Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/397

Rh adukupānai, two large pots, called arasānipānai, and seven earthen trays, and place them in front of the platform. The pots are filled with water, and a small bit of gold is placed in each. The bridegroom goes to a Pillayar shrine, and, on his return, the bride's brother washes his feet, and puts rings on his second toes. The kankanams (wrist-threads) are tied on the wrists of the contracting couple, and the bridegroom takes his seat within the pandal, to which the bride is carried in the arms of one of her maternal uncles, while another carries a torch light placed on a mortar. The bride takes her seat by the side of the bridegroom, and the light is set in front of them. The tāli is taken round to be blessed by those assembled, and handed to the bridegroom, who ties it on the bride's neck. The couple then put a little earth in each of the seven trays, and sow therein nine kinds of grain. Two vessels, containing milk and whey, are placed before them, and the relations pour a little thereof over their heads. The right hand of the bridegroom is placed on the left hand of the bride, and their hands are tied together by one of the bride's maternal uncle's sons. The bride is then carried into the house in the arms of an elder brother of the bridegroom. At the threshold she is stopped by the maternal uncle's sons, who may beat the man who is carrying her. The bridegroom pays them each four annas, and he and the bride are allowed to enter the house. On the night of the wedding day, they are shut up in a room. During the following days the pots are worshipped. On the seventh day, the ends of the cloths of the newly married couple are tied together, and they bathe in turmeric water. The wrist-threads are removed, they rub oil over each other's heads, and bathe in a tank. The bride serves food to the bridegroom, and their relations eat off the same leaf,