Note 42 — B (continued 2)

Bāvuri.—The Bāvuris, or Bauris, are a low class of Oriya basket-makers, living in Ganjam, and are more familiarly known as Khodālo. They are a polluting class, living in separate quarters, and occupy a position lower than the Sāmantiyas, but higher than the Kondras, Dandāsis, and Haddis. They claim that palanquin (dhooly or dūli) bearing is their traditional occupation, and consequently call themselves Bōyi. “According to one story,” Risley writes,42 “they were degraded for attempting to steal food from the banquet of the gods; another professes to trace them back to a mythical ancestor named Bāhak Rishi (the bearer of burdens), and tells how, while returning from a marriage procession, they sold the palanquin they had been hired to carry, got drunk on the proceeds, and assaulted their guru (religious preceptor), who cursed them for the sacrilege, and condemned them to rank thenceforward among the lowest castes of the community.” The Bāvuris are apparently divided into two endogamous sections, viz., Dulia and Khandi. The former regard themselves as superior to the latter, and prefer to be called Khodālo. Some of these have given up eating beef, call themselves Dāsa Khodālos, and claim descent from one Balliga Doss, a famous Bāvuri devotee, who is said to have worked wonders, analogous to those of Nandan of the Paraiyan community. To this section the caste priests belong. At Russelkonda, a woman, when asked if she was a Bāvuri, replied that the caste is so called by others, but that its real name is Khodālo. Others, in reply to a question whether they belonged to the Khandi section, became angry, and said that the Khandis are inferior, because they eat frogs.