Halepaik caste is surname of many people in southern India. Halepaik caste meaning is The Halepaiks are Canarese toddy-drawers, who are found in the northern taluks of the South Canara district. The name is commonly derived from hale, old, and paika, a soldier, and it is said that they were formerly employed as soldiers. There is a legend that one of their ancestors became commander of the Vijayanagar army, was made ruler of a State, [321]and given a village named Halepaikas as a jaghir (hereditary assignment of land). Some Halepaiks say that they belong to the Tengina (cocoanut palm) section, because they are engaged in tapping that palm for toddy.
There is intermarriage between the Canarese-speaking Halepaiks and the Tulu-speaking Billava toddy-drawers, and, in some places, the Billavas also call themselves Halepaiks. The Halepaiks have exogamous septs or balis, which run in the female line. As examples of these, the following may be noted
Chendi (Cerbera Odollum), Honne (Calophyllum inophyllum), Tolar (wolf), Devana (god) and Ganga. It is recorded5 of the Halepaiks of the Canara district in the Bombay Presidency that each exogamous section, known as a bali (literally a creeper), is named after some animal or tree, which is held sacred by the members of the same. This animal, tree or flower, etc, seems to have been once considered the common ancestor of the members of the bali, and to the present day it is both worshipped by them, and held sacred in the sense that they will not injure it. Thus the members of the nagbali, named apparently after the nagchampa flower, will not wear this flower in their hair, as this would involve injury to the plant. The Kadavebali will not kill the sambhar (deer- kadave), from which they take their name. The Halepaiks of South Canara seem to attach no such importance to the sept names. Some, however, avoid eating a fish called Srinivasa, because they fancy that the streaks on the body have a resemblance to the Vaishnavite sectarian mark (namam).
All the Halepaiks of the Kundapur taluk profess to be Vaishnavites, and have become the disciples of a [322]Vaishnava Brahman settled in the village of Sankarappakodlu near Wondse in that taluk. Though Venkataramana is regarded as their chief deity, they worship Baiderkulu, Panjurli, and other bhuthas (devils). The Pujaris (priests) avoid eating new grain, new areca nuts, new sugarcane, cucumbers and pumpkins, until a feast, called kaidha puja, has been held. This is usually celebrated in November-December, and consists in offering food, etc, to Baiderkulu. Somebody gets possessed by the bhutha, and pierces his abdomen with an arrow.
In their caste organisation, marriage and death ceremonies, the Halepaiks closely follow the Billavas. They do not, however, construct a car for the final death ceremonies. As they are Vaishnavites, after purification from death pollution by their own caste barber, a Vaishnavite mendicant, called Dassaya, is called in, and purifies them by sprinkling holy water and putting the namam on their foreheads.
There are said to be some differences between the Halepaiks and Billavas in the method of carrying out the process of drawing toddy. For example, the Halepaiks generally grasp the knife with the fingers directed upwards and the thumb to the right, while the Billavas hold the knife with the fingers directed downwards and the thumb to the left. For crushing the flower-buds within the spathe of the palm, Billavas generally use a stone, and the Halepaiks a bone. There is a belief that, if the spathe is beaten with the bone of a buffalo which has been killed by a tiger, the yield of toddy will, if the bone has not touched the ground, be greater than if an ordinary bone is used. The Billavas generally carry a long gourd, and the Halepaiks a pot, for collecting the toddy in.[323]
Halepaik caste is one of the many castes subcastes of India.
India has thousands of castes and subcastes, they are in existence and practice since the Vedic times. They were created to solve the problem of division of labor. Halepaik caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Halepaik caste do or did in earlier times. Many last names in India indicate the place the person originally belongs to. All castes sub castes are primarily divided into 4 categories:
1.Brahmins – The learned or priestly class
2.Khastriyas – The warrior class or those with governing functions
3.Vaishyas – The trader, agriculturalists or cattle rearers class
4.Shudra – The class that serves other three categories
Halepaik caste belongs to one of the above 4 categories. Indian caste system is the best system to solve the problem of division of labor. In earlier times there was no rigidity in caste system. Indian caste system is still the best solution for the problem of division of labor, the only change that is needed as per changed times is that rather than having a vertical hierarchical system with Brahmins on top and Shudras at bottom, it would be good to have a horizontal socialist system with Brahmins, Khastriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras all at same level.
The caste system of India is in ruins at present. It is also cause of bloody quarrels in certain parts of the rural India. People of backward castes have reservations in government jobs, this facility is widely misused in India. Many of the backward caste people have become rich and still use the facility for their benefit. Many in India believe reservation in jobs should be given on the basis of poverty rather than caste because there are many poors in upper castes as well.
Many criticize the Indian caste system because of bad material condition of lower castes but if they observe in an unbiased way they would find that there are many in upper castes with bad material conditions. The problem lies in power not in castes, power can corrupt anyone be it from upper caste or lower caste.
All cultures, all countries, all religions have caste system in one form or the other. Christians have different churches depending on the region or language or skin color of people. Muslims have a priestly class that tries to control everything. Arab Muslims before the oil boom were so much divided among tribes that if you drank water from a well of a different tribe you could be shot dead. Tribal divisions still exists among Muslims. You can also see the caste system in a different form in your corporate companies. I had seen different food and drinking facilities for people at different levels.
Halepaik caste is also known as Halepaik Gotra.
Caste situation is quiet different in urban India, people in urban areas especially youngsters don?t bother about castes. Inter caste, inter religious, inter lingual marriages are quiet common in urban India. Inter caste, inter religious and inter lingual marriages in rural areas attract severe criticism and many times people are expelled from community for not marrying as per religious and caste rules.