Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/275

Rh tied together with wool. A curious custom among the Tamil section is that, at the beginning of the ceremonies, both on the first and second day, three matrons wash their faces in turmeric water, and the bride and bridegroom are bathed with the water used by them. They also have unusual observances connected with a girl's attainment of maturity. A husband may not look into his bride's eyes until this occurs. When she has at length attained maturity, the husband comes to his bride's house with a sheep and some vegetables, and kills the former. His brother-in-law then marks his forehead with the sheep's blood. The husband eats some plantain and milk, and spits it out at his bride, who is made to stand behind a screen. If the girl has attained maturity before her marriage, the Tamil section of the caste make her walk over seven wooden hoops on the wedding day. The husband has to give his formal consent to the ceremony, and a washerman has to be present. The Telugus perform this rite on the last day of the girl's first menstrual period, and her maternal uncle has to be present. The Uppiliyans allow the remarriage of widows and divorced women. A man may not shave until he marries a virgin, and, if he does not do so, he has to remain unshaved all his life."

The dead are, as a rule, buried. Among the Uppiliyans, who occupy a higher social position than the Canarese and Telugu sections, death pollution is observed for seven days. Among the Uppāras, the period of pollution is sixteen days. Concerning the death ceremonies, Mr. Hemingway writes as follows. "Widows of the Tamil section never remove their tāli, but leave it till it drops off of itself. When a man dies, his widow is made to pretend he is still alive, and bathes him with oil, and puts garlands on