Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/246

UDAIYAN wives of Vēppūr Paraiyans who are in enforced retirement are cared for by the Udaiyāns. To this is popularly attributed the undoubted fact that these Paraiyans are often much fairer in complexion than other members of that caste." The village of Mangalam in the South Arcot district is "chiefly interesting on account of its being the only village in the district where buffalo sacrifices on any scale are still regularly made. Buffaloes are dedicated to the Kāli shrine in Mangalam even by persons in the Salem, Tanjore and Trichinopoly districts, and the village is commonly known as Māduvetti Mangalam, or buffalo-sacrificing Mangalam. When a man or any of his belongings gets seriously sick, he consecrates an animal to this shrine, and, if the illness ends favourably, it is sent to its fate at the temple on the date of the annual sacrifice (May-June). When the buffalo is dedicated, a piece of saffron-coloured cloth, in which is placed some small coin and a cadjan (palm) leaf containing an announcement of the dedication, is tied to its horns, and it is allowed to roam wherever it likes through the fields. On the day of the sacrifice, fourteen of the best of the animals which have been dedicated and brought to the temple are selected, and seven of them are tied to an equal number of stone posts in front of the goddess' shrine. The pūjāri (priest), who is an Udaiyān by caste, then walks down the line, and beheads them one after the other. The goddess is next taken round on a car, and, on her return to the temple, the other seven buffaloes are similarly killed. The animals which are not selected are sold, and the proceeds paid into the temple treasury. There are two images in the temple, one of Kāli, and the other, which is placed at the back of the shrine, of Mangalayāchi. The