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THE KORAGARS.
JULY, 1874.]
Scarcely half a century had passed after the Portuguese obtained dominion in Goa when, in their indomitable zeal for christianizing the country, even the poor temple of SaptaKoti svara suffered in the general destruction of the Hindu temples. The first Bishop from Portugal, by name D. Joao Nunes de Barreto, of the order of the Jesuits, went himself to the island of Divar and pulled down, stone by stone, the unfortunate building of the seven sages.
While the Christian missionaries were engaged in demolishing the walls of the temple, the Sarasvata Brahmans, who were the guardians of the temple, left it to the care of the missionaries and fled away to the neighbouring village on the mainland with the Linga, and established themselves there in the place called New Narva. It is a popular tradition that the great Sivaji, founder of the Marâțhà empire, finding that the new temple was unworthy of the great deity, enlarged and embellished it at his own expense, though it cannot lay any claim to greatness, nor has it any pretensions to architectural beauty.
Of the old temple there scarcely remains a vestige now, though the place is still known by the name of Old Na : arvem.
In the new temple itself there is only a
The illegitimate children of a high-caste woman and a Sudra were denied admittance into the caste to which their mother belonged. To make their fate more awful, they were subsequently excluded from the country, and ordered to take their abode in remote corners, or places never visited by men of high order. They were then called Chandalas, and now go by the name of Kora gars. Another reason for their being thus banished is that they live upon flesh, which is repugnant to Brahmans, unless hallowed by some form or ceremony, such as Yajnas or the like. Their feeding upon the flesh of cows, the object of veneration and worship among the Brahmans, made their case still worse. But this plausible hypothesis falls to the ground when we consider that the Brahmans do not pursue the same policy with regard to the other beef-eaters, whom they respect almost with idolatry. The real reason for the Koragars' banishment, we may fairly conclude, is
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polished stone Linga about two feet high and sixteen inches in circumference. The temple is opposite to Old Narvem, on the banks of the Pancha-Gañgâ, which takes its rise from the Sahyadri mountains, and joining in its course with the river Gomati, now called Mandovi, falls into the Bay of Agoa da.
The shrine of Sapta-Kotisvara is considered Brahmanical, for, from the first, the owners connected with its management belonged to the class of Sarasvata Brahmans, commonly known as Shenvîs in this city, who have held the hereditary post down to our times.
At present it is one of the principal places of popular worship. A great fair, or tirtha, is held annually, on Gokul Astami, the eighth day of the full moon of the lunar month of Śrâvana, in honour of Sri Krishna, when pilgrims from very distant parts of the country assemble to bathe in the sacred waters of the PanchaGanga, which is supposed on that day to wash away their sins.
THE KORAGARS.
BY ULLAL RAGHAVENDRA RAO.
From a Lecture delivered to the Mangalur Literary Society.
The Brahmans of Goa believe that, on that day, the Bilva or Bêl (Egle marmelos), a plant consecrated to Siva, suddenly rises in abundance from the bottom of the river, above the level of the water, mingled with rice and many fragrant substances.
that in the old days of Brahmanical despotism "might was right," and hence the poor Koragars were driven away to become denizens of jungles or hills.
The mania of caste supremacy is not confined to a few, but is found among all classes of Hindus, and the Koragar is not exempt from it. Within his own circle he has three divisions. A Koragar of one division claims precedence over the others. Some of these, called Ande Kora gars, are described as having a pot suspended from their neck. This class, which is the lowest, is rarely seen since the establishment of the British rule in Kanada. They were considered so unholy that they were not allowed to spit on the public way, and consequently the pot was worn for this purpose. Koragars of the second description are called Vastra Koragars, and the appellation has reference to their wearing clothes such as were used to shroud a dead body, and given to them in the shape of
