Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/534

KORAVA all the while the women chant monotonously a song such as this: —


 * Galianame Baipokame Sobaname,
 * Oh, Marriage giver of happiness and prosperity!
 * The best oil of Madanapalle is this nalugu;
 * The best soap seed of Silakat is for this nalugu;
 * Paint yourselves, Oh sisters, with the best of colours;
 * Stain your cloth, Oh brother, with the best of dyes;
 * Bring, Oh brother, the greenest of snakes;
 * Adorn with it our Basavayya's neck;
 * Bring, Oh brother, the flowers without leaves;
 * Adorn with them the hair of the bride.

Then the bridegroom ties the bride's tāli, a string coloured yellow with saffron (turmeric), or a string of small black beads. Every married woman must wear a necklet of black beads, and glass bangles on her wrists; when she becomes a widow, she must remove them. A feature of the ceremony not to be overlooked is the wedding meal (pendlikudu). After undergoing the nalugu, the bridegroom marks with a crowbar the spot where this meal, consisting of rice, milk, green gram, and jaggery (sugar), is to be cooked in a pot called bhūpalakunda. A trench is dug at the spot, and over it the cooking is done. When the food is ready, the bride and bridegroom take of it each three handfuls, and then the boys and girls snatch the pot away from them. After this, the couple proceed to the bridegroom's hut, where they find a light burning. The elders sprinkle them with water coloured yellow with saffron (turmeric) as they enter."

For the following note on marriage among the Yerukalas of the Vizagapatam district, I am indebted to Mr. Hayavadana Rao. A man may marry the daughter of his paternal aunt or maternal uncle. The father of the would-be husband of a girl goes with ten rupees.