Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/476

MALAYALI of the bride has relieved himself of the awkward predicament into which the custom drove him, and now leaves the performance of the procreative function to others accepted by the bride." Widow remarriage among the Peria Malaiālis is, I am informed, forbidden, though widows are permitted to contract irregular alliances. But, writing concerning the Malaiālis of the Dharmapuri tāluk of the Salem district, Mr. Le Fanu states that "it is almost imperative on a widow to marry again. Even at eighty years of age, a widow is not exempted from this rule, which nothing but the most persistent obstinacy on her part can evade. It is said that, in case a widow be not remarried at once, the Pattakār sends for her to his own house, to avoid which the women consent to re-enter the state of bondage." Of the marriage customs of the Malaiālis of the Javādi hills the same author writes that "these hills are inhabited by Malaiālis, who style themselves Vellālars and Pachai Vellālars, the latter being distinguished by the fact that their females are not allowed to tattoo themselves, or tie their hair in the knot called ' kondai.' The two classes do not intermarry. In their marriage ceremonies they dispense with the service of a Brāhman. Monday is the day chosen for the commencement of the ceremony, and the tāli is tied on the following Friday, the only essential being that the Monday and Friday concerned must not follow new-moon days. They are indifferent about choosing a 'lakkinam' (muhūrtham or auspicious day) for the commencement of the marriage, or for tying the tāli. Widows are allowed to remarry. When a virgin or a widow has to be married, the selection of a husband is not left to the woman concerned, or to her parents. It is the duty of the Ūrgoundan to inquire what marriageable