Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/269

Rh females; and, placing the vessel in a particular position on the ground, and sitting in a particular fashion in relation to the vessel, they play on the string, which then produces a very pleasant musical note. Then they sing ballads to the accompaniment of these notes. After continuing this for some time, they stop, and, getting their customary dues from the family, go their own way. It is believed that the music, and the ballads, are peculiarly pleasing to the serpent gods, who bless those for whose sakes the music has been rendered." The Pulluvans also play on a lute with snakes painted on the reptile skin, which is used in lieu of parchment. The skin, in a specimen at the Madras Museum, is apparently that of the big lizard Varanus bengalensis. The lute is played with a bow, to which a metal bell is attached.

The dwelling-houses of the Pulluvans are like those of the Izhuvans or Cherumas. They are generally mud huts, with thatched roof, and a verandah in front. When a girl attains maturity, she is placed apart in a room. On the seventh day, she is anointed by seven young women, who give an offering to the demons, if she is possessed by any. This consists of the bark of a plantain tree made into the form of a triangle, on which small bits of tender cocoanuts and little torches are fixed. This is waved round the girl's head, and floated away on water. As regards marriage, the Pulluvans observe both tāli-kettu and sambandham. In the vicinity of Palghat, members of the caste in the same village intermarry, and have a prejudice against contracting alliances outside it. Thus, the Pulluvans of Palghat do not intermarry with those of Mundūr and Kanghat, which are four and ten miles distant. It is said that, in former days, intercourse between brother and sister was