# Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Kummara, Kumbāra, Kumbāro

​Kummara, Kumbāra, Kumbāro. — "The potters of the Madras Presidency," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,* "outside the Tamil country and Malabar, are called Kummara in Telugu, Kumbāro in Uriya, and Kumbāra in Canarese, all these names being corrupted forms of the Sanskrit word Kumbhakāra, pot-maker (ku, earth). In social position they are considered to be a superior class of Sūdras. The Telugu Kummaras were cooks under the ancient kings, and many of them still work in that capacity in Sūdra houses. The Kumbāros are purely Vaishnavites and employ Boishnob priests, while the Kummaras and Kumbāras call in Brāhmans. Widow ​remarriage is allowed among the Uriya section alone. All of them eat flesh." Concerning the potter classes, Mr. Stuart writes further that "Kummaras or Kusavans (q.v.) are the potters of the country, and were probably at one time a single caste, but are now divided into Telugus, Northern Tamilians and Southern Tamilians, who have similar customs, but will not intermarry or eat together. The northern and southern potters differ in that the former use a wheel of earthenware, and the latter one made of wood. The Telugu potters are usually followers of Vishnu and the Tamilians of Siva, some being also Lingāyats, and therefore burying their dead. All the potters claim an impure Brāhmanical descent, telling the following story regarding their origin. A learned Brāhman, after long study, discovered the day and hour in which he might beget a mighty offspring. For this auspicious time he waited long, and at its approach started for the house of his selected bride, but floods detained him, and, when he should have been with her, he was stopping in a potter's house. He was, however, resolved not to lose the opportunity, and by the daughter of his host he had a son, the celebrated Sālivāhana. This hero in his infancy developed a genius for pottery, and used to amuse himself by making earthen figures of mounted warriors, which he stored in large numbers in a particular place. After a time Vikramarka invaded Southern India, and ordered the people to supply him with pots for his army. They applied to Salivahana, who miraculously infused life into his clay figures, and led them to battle against the enemy, whom he defeated, and the country (Mysore) fell into his hands. Eventually he was left as its ruler, and became the ancestor of the ​early Mysore Rājas. Such is the story current among the potters, who generally believe that they are his progeny. They all live in a state of poverty and ignorance, and are considered of a low rank among other Sūdras."
At the village of Karigeri in the North Arcot district, there is carried on by some of the local potters an interesting industry in the manufacture of ornamental pottery, for which a medal was awarded at the Delhi Darbar Exhibition. "The soft pottery," Surgeon-General G.Bidie writes, "receives a pretty green glaze, and is made into vases and other receptacles, some of which are imitations of Delft ware and other European manufactures of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; patterns having been introduced by Collectors.* Some of the water-bottles are double, the outer shell being pierced so as to allow air to circulate around the inner." The history of this little industry is, I gather, as follows.†*' Mr. Robinson, a Collector in the sixties of the last century, started the manufacture of tea-pots, milk jugs, and sugar bowls with a dark green glaze, but his dream of supplying all India with chota hazri (early tea) sets was not realised. Then came Mr.Whiteside, and the small Grecian vases and the like are due to his and Mrs.Barlow's influence. He had accurate wooden models made by his well-known wood-carvers. He further altered the by no means pretty green glaze, and reddish browns and yellows were produced. Then came Mr.Stuart, who pushed the sale at exhibitions and railway stations. He also gave the potters models of fancy flower-pots for in-door use. The pottery is exceedingly fragile, and unsuitable for rough usage. Unglazed water ​and butter coolers were the earliest and best articles the potters produced."
Concerning the Kumbāras of South Canara, Mr. Stuart writes,* that they "seem to be a branch of the Telugu and Canarese potter castes, but many of them have Tulu for their home speech, and follow the aliyasantāna rule of inheritance (in the female line). Some of them officiate as pūjāris (priests) in the temples of the local deities or demons, and are employed to perform funeral rites. Unlike the Tamil potters, the Kumbāras do not wear the sacred thread. Infant and widow marriages are very common. On the birth of a child, the family observe pollution for fifteen days, and on the sixteenth day the village barber and dhobi (washerman) get holy water from the village temple, and purify the family by sprinkling it on their head. There are two endogamous sub-divisions, the Kannada and Tulu Kumbāra, and each of these is divided into exogamous balis. Their ordinary title is Handa, which is also sometimes used as the name of the caste. In Uppinangadi a superior kind of pottery is made (by the Kannada Kumbāras). It is made of clay powdered, mixed with water, and strained. It is then poured into a pit specially prepared for the purpose, where it is allowed to remain for about a month, by which time it becomes quite dry. It is then removed, powdered, moistened, and made into balls, which are one by one placed upon a wheel and fashioned into various kinds of vessels, including vases, goglets, teapots, cups and saucers. The vessels are dried in the shade for about eight days, after which they are baked for two days, when they are ready for sale. ​They have a glazed appearance, and are sometimes beautifully ornamented."
In the Census Report, 1901, Vōdāri, Bandi, and Mūlya are returned as sub-castes of the Canarese potters.
The Kumbaras of the Mysore Province are, Mr.T. Ananda Row informs us,* " potters and tile-makers. There are two great divisions among them mutually exclusive, the Kannada and Telugu, the former claiming superiority over the latter. The Telugu Kumbāras trace their descent to Sālivāhana, and wear the sacred thread. They abstain from eating meat. There are both Saivites and Vaishnavites among Kumbāras. The former acknowledge the Smartha Brāhman's sway. Polygamy is permitted, and divorce can only be for adultery. Widows are not permitted to remarry. This caste also includes dyers known as Nīlagara (nīl, indigo). It is curious that these two trades, quite distinct from one another, are followed by persons of the same family according to inclination. The Kumbāras worship all the Hindu deities, but pay special reverence to their kiln. They are recognised members of the village hierarchy." Of the Mysore Kumbāras, Mr. L. Rice writes † that the "pot-makers were not stationed in every village, one or two being generally sufficient for a hobli or taraf. He furnished pots for all the ryats (agriculturists) of his taraf, and was entitled to ayam in an equal proportion as the other Ayagar (hereditary village officers). For liberty of exposing his wares for sale to travellers in the markets, he paid chakra-kanke to the Sirkar (Government)." At Channapatna, in Mysore, I purchased for three annas a large collection of articles ​of pottery made out of black and brown clay. They are said to be made at a village near Channapatna, and consist of rudely ornamented miniature lamps of various patterns, models of native kitchen-ranges, pots, tobacco-pipes, dishes, etc. At the Mysore census, 1891, some potters described themselves as Gundu (round) Brāhmans.
The Oriya Kumbāro (kumbho, a pot) are said to practice both infant and adult marriage, and to permit the remarriage of widows. A sub-caste, named Bhande, derives its name from the Sanskrit bhanda, a pot. The Madras Museum possesses a quaint series of painted clay figures, made by a potter at Venkatarayapalle in Ganjam, which are set up in shrines on the seashore, and worshipped by fishermen. They include the following: —
Bengāli Bābu. — Wears a hat, and rides on a black horse. He blesses the fishermen, secures large hauls of fish for them, and guards them against danger when out fishing.
Rājamma. — A female figure, with a sword in her right hand, riding on a black elephant. She blesses barren women with children, and favours her devotees with big catches when they go out fishing.
Veyyi Kannalu Ammavaru, or the goddess of a thousand eyes, represented by a pot pierced with many holes, in which a gingelly (Sesamum) oil light is burnt. She attends to the general welfare of the fishing folk.
Further details relating to the South Indian potters will be found under the heading Kusavan.
* ↑ * Madras Census Report, 1891.
* ↑ * Manual of the North Arcot district.
* ↑ * Not collectors of art pottery, but Collectors or District Magistrates.
* ↑ † Madras Mail, 1903.
* ↑ * Manual of the South Canara district.
* ↑ • Mysore Census Report, 1901.
* ↑ † Mysore and Coorg Gazetteer.