The Dudekulas, like the Hindus, like to possess some visible symbol for worship, and they enrol great personages who have died among the number of those at whose graves they worship. So essential is this grave worship that, if a place is without one, a grave is erected in the name of some saint. Such a thing has happened in recent times in Banganapalle. A Fakir, named Alla Bakhsh, died at Kurnool. A Dudekula of the Banganapalle State visited his grave, took away a lump of earth from the ground near it, and buried it in a village ten miles from Banganapalle. A shrine was erected over it in the name of the saint, and has become very famous for the miracles which are performed at it. An annual festival is held, which is attended by large numbers of Muhammadans and Dudekulas.
Some Dudekulas have names which, though at first sight they seem to be Hindu, are really Muhammadan. For example, Kambannah is a corruption of Kamal Sahib, and Sakali, which in Telugu means a washerman, seems to be an altered form of Sheik Ali. Though Dudekulas say that they are Muhammadans of the Sheik sect, the name Sheik is only occasionally used as a prefix, e.g., Sheik Hussain or Sheik Ali. Names of males are Hussain Sa, Fakir Sa, and Khasim Sa. Sa is an abbreviated form of Sahib. One old Dudekula stated that the title Sahib was intended for pucka (genuine) Muhammadans, and that the Dudekulas could not lay claim to the title in its entirety. Instead of Sa, Bhai, meaning brother, is sometimes used as a suffix to the name, e.g., Ghudu Bhai. Ghudu, meaning ash-heap, is an opprobrious name given to children of those whose offspring have died young, in the hope of securing long life to them. The child is taken, immediately after birth, to an ash-heap, where some of the ashes are sprinkled over it. Some Dudekulas adopt the Hindu termination appa (father), anna (brother), or gadu, e.g., Pullanna, Naganna, Yerkalappa, Hussaingadu, Hussainappa. Typical names of females are Roshamma, Jamalamma, and Madaramma. They have dropped the title Bibi or Bi, and adopted the Hindu title amma (mother).
The ceremony of naming a child is generally performed on the sixth day after its birth. The choice of a name is entrusted to an elderly female member of the family. In some cases, the name of a deceased ancestor who lived to an advanced age is taken. If a child dies prematurely, there is a superstitious prejudice against its name, which is avoided by the family. Very frequently a father and son, and sometimes two or three brothers, have the same name. In such a case prefixes are added to their names as a means of distinguishing them, e.g., Pedda (big), Nadpi (middle), Chinna (little). Sometimes two names are assumed by an individual, one a Hindu name for every day use, the other Muhammadan for ceremonial occasions.