# Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Gāniga or Gāndla

​Gāniga or Gāndla. — The name Gāniga is derived from the Telugu gānuga, meaning an oil-mill. The Gānigas are said * to be " the oil pressers of the Canarese people, corresponding to the Telugu Gāndla and the Tamil Vāniyan. This caste is sub-divided into three sections, none of whom eat together or intermarry. These sections are the Heggānigas, who yoke two oxen to a stone oil-mill; Kirgānigas, who make oil in wooden ​mills; and Ontiyeddu Gānigas, who yoke only one animal to the mill. They are collectively known as Jōtipans or Jōtinagarams (people of the city of light). In addition to pressing oil, they also make palm-leaf umbrellas, cultivate land, and work as labourers. They employ Brāhmans to perform, their ceremonies. Their guru is the head of the Vyāsarāya mutt at Ānegundi. Early marriage is practiced. Widow remarriage is not allowed. They eat fish, mutton, and fowls, but do not drink liquor. Chetti is their title." In the Madras Census Report, 1891, it is stated that the guru of the Gānigas is the head of the mutt at Sringeri, and that they employ Havig Brāhmans for their ceremonies. Sringeri is the name of a Smarta (Saivite) mutt or religious institution at several places, such as Tanjore and Kumbakōnam; and there is a town of this name in Mysore, from which the mutt derives its name.
Concerning the Gānigas of the Mysore Province, Mr. V. N. Narasimmiyengar writes as follows.* "The account locally obtained connects this caste with the Nagartās, as forming the leading communities of the left-hand faction, in opposition to the Lingayats and other castes composing the right-hand faction. Caste supremacy is ever associated in India with preternatural mythology. If the average Brāhman traces his nobility literally to the face of Brahma, according to the Vēdic Purusha Sūkta, every other castelet claims a patent of superiority in a similar miraculous origin. The Gānigas allege that they immigrated from the north at a time beyond living memory. A Mysore noble, named Mallarāje Ars, established and first peopled the pēte (market town) of Bangalore, when the Gānigas first came there, ​followed by the Nagartās, who are said to have been coemigrants with the Gānigas, Mallarāj made Sattis and Yajamāns (headmen) of the principal members of the two castes, and exempted . them from the house-tax. The Gānigas are both Vaishnavites and Saivites. Their guru is known as Dharmasivāchārsvāmi in the Madras Presidency, and certain gōtras (family names) are said to be common to the Gānigas and Nagartās, but they never eat together or intermarry. The Gānigas claim the peculiar privilege of following the Vishnu image or car processions, throughout the province, with flags exhibiting the figures of Hanumān and Garuda, and torches. These insignia are alleged to have been aboriginally given to an ancestor, named Siriyāla Satti, by Rāma, as a reward for a valuable gem presented by him. The Gānigas call themselves Dharmasivāchār Vaisyās like the Nagartās, and the feud between them used often to culminate in much bitter unpleasantness. The order includes a small division of the linga-wearing oilmongers, known as Sajjanā (good men), whose population is a small fraction of the community. The Sajjanās, however, hold no social intercourse of any kind with the other sub-divisions."
The Gānigas of Sandūr, in the little Marātha State of that name, returned Yenne (oil) and Kallu (stone) as sub-divisions. The average cephalic index of these Gānigas was very high, being 80.5 as against 77.6 for the Gānigas of Mysore city.
"The oil-mill of the Gānigas is," Mr. W. Francis writes,*" a sort of large wooden mortar, usually formed out of the heart of a tamarind tree, and firmly imbedded in the ground. A wooden cylinder, shod with iron, fits ​roughly into the cavity. A cross beam is lashed to this in such a way that one end is close to the ground, and to this a pair of bullocks or buffaloes are fastened. By an arrangement of pullies, the pressure of the cylinder can be increased at pleasure. As the bullocks go round the trough, the seeds are crushed by the action of the cylinder, so that the expressed oil falls to the bottom, while the residuum, as oil-cake, adheres to the side of the mortar,"
The following note refers to the Onteddu (single bullock) Gānigas, who claim superiority over those who employ two bullocks in working their oil-mills. The former belong to the right-hand, and the latter to the left-hand faction. Among them are various sub-divisions, of which the Dēva and Onteddu may intermarry, while the Kasi, Teli (gingelly : Sesamum), and Chandanapu are endogamous. Like other Telugu castes they have gōtras, some of which are interesting, as there are certain prohibitions connected with them. For example, members of the Badranollu and Balanollu gōtras may not cut the tree Erythroxylon mononogynum.In like manner, members of the Vīranollu and Viththanollu gōtras are forbidden to cut Feronia elephantum and those of the Vēdanollu gōtra to cut Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. Members of certain other gōtras do not cultivate turmeric, sugarcane, or the millet (Panicum miliare).
The Onteddu Gānigas are Saivites, and disciples of Lingāyat Brāhmans (Ārādhyas). Some, however, wear the sacred thread, and others bear on the forehead the red streak of the Vaishnavites. In some places, their special deity is Chaudeswara, who is the god of some of
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The marriage rites conform, for the most part, to the Telugu type. But, while the wrist thread is being tied on, common salt is held in the hand. A dagger (bāku) is then given to the bridegroom, who keeps it with him till the conclusion of the ceremonies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom wears the sacred thread. The tāli is not an ordinary bottu, but a thread composed of 101 thin strings, which is removed on the last day, and replaced by a bottu. On the third day, the bride and bridegroom worship a jammi tree (Prosopis spicigera), and the latter, removing his sacred thread, throws it on the tree. Five young men, called Bāla Dāsulu, also worship the tree, and, if they are wearing the sacred thread, throw it thereon. The dead are as a rule buried, in a sitting posture if the deceased was an orthodox Saivite. If a young man dies a bachelor, the corpse is married to an arka plant (Calotropis gigmitea), and decorated with a wreath made of the flowers thereof. The final death ceremonies are performed on the eleventh day. Food is offered to crows and the soul of the dead person, who is represented by a wooden post dressed with his clothes. The bangles of a widow are broken ​near the post, which is finally thrown into a tank or stream.
Gāniga further occurs as an occupational name for Lingāyat oil-vendors, and for Mogers who are employed as oil-pressers.
* ↑ * Manual of the South Canara district.
* ↑ * Mysore Census Report, 1891.
* ↑ * Garetteer of the Bellary district.