The Badugas—Simplicity and Happiness

During my trip to Coonoor in January this year, I had the opportunity of visiting a community of Badugas and interacting with them. The Badugas are Veera Shaiva Lingayats who fled Karnataka to escape the persecutions of Tipu Sultan, the then muslim ruler of Mysore.

Here are some tid bits about the Badugas:

• There are both Vegetarians and non-vegetarians among them. The Veera Shaiva Lingayats are pure vegetarian. An essentially agrarian community, they are fiercely loyal to their identity as Badugas. The youngsters and elders form a seamless chain through which traditions, customs and usages have been passed down since time immemorial.
• They are a simple contented people. They are patriarchical and large families live together in peace and harmony with common kitchens and common lands. They strictly prohibit marriages within the same Hatti or village. So a man from one hatti, say kallatti, has to search in another hatti for a bride. This prevents consanguinity and promotes biological diversity while at the same time preserving the close-knit nature of this community.
• There is no concept of dowry or exorbitant demands from the brides family. In fact the entire marriage cost is borne by the groom!
• Five or seven elders of the groom’s village go one day before the marriage to to the bride’s village with a symbolic Ana Kaasu or small gold coins as gifts. They are treated with respect when they reach the bride’s place where they seek the consent of the bride’s family to take the bride to their village for the marriage function. They visit every house in the Hatti and take consent! The bride too has to visit every relative, fall at their feet and take blessings. The bridal party then proceeds to the groom’s village where the nuptials take place.
• The Badugas are world famous for their hospitality. In fact UNESCO has recognized them as the most hospitable community in the world! We experienced this first hand in the Hatti where, at every house we were “forced” by the host to eat or drink something. A baduga delicacy is Thupputhittu (it literally means dipped-in-ghee) a sweetmeat made of flour. It tastes best when dipped in hot tea!
• The hatti is situated right in the middle of a valley surrounded by the Nilagiri hills. Thew Hatti consists of arrays of houses built one above the other with each house having a huge courtyard in front where the Badugas can meet together and have fun. The houses are essentially small because they have to retain the warmth. Each unit has a small hall, an inner room with a wooden platform for receivng and seating close guests, a small alcove for pooja and a kitchen. The Bedrooms are on the first floor and are accessed by a wooden step ladded. The comfortable beds are laid on the wooden flooring to increase the warmth. Each house faces east and has a window in the first floor giving a magnificent view of the surrounding hill side. So every one wakes up in the morning every day to a panoramic view of sunrise on the mountains! What can money provide except a false sense of security. The lifestyle of the Badugas epitomizes the value of simplicity and the benefits of aligning our life with nature.
• The badugas being Lingayats, carry a saligramamon their person in small siver casket. They carry this wiuth them permanently. The men wear the casket knotted to their sacred thread which is worn like cross belt across the body from left to right. The women wear the casket in their mangal sutra or on a chain around their neck.
• Whwen a Lingayat is finally summoned from this sublunary abode, his body is buried in a seated position with legs in the lotus position and the hands held in front of the body palms upward. Finally after the body is interred into the triangular catacomb, the saligramam or lingam that the Lingayat has been carrying throughout his life is placed inside the mouth and then the body is buried. This, in my opinion is another symbolic reference to the oneness of creator and created. Jeevathma Paramatma Ikyam.