Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/349

Rh ornament is worn after the tāli-kettu until the death of the tāli-tier. The females are tattooed on the forehead and hands, but this practice is going out of fashion. The sect marks of women are the same as those of the Nambūtiris. The Kurukkals are Smartas. The Tiruvonam asterism in the month of Avani (August-September) furnishes an important festive occasion. The Kurukkals are under the spiritual control of certain men in their own caste called Vādhyars. They are believed to have been originally appointed by the Kuppakkara Pottis, of whom they still take counsel. The Kurukkals observe both the tāli-kettu kalyānam and sambandham. The male members of the caste contract alliances either within the caste, or with Mārāns, or the Vātti class of Nāyars. Women receive cloths either from Brāhmans or men of their own caste. The maternal uncle's or paternal aunt's daughter is regarded as the most proper wife for a man. The tāli-kettu ceremony is celebrated when a girl is seven, nine or eleven years old. The date for its celebration is fixed by her father and maternal uncle in consultation with the astrologer. As many youths are then selected from among the families of the inangans or relations as there are girls to be married, the choice being decided by the agreement of the horoscopes of the couple. The erection of the first pillar of the marriage pandal (booth) is, as among other Hindu castes, an occasion for festivity. The ceremony generally lasts over few days, but may be curtailed. On the wedding day, the bridegroom wears a sword and palmyra leaf, and goes in procession to the house of the bride. After the tāli has been tied, the couple are looked on as being impure, and the pollution is removed by bathing, and the pouring of water, consecrated by the hymns of Vādhyars, over their heads. For the