Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/347

Rh priest. A portion of the front courtyard of the house is cleaned, and smeared with cow-dung. On the space thus prepared, a pattern (muggu) of a lotus is drawn with red, yellow, and white powders. The outline is first drawn with rice or rāgi (Eleusine Coracana) flour deftly dropped from between the thumb and index finger. The interspaces are then filled in with turmeric and kunkuma powder. Five small pots are arranged, one in the centre, and one at each corner of the pattern. By the side of the pots are placed a ball of sacred ashes, a new cloth, a piece of turmeric, camphor, and plantain fruits. Plantain stems are set up at the corners of the pattern. A string is passed seven times round the four corner pots, and tied to the central pot. The woman who is about to become a Mātangi should live on fruits and milk for five days previous to the ceremony. She is dressed in a white sāri, and seats herself on the muggu close to the central pot. A bamboo basket, containing a pot bearing the device of two foot-prints (of Ellammā), an earthen or wooden receptacle, an iron lamp, and a cane, is placed on her head. The Āsādi sings songs about Ellammā, and the Vakkaliga priest throws rice over the novice's head, feet, knees, and shoulders, and ties two bottus (marriage badges), called respectively Ellammā's and Parasurāma's bottu, on her neck. The new and old Mātangis bawl out Ekkalde Jōgavva. The ceremony closes with the drinking of toddy by the Mātangis and Āsādis. The basket (adlige) containing the various articles enumerated is the badge of a Mātangi, who carries it with its contents, and a few leafy twigs of the margosa tree (Melia Azadirachta). The basket is wrapped up in a red or brown cloth, and may not be placed on the ground. At the Mātangi's house, it is hung up by means of a rope, or placed in a