Chandala

This article is about the outcaste group in Hinduism. For the modern-day community in Bengal formerly known as Chandals, see Namasudra. For other uses, see Chandal (disambiguation).
A man belonging to Chandala or Namasudra caste in East Bengal in 1860.

Chandala (Sanskrit: चण्डाल) is a Sanskrit word for someone who deals with the disposal of corpses, and is a Hindu lower caste,[1] traditionally considered to be untouchable.[2][3]

  1. ^ Viswanath, Rupa (2014). The Pariah Problem: Caste, Religion, and the Social in Modern India. Columbia University Press. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-23116-306-4. Panchama means "of the fifth," and therefore outside the fourfold classical system of caste, or varna. Avarna, similarly means those outside the varna system. Chandala is a term referring to "unclean" castes and is used as a vlur in many parts of India.
  2. ^ Chandrashekhar Bhat (1984). Ethnicity and Mobility. Concept publishing. pp. 2–3.
  3. ^ S. M. Michael (1999). Untouchable: Dalits in Modern India. Lynne Rienner Publishers. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9781555876975.