ABSTRACT

This chapter highlights the technology that is applied directly in grain farming, animal husbandry, and fruit and vegetable production. Fruits, vegetables, and forest products stimulated by the rains become increasingly available, and unripened grain is roasted and eaten. According to the South Indian world view, Ugadi marks the beginning of “the rains". Religious worship at Ugadi and throughout the agricultural season is directed at purification of the worshipers and appeasement of the deities in the hope that memory of the worshipers’ many sins is forgotten and that there are dharma and good rains. The maintenance of village populations, elaborate systems of social stratification, and complicated ceremonial patterns depends on the quantity of agricultural production. The application of agricultural technologies to village lands involves subtle and complex interactions not only within the village but also between the village and neighboring communities, government agencies, and supernatural beings.