
commodities.
Division
of
Labor.
Men
plow,
sow,
and
carry
goods
with
a
pole
balanced
on
the
shoulder,
whereas

women
carry
things
on
their
head,
weed,
and
transplant
the
fields.
Harvesting
is
done
by
both
sexes.
While
men
fish
and
hunt,
women
per-
form
household
chores
and
tend
babies.

Traditionally,
among
higher-caste
and
higher-class
families,
women
did
not
work
outside
home.
Nowadays
men
and
some
women
are
en-
gaged
in
salaried
service,
but
only
lower-caste
and
lower-class
women
undertake

wage
labor.
Land
Tenure.
Before
Independence
land
under
agricul-
ture
had
increased
substantially.
However,
because
of
the
high
rate
of
population
growth
and
subdivision
of
landhold-
ings,
the
number
of

marginal
farmers
and
the
landless
in,
creased
sharply
thereafter.
Following
Independence
some
land
above
the
statutory
ceiling
or
from
the
common
property
resources
was
distributed
among
the
landless,
weaker
sections

of
society.
Large-scale
industrial
and
irrigation-cum-power
projects
displaced
people
and
added
to
the
ranks
of
the
landless.
All
of
this
has
resulted
in
various
categories
of
ten-
ancy
and
contractual

lease
ofland
for
subsistence
cultivation.
Kinship
Kin
Groups
and
Descent.
Traditionally
and
currently,
three
patterns
of
family
organization
have
obtained:
(1)
the
multihousehold
compounds
where
the
separate
families
of
the

sons
of
the
common
father
are
housed
as
an
extended
family;
(2)
joint
families
with
all
the
brothers
living
together,
with
a
common
kitchen,
with
or
without
the
parents
living

(more
common
in
villages
than
towns);
(3)
several
families
belonging
to
a
patrilineage
among
whom
kin
obligations
con-
tinue,
residing
in
neighboring
villages.
Descent
is
patrilineal.
Kinship
Terminology.
The
social

emphasis
on
seniority
in
age
and
differentiation
by
sex
and
generation
are
observed.
Kinship
terminology
follows
the
Hawaiian
system.
Fictive
or
ritual
kin
terms
are
used
widely
and
are
expressed

in
respect
and
affection
and
also
in
meeting
appropriate
kin
obligations.
Marriage
and
Family
Marriage.
Although
polygyny
was
practiced
earlier,
most
marriages
today
are
monogamous.
Most
marriages
even
now
are

also
arranged
by
parents,
though
some
are
based
on
the
mutual
choice
of
the
marriage
partners.
Only
in
western
Orissa
and
southern
Orissa
is
cousin
marriage
practiced.
Marriage
partners
must

not
belong
to
the
same
gotra
(mythi-
cal
patrilineal
descent
group).
Bride-price
among
the
lower
and
middle
castes
has
been
replaced
by
a
more
costly
dowry
for
the
bridegroom
among

all
classes
and
castes.
After
mar-
riage,
residence
is
patrilocal,
with
the
bride
assuming
the
gotra
of
the
husband.
Nowadays
residence
tends
to
be
neo-
local
near
the
place
of

work.
The
Hindu
marriage
was
ideally
for
this
life
and
beyond,
but
since
1956
divorce
has
been
per-
mitted
under
legal
procedures.
Domestic
Unit.
Living
in
a
family
is
considered

normal
and
proper.
Most
families
today
in
both
villages
and
towns
are
nuclear,
though
some
are
joint
families.
Members
working
and
living
outside
usually
visit
the
residual
family
and
shrines

occasionally.
Often
land
is
cultivated
jointly
by
sharing
the
farm
expenses.
Recently
there
has
been
a
tendency
to
reduce
the
size
of
the
rural
household
through
family
planning.
Inheritance.
Traditionally

only
sons
inherited
land
and
other
immovable
properties.
The
eldest
son
was
given
an
ad-
ditional
share
(jyesthansha).
Since
1956
the
widow
and
daughters
have
been
legal
cosharers
in
all

property.
Socialization.
Parents,
grandparents,
and
siblings
care
for
infants
and
children
and
provide
informal-and,
recently,
formal-education
before
school.
Education
of
girls
is
still
not
common
beyond
primary
school.
Physical
punishment

to
discipline
a
child
is
common,
though
infants
are
usually
spared
and
cuddled.
Respect
for
seniors
in
all
situations
and
the
value
of
education
are
emphasized,
especially
among
the
higher

classes.
Sociopolitical
Organization
Orissa
is
a
state
in
the
Republic
of
India,
which
has
an
elected
president.
The
governor
is
the
head
of
Orissa
State,
and
the
chief
minister
is

the
elected
head
of
the
government
of
Orissa.
Social
Organization.
Traditional
Oriya
society
is
hierarchi-
cally
organized
primarily
on
the
basis
of
caste
(and
subcaste)
and
occupations
and
secondarily
on

the
basis
of
social
class.
The
highest
castes,
Brahman,
are
priests
and
teachers
of
the
Great
Tradition.
Below
them
in
descending
order
of
status
are:
the
Kshatriya,
warriors
and
rulers;

the
Vaisya,
or
traders;
and
the
Sudra,
or
skilled
and
unskilled
workers
and
service
holders.
The
occupations
involving
manual
and
menial
work
are
low
in
status,
and
polluting
occupations
like

skinning
dead
animals
or
making
shoes
are
associated
with
the
lowest
castes,
the
Un-
touchables.
Ascriptive
status
in
the
caste
system
is
sometimes
checked
now
by
acquired
status
in
the

class
system.
In
rural
Orissa
patron-client
relationships
are
common
and
social
mo-
bility
is
difficult
Political
Organization.
Orissa
is
divided
into
thirteen
dis-
tricts
(tilla),
and
each
district
is
divided

into
subdivisions
(tahsils)
for
administrative
purposes,
into
police
stations
(thana)
for
law-and-order
purposes,
and
into
community
development
blocs
(blok)
for
development
purposes.
There
are
village-cluster
committees
(panchayatj
with
elected
mem-

bers
and
a
head
(sarpanch)
for
the
lowest
level
of
self.
administration
and
development.
The
community
develop-
ment
bloc
has
a
panchayat
samiti
or
council
of
panchayats
headed
by
the

chairman,
with
all
the
sarpanch
as
members.
Each
caste
or
populous
subcaste
in
a
group
of
adjacent
vil-
lages
also
had
a
jati
panchayat
for
enforcing
values
and
insti-
tutional

discipline.
The
traditional
gram
panchayat,
consist-
ing
of
the
leaders
of
several
important
castes
in
a
village,
was
for
maintaining
harmony
and
the
ritual
cycle.
Social
Control
and
Conflict.
Warfare

between
adjacent
princedoms
and
villages
came
to
a
stop
under
British
rule.
The
police
stations
(thana)
maintain
law
and
order
in
the
rural
areas.
Religion
and
Expressive
Culture
Hinduism
of

various
sects
is
a
central
and
unifying
force
in
Oriya
society.
The
overwhelmingly
important
Vaishnava
sect
have
their
supreme
deity,
Jagannatha,
who
lords
it
over
the
re-
218
Oriya.
ligious

firmament
of
Orissa.
Lord
Jagannatha's
main
temple
is
at
Puri
on
the
sea,
where
the
famous
annual
festival
with
huge
wooden
chariots
dragged
for
the
regional
divine
triad-
Jagannatha,
Balabhadra,

and
Subhadra
(goddess
sister)-
draws
about
half
a
million
devotees.
The
famous
Lingaraja
temple
of
Lord
Shiva
at
Bhubaneswar,
the
famous
Viraja
god-
dess
temple
at
Jajpur,
both
in
coastal

Orissa,
and
Mahi-
magadi,
the
cult
temple
of
the
century-old
Mahima
sect
of
worshipers
of
Shunya
Parama
Brahma
(the
absolute
soul
void)
at
Joranda
in
central
Orissa,
are
highly
sacred

for
the
Oriya
people.
Religious
Beliefs.
The
people
of
Orissa
profess
Hinduism
overwhelmingly
(96.4
percent),
with
Christianity
(1.73
per-
cent),
Islam
(1.49
percent),
Sikhism
(0.04
percent)
and
Bud-
dhism
(0.04

percent)
trailing
far
behind.
Obviously
many
tri-
bal
groups
have
declared
Hinduism
as
their
religion.
Apart
from
supreme
beings,
gods,
and
goddesses
of
classical
Hindu
religion,
the
Oriya
propitiate
a

number
of
disease
spirits,
vil-
lage
deities,
and
revered
ancestral
spirits.
Religious
Practitioners.
In
the
villages
each
Brahman
priest
has
a
number
of
client
families
of
Kshatriya,
Vaisya,
and
some

Sudra
castes.
There
are
also
magicians
(gunia)
practicing
witchcraft
and
sorcery.
Kalisi
or
shamans
are
con-
sulted
to
discover
the
causes
of
crises
and
the
remedies.
Ceremonies.
A
large
number

of
rituals
and
festivals
mostly
following
the
lunar
calendar
are
observed.
The
most
important
rituals
are:
the
New
Year
festival
(Bishuba
Sankranti)
in
mid-April;
the
fertility
of
earth
festival
(Raja

Parab);
festival
of
plowing
cattle
(Gahma
Punein);
the
ritual
of
eating
the
new
rice
(Nabanna);
the
festival
worshiping
the
goddess
of
victory,
known
otherwise
as
Dassara
(Durga
Puja);
the
festival

of
the
unmarried
girls
(Kumar
Purnima);
the
solar-calendar
harvest
festival
(Makar
Sankranti);
the
fast
for
Lord
Shiva
(Shiva
Ratri);
the
festival
of
colors
and
the
agri-
cultural
New
Year
(Dola

Purnima
or
Dola
Jatra);
and,
finally,
the
festival
worshiping
Lord
Krishna
at
the
end
of
February.
In
November-December
(lunar
month
of
Margashira)
every
Thursday
the
Gurubara
Osha
ritual
for
the

rice
goddess
Lak-
shmi
is
held
in
every
Oriya
home.
Arts.
The
ancient
name
of
Orissa,
Utkala,
literally
means
'the
highest
excellence
in
the
arts."
The
Oriya
are
famous
for

folk
paintings,
painting
on
canvas
(patta-chitra),
statuary
and
sculptures,
the
Orissan
style
of
temple
architecture,
and
tour-
ist
and
pilgrim
mementos
made
of
horn,
papier-miche,
and
applique
work.
Classical
Odissi

dance,
the
virile
Chhow
dance,
colorful folk
dances
with
indigenous
musical
instru-
ments
(percussion,
string,
and
wind)
and
also
Western
in-
struments,
dance
dramas,
shadow
plays
(Ravana-Chhaya)
with
puppets,
folk
opera

(atra),
mimetic
dances,
and
musical
recitation
of
God's
names
are
all
very
popular.
Orissi
music,
largely
following
classical
ragaa)
tunes,
and
folk
music,
are
rich
and
varied.
Medicine.
Illness
is

attributed
to
"hot"
or
"cold"
food,
evil
spirits,
disease
spirits,
and
witches;
and
mental
diseases
to
sorcery
or
spirit
possession.
Leprosy
and
gangrenous
wounds
are
thought
to
be
punishment
for

the
commission
of
"great"
sins,
and,
for
general
physical
and
mental
conditions,
planets
and
stars
in
the
zodiac
are
held
to
be
responsible.
Cures
are
sought
through
herbal
folk
medicines,

propitiation
of
super-
natural
beings
and
spirits,
exorcism,
counteraction
by
a
gunia
(sorcery
and
witchcraft
specialist),
and
the
services
of
home-
opathic,
allopathic,
or
Ayurvedic
specialists.
Death
and
Afterlife.
Death

is
considered
a
transitional
state
in
a
cycle
of
rebirths
till
the
soul
(atma)
merges
in
the
absolute
soul
(paramatma).
The
god
of
justice,
Yama,
assigns
the
soul
either
to

Heaven
(swarga)
or
to
Hell
(narka).
The
fu-
neral
rites
and
consequent
pollution
attached
to
the
family
and
lineage
of
the
deceased
last
for
ten
days
among
higher
castes.
The

dead
normally
are
cremated.
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