Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/386

HOLEYA finished off by the bestman. The bridal couple then stand once more on the mat, and the Mukhari joins their hands, saying "No unlawful marriage should take place. Prohibited relationship must be avoided." He sprinkles water from culms of Cynodon Dactylon over the united hands.

The body of a dead Bākuda is washed with hot water,in which mango (Mangifera indica) bark is steeped. The dead are buried. The day for the final death ceremonies (bojja) is usually fixed by the Mukhari or Jammana. On that day, cooked food is offered to the deceased, and all cry " muriyo, muriyo." The son, after being shaved, and with his face veiled by a cloth, carries cooked rice on his head to a small hut erected for the occasion. The food is set down, and all present throw some of it into the hut. The Mēra or Mugayar Holeyas, like the Bākudas, abstain from eating beef, and refuse to touch leather in any form. They have no objection to carrying fourlegged articles. Though their mother tongue is Tulu, they seem to follow the makkala santāna law of inheritance (in the male line). Their headman is entitled Kuruneru, and he has, as the badge of office, a cane with a silver band. The office of headman passes to the son instead of to the nephew. Marriage is called Badathana, and the details of the ceremony are like those of the Māri Holeyas. The dead are buried, and the final death ceremonies (bojja or sāvu) are performed on the twelfth or sixteenth day. A feast is given to some members of the community, and cooked food offered to the deceased at the house and near the grave. The Mari or Māri Mānisaru Holeyas are sometimes called Kāradhi by the Bākudas. Like certain Malayālam castes, the Holeyas have distinct names for their homes