Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/329

Rh the nets or fish. Their utensils are few, consisting of earthen vessels and enamel dishes, and their furniture of a few wooden planks and coarse mats to serve as beds.

The girls of the Vālans are married both before and after puberty, but the tāli-kettu kalyānam (tāli-tying marriage) is indispensable before they come of age, as otherwise they and their parents are put out of caste. Both for the tāli-tying ceremony and for the real marriage, the bride and bridegroom must be of different illams or gōtras. In regard to the former, as soon as an auspicious day is fixed, the girl's party visit the Aravan with a present of six annas and eight pies, and a few packets of betel leaves, when he gives his permission, and issues an order to the Ponamban, his subordinate of the kadavu (village), to see that the ceremony is properly conducted. The Ponamban, the bridegroom and his party, go to the house of the bride. At the appointed hour, the Ponambans and the castemen of the two kadavus assemble after depositing six annas and eight pies in recognition of the presence of the Aravan, and the tāli is handed over by the priest to the bridegroom, who ties it round the neck of the bride amidst the joyous shouts of the multitude assembled. The ceremony always takes place at night, and the festivities generally last for two days. It must be understood that the tāli tier is not necessarily the husband of the girl, but is merely the pseudo-bridegroom or pseudo-husband, who is sent away with two pieces of cloth and a few annas at the termination of the ceremony. Should he, however, wish to have the girl as his wife, he should, at his own expense, provide her with a tāli, a wedding dress, and a few rupees as the price of the bride. Generally it is the maternal uncle of the girl who