Toda woman in a traditional ceremonial Toda shawl pukhoor or "pootkhul(zh)y" covering her left shoulder and arm, and choli blouse, with her child in Western pants and top. She holds a framed photograph of a Toda man in a pukhoor, perhaps being bowed down to by another person. In the village of Kash Madh (Toda name), also known as Kandal Mund (outsiders’ name) within the city of Udagamandalam (also called Ooty or Ootacamund).
A Toda woman, possibly Nashan, wears a ceremonial Toda shawl pukhoor or "pootkhul(zh)y" wrapped around her body, with her left shoulder covered, and a choli blouse. She stands in front of a stone and concrete Toda dogle (hut), a modern version of the traditional Toda thatch roof dogle. In the village of Kash Madh (Toda name), also known as Kandal Mund (outsiders’ name) within the city of Udagamandalam (also called Ooty or Ootacamund).
Gīgīpada (Gigipada, Gīgī Pada) singers of the Holeya community (left to right): Yerappa Basavappa Sutagaji, of Kalma Galli (voice and taal or jhāñjh cymbals); Ramachandra Ramappa Dhavale, of Tigadi Galli (voice and daf); and Basappa Gagappa Talwar, of Talwar Galli (voice and tuṇtuṇe). Gigipada singers performed Kannada songs, created by Hulkund Basappa, Purandara Dasa, and Hosur Somappa, at festivals. They sang mystical songs, auspicious songs, and modern songs on sanitation and cleanliness of body and mind.
Two Holeya (Dalit, Pulaya) agricultural women in traditional saris sing back a song, after hearing the song recorded by musicologist A. A. Bake in 1938. The woman on the right wears sacred red and white muttu beads worn only by jogtīs (devadāsīs) (women dedicated to Goddess Renuka/Yellamma). Men wearing white dhotis or navy pants stand behind. The names of four women singing are: Basava Bhimshappa Bharamannavar, Gangavva Shivappa Bharamannavar, Dayamavva Phakirappa Bharamannavar, and Bhimavva Yalapappa.
Eight visible girls (of 18) in bright long skirts and blouses hold hands as they sing and dance in a circle around the image of an elephant (not visible in image), representing the vahana of Goddess Lakshmi, thus worshiping Shakti, the feminine principle.
Nine visible girls (of 18) in bright long skirts and blouses hold hands as they sing and dance in a circle around the image of an elephant (lower right corner of image), representing the vahana of Goddess Lakshmi, thus worshiping Shakti, the feminine principle.
