Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/320

KHATRI by seven quartz pebbles placed in a row on plantain leaves, is worshipped with offerings of fruit, etc., and a goat is sacrificed. The blood which flows from its cut neck is poured into a vessel containing cooked rice, of which seven balls are made, and offered to the pebbles. Towards evening some of the rice is thrown to the four cardinal points of the compass, in order to conciliate evil spirits. On the second day, the house is thoroughly cleansed with cow-dung water, and the walls are whitewashed. The eating of meat is forbidden until the marriage ceremonies are concluded. The third day is devoted to the erection of the marriage pandal (booth) and milk-post, and the worship of female ancestors (savāsne). Seven married women are selected, and presented with white ravikes (bodices) dyed with turmeric. After bathing, they are sumptuously fed. Before the feast, the bridegroom's and sometimes the bride's mother, goes to a well, tank (pond) or river, carrying on a tray a new woman's cloth, on which a silver plate with a female figure embossed on it is placed. Another silver plate of the same kind, newly made, is brought by a goldsmith, and the two are worshipped, and then taken to the house, where they are kept in a box. The bridegroom and his party go in procession through the streets in which their fellow castemen live. When they reach the house of the bride, her mother comes out and waves coloured water to avert the evil eye, washes the bridegroom's eyes with water, and presents him with betel and a vessel filled with milk. The bride is then conducted to the bridegroom's house, where she takes her seat on a decorated plank, and a gold or silver ornament called sari or kanti is placed on her neck. She is further presented with a new cloth. A Brāhman purōhit then writes the names