The Balijas bury their dead in a sitting posture. In the Central Provinces they are usually Lingayats and especially worship Gauri, Siva's wife. Jangams serve them as priests. They usually eat flesh and drink liquor, but in Chanda it is stated that both these practices are forbidden. In the Central Provinces they are mainly cultivators, but some of them still sell bangles and salt. Several of them are in Government service and occupy a fairly high social position.
In Madras a curious connection exists between the Kapus and Balijas and the impure Mala caste. It is said that once upon a time the Kapus and Balijas were flying from the Muhammadans and came to the northern Pallar river in high flood. They besought the river to go down and let them across, but it demanded the sacrifice of a first-born child. While the Kapus and Balijas were hesitating, the Malas who had followed them boldly sacrificed one of their children. Immediately the river divided before them and they all crossed in safety. Ever since then the Kapus and Balijas have respected the Malas, and the Balijas formerly even deposited the images of the goddess Gauri, of Ganesha, and of Siva's bull with the Malas, as the hereditary custodians of their gods. [114]
1. _General notice._ 2. _The Banias a true caste: use of the name._ 3. _Their distinctive occupation._ 4. _Their distinctive status._ 5. _The endogamous divisions of the Banias._ 6. _The Banias derived from the Rajputs._ 7. _Banias employed as ministers in Rajput courts._ 8. _Subcastes._ 9. _Hindu and Jain subcastes: divisions among subcastes._ 10. _Exogamy and rules regulating marriage._ 11. _Marriage customs._ 12. _Polygamy and widow-marrriage._ 13. _Disposal of the dead and mourning._ 14. _Religion: the god Ganpati or Ganesh._ 15. _Diwali festival._ 16. _Holi festival._ 17. _Social customs: rules about food._ 18. _Character of the Bania._ 19. _Dislike of the cultivators towards him._ 20. _His virtues._ 21. _The moneylender changed for the worse._ 22. _The enforcement of contracts._ 23. _Cash coinage and the rate of interest._ 24. _Proprietary and transferable rights in land._ 25. _The Bania as a landlord._ 26. _Commercial honesty._
List of Subordinate Articles on Subcastes