Of Guthus and Beedus

An unplanned Sunday morning drive late February had a cousin of my husband, fondly addressed as Jaganna by the entire family. An advocate by profession, he always has a logical debate on any subject of interest to his company. One such conversation between us, had him make reference to the Bunt surnames and the Bunt-Jains relationship. The discussion was very intriguing but led to a lot of reading and I capture some of the learning with my avid readers. The Bunts have always claimed a distant connect with the Jains. To this day, there are Beedus in the coastal belt of Karnataka. Dakshina Karnataka, which is referred to as Beedu manes. These are old manor houses of the Bunt community in coastal Karnataka. Albeit, there is a distinction between Beedu manes and Guthu manes if you delve further into the historical study of these manes or homes of Bunts; the focus point of this discussion was on the connect between Bunts and Jains. All Bunt families belong to this array of homes, where their ancestors are worshipped, their serpent Gods are worshipped and their spirits are worshipped. Three important forms of worship (Aradhane) for Bunts are Nagaradhane (worship of the serpent god), Bhootaaradhane (worship of the spirits or the zoomorphic gods) and Pitr Aradhane (worship of the ancestors). No wonder summer is the time when the entire family heads home to coastal Karnataka to participate in naga poojas or kolas or to pay respects and prayers to their ancestors. That is where the Jain example was offered by this advocate cousin of ours. During Amavasya or once in a year is when the Pitr Aradhane is done, the family members gather to offer food to the ancestors, termed agelu. This is when the plantain leaves on which the food is offered to the departed souls is served fish curry, chicken, rice and a full meal is spread. Along with these leaves offered to the ancestors, there is one distinct leaf that is spread which is completely vegetarian and this is the leaf which is called Jaina ede (leaf). Clearly the connect is drawn with the Jains who probably shared a very intimate relationship with the Bunts. Jaina Dupes (mounds of the dead) still exist in some of these manor houses. This also indicates that some of these houses probably belonged to the Jains. Remembered how during the funeral of my father, the ancient home of his had the stupa style structure prepared out of bamboo sticks and was covered by a cloth. In front of this, the agelu was offered. The connect continues with the Buddhist rituals therefore, for Jainism does not have stupas. That is why I call it an intriguing connect to the past. The curiosity followed by reading continues…….