Caste and Race in India c5.66

c5.66

In Madras there has been for ages a faction among the non-Brahmin castes dividing most of them into two groups, the right-hand castes and the left-hand castes. The "right-hand" castes claim certain privileges which they strongly refuse to those of the "left-hand", viz. riding on horse-back in processions, carrying standards with certain devices, and supporting their marriage booths on twelve pillars. They insist that the "left-hand" castes must not raise more than eleven pillars to the booth nor employ the devices on standards peculiar to the "right-hand" castes.⁴