Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/33

Rh those whom I have examined at Madras and Chingleput were as follows: —

Some of the Chingleput Palli men were tattooed, like the Irulas, with a dot or vertical stripe on the forehead. Some Irulas, it may be noted en passant, call themselves Tēn (honey) Vanniyans, or Vana (forest)Pallis.

Like many other castes, the Pallis have their own caste beggars, called Nōkkan, who receive presents at marriages and on other occasions. The time-honoured panchāyat system still prevails, and the caste has headmen, entitled Perithanakkāran or Nattamaikkāran, who decide all social matters affecting the community, and must be present at the ceremonial distribution of pānsupāri.

The Kōvilars, and some others who aspire to a high social status, practice infant marriage, but adult marriage is the rule. At the betrothal ceremony, the future bridegroom goes to the house of his prospective father-in-law, where the headman of the future bride must be present. The bridegroom's headman or father places on a tray betel, flowers, the bride-price (pariyam) in money or jewels, the milk money (mulapāl kūli), and a cocoanut. Milk money is the present given to the mother of the bride, in return for her having given nourishment to the girl during her infancy. All these things are handed by the bridegroom's headman to the father or headman