Three South Indian couples

The pictures made by Indian artists for the British in India are called Company paintings. This one comes from a volume containing 30 folios depicting castes, occupations, methods of cultivation and processional scenes. It shows three religious mendicant (begging) couples. The man carrying five pots containing tulsi or 'Holy Basil' on his head is a devotee of Shitala or Mariyamma ('Death-Mother'). She is a goddess of smallpox and other infectious diseases. He and his wife hold small pellet drums (damaru), and the identifying inscription is in Tamil. The woman in the dark blue sari holds a shrine containing a seated figure of Bhairava (Shiva), while her husband beats a long drum (mridanga). The man on the extreme right carries a stick, a bowl and a razor, while his wife holds their baby in a sling round her neck. The inscription is in Telugu.