Pisharati caste is surname of many people in southern India. Pisharati caste meaning is The Pisharatis or Pisharodis are summed up in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being a sub-caste of Ambalavasis, which makes flower garlands, and does menial service in the temples. As regards their origin, the legend runs to the effect that a Swamiyar, or Brahman ascetic, once had a disciple of the same caste, who wished to become a Sanyasi or anchorite. All the ceremonies prior to shaving the head of the novice were completed, when, alarmed at the prospect of a cheerless life and the severe austerities incidental thereto, he made himself scarce. Pishara denotes a Sanyasis pupil, and as he, after running away, was called Pisharodi, the children born to him of a Parasava woman by a subsequent marriage were called Pisharatis. In hisEarly Sovereigns of Travancore, Mr. Sundaram Pillay says that the Pisharatis puzzling position among the Malabar castes, half monk and half layman, is far from being accounted for by the silly and fanciful modern derivation [201]of Pisharakal plus Odi, Pisharakal being more mysterious than Pisharati itself. It is suggested by him that Pisharati is a corruption of Bhattaraka-tiruvadi. According to the Jati-nirnaya, the Bhattarakas are a community degraded from the Brahmans during the Treta Yuga. As far as we are able to gather from mediæval Travancore inscriptions, an officer known as Pidara-tiruvadi was attached to every temple. It is known that he used to receive large perquisites for temple service, and that extensive rice-lands were given to the Bhattakara of Nelliyur. It is noted, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that the traditional etymology of the name Pisharodi refers it to a Sanyasi novice, who, deterred by the prospects of the hardship of life on which he was about to enter, ran away (odi) at the last moment, after he had been divested of the punul (thread), but before he had performed the final ceremony of plunging thrice in a tank (pond), and of plucking out, one at each plunge, the last three hairs of his kudumi (the rest of which had been shaved off). But the terminationOdi is found in other caste titles such as Adiyodi and Vallodi, and the definition is obviously fanciful, while it does not explain the meaning of Pishar.
The houses of Pisharatis are called pisharam. Their primary occupation is to prepare garlands of flowers for Vaishnava temples, but they frequently undertake the talikazhakam or sweeping service in temples. Being learned men, and good Sanskrit scholars, they are employed as Sanskrit and Malayalam tutors in the families of those of high rank, and, in consequence, make free use of the title Asan. They are strict Vaishnavites, and the ashtakshara, or eight letters relating to Vishnu, as opposed to the panchakshara or five letters relating to Siva, forms their daily hymn of [202]prayer. They act as their own caste priests, but for the punyaha or purificatory ceremony and the initiation into the ashtakshara, which are necessary on special occasions, the services of Brahmans are engaged.
The Pisharatis celebrate the tali-kettu ceremony before the girl reaches puberty. The most important item therein is the joining of the hands of the bride and bridegroom. The planting of a jasmine shoot is observed as an indispensable preliminary rite. The events between this and the joining of hands are the same as with other Ambalavasis. The bride and bridegroom bathe, and wear clothes touched by each other. The girls mother then gives her a wedding garland and a mirror, with which she sits, her face covered with a cloth. The cherutali, or marriage ornament, is tied by the bridegroom round the girls neck. If this husband dies, the tali has to be removed, and the widow observes pollution. Her sons have to make oblations of cooked rice, and, for all social and religious purposes, the woman is regarded as a widow, though she is not debarred from contracting a sambandham (alliance) with a man of her own caste, or a Brahman. If the wife dies, the husband has, in like manner, to observe pollution, and make oblations of cooked rice. There are cases in which the tali-kettu is performed by a Pisharati, and sambandham contracted with a Brahman. If the tali-tier becomes the husband, no separate cloth-giving ceremony need be gone through by him after the girl has reached puberty.
Inheritance is in the female line, so much so that a wife and children are not entitled to compensation for the performance of a mans funeral rites.
No particular month is fixed for the name-giving rite, as it suffices if this is performed before the annaprasana [203]ceremony. The maternal uncle first names the child. When it is four or six months old, it is taken out to see the sun. On the occasion of the annaprasana, which usually takes place in the sixth month, the maternal uncle gives the first mouthful of cooked rice to the child by means of a golden ring. The Yatrakali serves as the nights entertainment for the assembled guests. Nambutiris are invited to perform the purificatory ceremony known as punyaha, but the consecrated water is only sprinkled over the roof of the house. The inmates thereof protrude their heads beneath the eaves so as to get purified, as the Brahmans do not pour the water over them. The chaula or tonsure takes place at the third year of a childs life. The maternal uncle first touches the boys head with a razor, and afterwards the Maran and barber do the same. The initiation into the ashtakshara takes place at the age of sixteen. On an auspicious day, a Brahman brings a pot of water, consecrated in a temple, to the pisharam, and pours its contents on the head of the lad who is to be initiated. The ceremony is called kalasam-ozhuk-kua, or letting a pot of water flow. After the teaching of the ashtakshara, the youth, dressed in religious garb, makes a ceremonial pretence of proceeding on a pilgrimage to Benares, as a Brahman does at the termination of the Brahmacharya stage of life. It is only after this that a Pisharati is allowed to chew betel leaf, and perform other acts, which constitute the privileges of a Grihastha.
The funeral rites of the Pisharatis are very peculiar. The corpse is seated on the ground, and a nephew recites the ashtakshara, and prostrates himself before it. The body is bathed, and dressed. A grave, nine feet deep and three feet square, is dug in a corner of the grounds, and salt and ashes, representing all the Panchabhutas, [204]are spread. The corpse is placed in the grave in a sitting posture. As in the case of a Sanyasi, who is a Jivanmukta, or one liberated from the bondage of the flesh though alive in body, so a dead Pisharati is believed to have no suitable body requiring to be entertained with any post-mortem offerings. A few memorial rites are, however, performed. On the eleventh day, a ceremony corresponding to the ekoddishta sradh of the Brahman is carried out. A knotted piece of kusa grass, representing the soul of the deceased, is taken to a neighbouring temple, where a lighted lamp, symbolical of Maha Vishnu is worshipped, and prayers are offered. This ceremony is repeated at the end of the first year.101
Some Pisharatis are large land-owners of considerable wealth and influence.102
Pisharati 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. Pisharati caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Pisharati 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
Pisharati 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.
Pisharati caste is also known as Pisharati 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.