180
monsoon cycle, and unlike the Kannada calendar, begin with the fi rst rain of the wet
season, rather than a new year signalled by an astronomical phenomenon. Another
important difference from Kannada is that the term munga:ru has been assimilated
into the Solega calendar, and here it refers to the third rain of the season, falling
around early May. The Solega calendar also contains around fi ve additional lexemes
that are not present in the Kannada or Sanskrit calendars. These include tarragu or
tarragaḍaka maḷe ‘leaf-litter wetting rain’ and benda kari or kariaḍaka maḷe
‘(burnt) soot-wetting rain’, which are respectively the fi rst and second rains of the
season. The names encode a critical part of the Solega agriculture cycle, namely the
burning of leaf litter prior to sowing.
The a:negampa:lu maḷe ‘rain that makes elephants shiver’, falling in the winter
month of November, is a reference to the frequent cold and damp days that domi-
nate this part of the year. It is entirely likely that the fi ve ‘indigenous’ Solega rain
terms once represented the total extent of the Solega calendar, by marking out sig-
nifi cant parts of each annual wet–dry cycle. In this scenario, the Sanskrit -derived
Kannada terms would be later arrivals into the Solega lexicon, having been incorpo-
rated into the calendar to fi ll the gaps between the named Solega rains. Some such
rains have been grouped together in the Solega calendar, and may be considered
signifi cant because they indicate the date of an important Hindu festival. An exam-
ple is sitte-sa:nti (some speakers also include the rain visa:nti ) in this grouping,
which is said to fall around the time of the festivals of dashera and di:pa:vaḷi.
Another possible reason is that the Solega recognise this part of the wet season as a
time of stormy weather (Fig. 6.2 ).
6.2.1.2 The Phenological Cycle
As described in Chap. 5 , the blooming of important forest trees is very much an
important part of Solega awareness of the forest. The spring and summer months, in
particular, are times of plenty for the Solega, as all manner of fruits, which are con-
sumed by birds, frugivorous mammals and humans alike, start to appear in great
quantities on forest trees. The most important of these are alasu ‘jackfruit’, ma:vu
‘mango’ and ne:ri ‘ Syzygium sp. ’, which start to become available in June–July
(Fig. 6.2 ). The Solega also remark on the appearance of fl owers on important forest
trees at different times of the year—these include honne ( Pterocarpus marsupium ) ,
matti ( Terminalia crenulata ) and beṇḍe ( Kydia calycina ). The times of the year
when yams are available ( Dioscorea spp.) are also eagerly anticipated by the Solega.
Several wild varieties are recognised, and one variety, to:ṭambu ‘fi eld vine’, is
cultivated in home gardens alongside other crops. The cultivated yam is ready for
harvest towards the middle of the dry season ; most of the wild varieties are available
in the late monsoon.
This phenological information neatly complements the rain calendar , and also
has a bearing on the agricultural cycle. It is also used to describe the occurrence of
other important biological events. Such connections between biological and cli-
matic cycles will be discussed in Sect. 6.2.2.
6 Signs and Relationships