Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/224

KUSAVAN The services of the potter are required in connection with the marriage ceremonial of many castes. At some Brāhman marriages, for example, the tāli is tied on the bride's neck in the presence of 33 crores (330 millions) of gods, who are represented by a number of variously coloured pots, large and small. At a Lingāyat wedding, new pots are brought with much shouting, and deposited in the room in which the household god is kept. An enclosure is made round the bride and bridegroom with cotton thread passed round four pots placed at the four corners of the marriage pandal. Among the Patnūlkārans, on the occasion of a wedding, a number of small pots are set up in a room, and worshipped daily throughout the marriage ceremonies. The ceremonial of breaking a pot containing water at the graveside prevails among many classes, e.g., Oddēs, Toreyas, and Paraiyans. At the time of the Aruvaththimūvar festival, or festival of the sixty-three saints, at Mylapore in the city of Madras, crowds may be seen returning homeward after attending it, each carrying a new pot (chatty), which they purchase so as not to go home empty-handed. At the festival of Tiruvottiyūr, stalks of Amarantus gangeticus are in like manner purchased. It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Madura district, that "a Kusavan can claim the hand of his paternal aunt's daughter. Marriage occurs before puberty. The tāli is tied by the bridegroom's sister, and the usual bride-price is paid. The ceremonies last three days. One of them consists in the bridegroom's sister sowing seeds in a pot, and, on the last day of the wedding, the seedlings which have sprouted are taken with music to a river or tank (pond), and thrown into it. When the bride attains maturity, a ceremony is conducted by the