Hinduism
is a complex religion with no one founder or specific creed, and it
is the religion of around 83% of South Indians, 11% are Moslems and
5% Christians.
Hinduism is actually more than a religion; it is a way of life. Hindus
are born into their religion and caste position and everything they
do in life is preparing them for their next life. If they are born into
a low position they believe they need to work hard and behave well if
they are to have a better position in their next life. There are five
major caste groups, each with a clear set of rules of conduct in all
aspects of life. At the top are the Brahmins, the priests and ruling
class, and at the bottom are the Harijans (also called Untouchables,
Dalits and now ‘Scheduled Castes’) who perform all the menial
jobs, such as cleaning the streets. ‘Harijan’ was a term
applied by Gandhi meaning ‘Children of God’. Some ‘scheduled
castes’ in K.V.Kuppam have converted to Christianity.
A person’s diet is usually linked to religion and caste: Hindus
don’t eat beef just as Muslims don’t eat pork. Within Hinduism
caste is crucial: Brahmins are vegan, lower castes eat meat and eggs
and some scheduled castes eat beef. Behind this there is an enormous
body of lore. Brahmins are traditionally priests; therefore they do
little physical work and need less energy. So the scriptures prescribe
‘Sattvik’ food: things like rice, milk, green vegetables
and sweet potatoes. Lower castes traditionally do manual work so eat
‘Rajasik’ food; potatoes, urad dhal, meat, wine etc. Scheduled
castes are actually outside the caste system, so have no prescribed
food.
Wherever you go in
South India you find religion: symbols, attitudes, rituals and stories.
Its influence on Indian daily life cannot be overestimated. Names around
K.V. Kuppam are just as much influenced. Just as ‘Church Road’
is a very common street name in Britain, one of the roads in K.V.Kuppam
is ‘Perumal Coil Street’. ‘Perumal’ is a god
and ‘Coil’ is a Tamil word for temple. In the past only
Brahmins would have lived on ‘Brahmin Street’ and only people
from the Reddiar caste on ‘Reddiar Street’. Nowadays these
rules are not enforced but the street names remain.
There is, however, still a degree of caste segregation. Many of the
weavers live and work in the weavers’ colony. The area has its
own temple and is slightly separated from the rest of the village by
the railway tracks. There is also a ‘Harijan’ quarter. Traditionally
Harijans would have had their own well, temple and shops etc. This enabled
higher caste people to avoid contact with them.
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