Note 20 — S

For the following note on Sātānis in the Vizagapatam district, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. Sātāni is said to be the shortened form of Saththādavan, the uncovered man. They are prohibited from covering three different parts of their bodies, viz., the head with the usual tuft of hair, the body with the sacred thread, and the waist with the customary strip of cloth. All devout Sātānis shave their heads completely. [There is a proverb “Tie a knot on the Sātāni’s tuft of hair, and on the ascetic’s holy thread.” The Sātānis shave the whole head, and the Sanyāsis have no sacred thread.]20 The caste is divided into exogamous septs, or intipērulu. The custom of mēnarikam, according to which a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is observed. The remarriage of widows and divorce are not allowed. Attempts have been made by some members of the caste, in other parts of the Madras Presidency, to connect themselves with Chaitanya. But, so far as the Vizagapatam district is concerned, this is repudiated. They are Rāmānuja Vaishnavas of the Tenkalai persuasion. Their gurus are known as Paravasthuvāru—a corruption of Paravāsu Dēva, whose figure is on the vimāna of the Srīrangam temple, and who must be visited before entering the principal sanctuary. They live at Gūmsūr in Ganjam, and have Sadachārulu, or ever-devout followers, who act as their agents in Vizagapatam. They brand the shoulders of Sātānis with the Vaishnavite emblems, the sankha and chakra, and initiate them into the mysteries of the Vaishnava religion by whispering into their ears the word Rāmānuja. The Sātāni learns by heart various songs in eulogy of Srīrangam and its deity, by means of which he earns his living. He rises in the early morning, and, after a bath, adorns his forehead and body with the Vaishnavite nāmam, ties round his clean-shaved head a string of tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) beads known as thirupavithram, puts a tulsi garland round his neck, and takes a fan called gajakarnam, or elephant’s ear, in his right hand. In his left hand he carries a copper gourd-shaped vessel. He is generally accompanied by another Sātāni similarly got up. When begging, they sing the songs referred to above, and collect the rice which is given to them in their vessels. At the end of their round they return home, and their wives clean the rice, bow down before it, and cook it. No portion of the rice obtained by begging should be sold for money. The Sātānis play an important part in the social life of the Vaishnavites of the district, and are the gurus of some of the cultivating and other classes. They preside at the final death ceremonies of the non-Brāhman Vaishnavite castes. They burn their dead, and perform the chinna (little) and pedda rōzu (big day) death ceremonies.