Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/530

KORAVA coins. While the rice-throwing is proceeding, a monotonous song is crooned, of which the following is a free translation: —


 * Procure five white bulls.
 * Get five white goats.
 * Obtain a seer * of silver.
 * Get a seer of gold.
 * Always love your father
 * And live happy for ever.
 * Look after your mother always,
 * Your father and mother-in-law.
 * Do not heed what folk say.
 * Look after your relations,
 * And the God above will keep you happy.
 * Five sons and four daughters
 * Shall compose your family.

A predominance of sons is always considered desirable, and, with five sons and four daughters, the mystic number nine is reached. No widows, women who have remarried, or girls dedicated as prostitutes, are allowed to join the wedding circle, as they would be of evil omen to the bride. Widows and remarried women must have lost a husband, and the prostitute never knows the God to whose service she is dedicated. On the third day, the rice-throwing ceremony is repeated, but on this occasion the bride and bridegroom pour some of the rice over each other's heads before the women officiate. This ends the marriage ceremony, but, as among some other classes, consummation is prohibited for at least three months, as a very strong superstition exists that three heads should not enter a door within one year. The bride and bridegroom are the first two heads to enter the new home,