Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/367

Rh Until he replies thus, the māngalyam cannot, it is said, be tied on the bride's neck. In the Bellary district, betel leaf and nuts are usually left at night behind the Mādiga's house, in token of the invitation to the wedding. In the Godāvari district, according to Mr. Hemingway, the Kōmati gives an order for a Mādiga for palmyra leaf baskets before the marriage, and presents him with betel and nut when he brings the baskets. Still another account says that some of the Kōmatis, just before a marriage, leave in the backyard of Madiga houses a few pice and betel close to the cattle-pen, and that it is whispered that some Kōmatis use chuckler's (leather-worker's) tools, made in silver, for worship. It is also reported that chuckler's work is pretended to be gone through by some Kōmatis, after the completion of the marriage ceremonies, in the backyard of the house at dead of night, in the presence of caste-people only, and by preference under a dānimma chettu (Punica Granatum: pomegranate). This is known as kulāchāram, kuladharmam, or gōtra pūja (custom of the caste, or worship of the gōtras). The figure of a cow is made of flour, and into its stomach they put a mixture of turmeric, lime, and water, called wōkali. This, it has been suggested, is meant to represent blood. After the cow has been worshipped in due form, it is cut up with instruments made of flour, and intended to represent those used by cobblers. To each family is secretly sent that portion of the cow, which, according to custom, they are entitled to receive. Thus, the Kommala-vāru receive the horns, the Gontula the neck, the Karakapāla the hands and temples, the Thonti the hump, the Danta the teeth, the Veligollu the white nails, and so on. Major Mackenzie testified to the performance of this ceremony by the caste in Mysore in 1879, and it is recorded from