Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/479

Rh of a suitable bride, repairs to her village, with some of his relations, and seeks out the Ūrgoundan or headman, between whom and the visitors mutual embraces are exchanged. The object of the visit is explained, and the father says that he will abide by the voice of four in the matter. If the match is fixed up, he gives a feast in honour of the event. When the visitors enter the future bride's house, the eldest daughter-in-law of the house appears on the threshold, and takes charge of the walking-stick of each person who goes in. She then, with some specially prepared sandal-paste, makes a circular mark on the foreheads of the guests, and retires. The feast then takes place, and she again appears before the party retire, and returns the walking-sticks.* At a marriage among the Malai Vellālas of the Coimbatore district, the bride has to cry during the whole ceremony, which lasts three days. Otherwise she is considered an "ill woman." When she can no longer produce genuine tears, she must bawl out. If she does not do this, the bridegroom will not marry her. In the North Arcot district, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, † "a Malaiāli bride is sometimes carried off by force, but this custom is viewed with much disfavour, and the bride groom who resorts to it must paint his face with black and white dots, and carry an old basket filled with broken pots and other rubbish, holding a torn sieve over him as an umbrella, before the celebration of the marriage. At the wedding, the bridegroom gives the girl's father a present of money, and a pile of firewood sufficient for the two days' feast. On the first day the food consists of rice and dhāl (Cajanus indicus), and on the second day pork curry is consumed. At sunrise on the third day