Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/348

VALLAMBAN women or children during the performance of manaipongal, and when the tāli is tied. The bride is conveyed to the house of the bridegroom, and sits with him on the dais while the relations make presents to them.

The messenger who conveys the news of a death in the community is a Paraiyan. The corpse is placed within a pandal (booth) supported on four posts, which is erected in front of the house. Some paddy (unhusked rice) is poured from a winnow on to the ground, and rice is thrown over the face of the corpse. On the second day rice, and other articles of food, are carried by a barber to the spot where the corpse has been buried or burnt. If the latter course has been adopted, the barber picks out some of the remains of the bones, and hands them to the son of the deceased. On the third day, the widow goes round the pandal three times, and, entering within it, removes her tāli string, and new clothes are thrown over her neck. On the sixteenth day the final death ceremonies (karmāndhiram) are performed. A feast is given, and new cloths are tied on the heads of those under pollution. Pollution lasts for thirty days.

The Vallambans profess to be Saivaites, but they consider Periya Nāyaki of Vēlangkudi as their tribal goddess, and each nādu has its own special deity, such as Vēmbu Aiyanar, Nelliyandi Aiyanar, etc. In some places the tribal deity is worshipped on a Tuesday at a festival called Sevvai (Tuesday). On this day pots containing fermented rice liquor, which must have been made by the caste people and not purchased, are taken to the place of worship. On a Friday, those families which are to take part in the festival allow a quantity of paddy (rice) to germinate by soaking it in water, and on the following Tuesday flower spikes of the palmyra palm are added to the malted rice liquor in the pots. The