Guru is just done with reading M N Srinivas’ Religion and society among the Coorgs of South India.If you are interested in questions of religion, society and the interaction between the two, it is a must read, says Guru.
The book is also full of information about the customs and practices of the Coorgs. I liked this bit about umbilical cords and schoolyards:
The rice-field is divided into a number of ridged-up plots and the central plot of the rice-field is regarded as particularly sacred. Formerly it was the custom to bury the umbilical cord of the eldest son in the central plot. A man is supposed to have a special affinity to the place where his umbilical cord is buried. If a Coorg boy is found going to a particular place frequently, his elders twit him, ‘Is your umbilical cord buried there?’ Nowadays the umbilical cord is buried in the yard of the palace of Mercara, or in a school-compound, because Coorgs want their sons to do well in examinations and become high government officials.
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