A special feature of the Telugu Brahmans is that, like the Telugu non-Brahman classes, they have house names or intiperulu, of which the following are examples:--Kota (fort), Lanka (island), Puchcha (Citrullus Colocynthis), Chintha (tamarind), Kaki (crow). Niyogi house-names sometimes terminate with the word razu.
IV. Carnataka.--The sub-divisions of the Carnatakas or Canarese-speaking Brahmans are as follows:--
1. Aruvaththuvokkalu. 2. Badaganadu. 3. Hosalnadu. 4. Hoisanige or Vaishanige. 5. Kamme (Bobburu, Karna, and Ulcha). 6. Sirnadu. 7. Maraka.
1. Aruvela. 2. Aruvaththuvokkalu. 3. Badaganadu. 4. Pennaththurar. 5. Prathamasaki. 6. Hyderabadi.
The Carnatakas very closely resemble the Andhras in their ceremonial observances, and, like them, attach much importance to vratams. The Madhva Carnatakas are recent converts from Carnataka or Andhra Smarthas. The Pennaththurars are supposed to be Tamil Brahmans converted into Madhvas. They retain some of the customs peculiar to the Tamil Brahmans. The marriage badge, for example, is the Tamil tali and not the bottu. Intermarriages between Smarthas and Madhvas of the same section are common. Madhvas, excepting the very orthodox, will take food with both Carnataka and Andhra Smarthas.
The Marakas are thus described by Mr. Lewis Rice. [175] "A caste claiming to be Brahmans, but not recognised as such. They worship the Hindu triad, but are chiefly Vishnuvites, and wear the trident mark on their foreheads. They call themselves Hale Kannadiga or Hale Karnataka, the name Marka [176] being considered as one of reproach, on which account also many have doubtless returned themselves as Brahmans of one or other sect. They are said to be descendants of some disciples of Sankaracharya, the original guru of Sringeri, and the following legend is related of the cause of their expulsion from the Brahman caste to which their ancestors belonged. One day Sankaracharya, wishing to test his disciples, drank some toddy in their presence, and the latter, thinking it could be no sin to follow their master's example, indulged freely in the same beverage. Soon after, when passing a butcher's shop, Sankaracharya asked for alms; the butcher had nothing but meat to give, which the guru and his disciples ate. According to the Hindu shastras, red-hot iron alone can purify a person who has eaten flesh and drunk toddy. Sankaracharya went to a blacksmith's furnace, and begged from him some red-hot iron, which he swallowed and was purified. The disciples were unable to imitate their master in the matter of the red-hot iron, and besought him to forgive their presumption in having dared to imitate him in partaking of forbidden food. Sankaracharya refused to give absolution, and cursed them as unfit to associate with the six sects of Brahmans. The caste is making a strong effort to be readmitted among Brahmans, and some have recently become disciples of Parakalaswami. Their chief occupations are agriculture, and Government service as shanbogs or village accountants." It is recorded, in the Mysore Census Report, 1891, that "some of the more intelligent and leading men in the clan give another explanation (of the legend). It is said that either in Dewan Purnaiya's time, or some time before, a member of this micro-caste rose to power, and persecuted the people so mercilessly that, with characteristic inaptitude, they gave him the nickname Maraka or the slaughterer or destroyer, likening him to the planet Mars, which, in certain constellations, is astrologically dreaded as wielding a fatal influence on the fortunes of mortals. There is, however, no doubt that, in their habits, customs, religion and ceremonials, these people are wholly Brahmanical, but still they remain entirely detached from the main body of the Brahmans. Since the census of 1871, the Hale Kannadigas have been strenuously struggling to get themselves classified among the Brahmans. About 25 years ago, the Sringeri Math issued on behalf of the Smarta portion of the people a Srimukh (papal bull) acknowledging them to be Brahmans. A similar pronouncement was also obtained from the Parakal Math at Mysore about three years later on behalf of the Srivaishnavas among them. And the Local Government directed, a little after the census of 1881, that they should be entered as Brahmans in the Government accounts."