Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/369

Rh purōhit (priest) worships the elephants, and the bride and bridegroom go round them. Two further points of connection between the Kōmatis and Mādigas are referred to by Major Mackenzie."I find," he writes, "that it is the custom to obtain the fire for burning Kāma, the Indian Cupid, at the end of the Hōli feast from a Mādiga's house. The Mādigas do not object to giving the fire, in fact they are paid for it." This appears to be a purely local custom, and no trace of its existence has been found in various parts of the Madras Presidency. The other point refers to the identification of the goddess Mātangi of the Mādigas with the Kōmati goddess Kanyaka Amma. "I cannot," Major Mackenzie writes," discover the connection between two such different castes as the Kōmatis and Mādigas, who belong to different divisions. The Kōmatis belong to the 10 pana division, while the Mādigas are members of the 9 pana.* One reason has been suggested. The caste goddess of the Kōmatis is the virgin Kannika Amma, who destroyed herself rather than marry a prince, because he was of another caste. She is usually represented by a vessel full of water, and, before the marriage ceremonies are commenced, she is brought in state from the temple, and placed in the seat of honour in the house. The Mādigas claim Kannika as their goddess, worship her under the name of Mātangi and object to the Kōmatis taking their goddess." The Kōmatis stoutly deny that there is any connection between Mātangi and Kanyaka Amma, and it would seem that they are independent goddesses.

Marriage is always infant. A Brāhman purōhit officiates. Each purōhit has a number of houses attached