Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/374

VARIYAR The Ilayatus believe that they were the preceptors of all the Ambalavāsi castes in former times, but were dislodged from that position owing to most of them employing priests from among their own caste men. Even at the present day, Ilayatus are known to express their displeasure when they are asked to drink water from a Vāriyar's well. As, however, consecrated water from the Nambūtiris is taken to a Vāriyar for its purification, they entertain no scruples about cooking their food there, provided they carry with them the aupasana fire.

Inheritance among the Vāriyars of Cochin and British Malabar is in the female line (marumakkathāyam). Among the Vāriyars of Travancore, chiefly these belonging to the Onattukara section, a kind of qualified makkathāyam prevails, in accordance with which both sons and daughters have an equal right to inherit ancestral property. The eldest male member is entitled to the management of the estate in all undivided families. Partition, however, is largely followed in practice. The tāli-kettu ceremony of the Vāriyars generally takes place before a girl reaches puberty, and, in the case of boys, after the ceremony of Sivadiksha has been performed, that is between the twelfth and sixteenth years. If the marriage is in the kudi-vaippu form, or, in other words, if there is an intention on the part of both parties to treat the marital alliance as permanent, no separate sambandham need be celebrated afterwards; and, in all cases where marriages are celebrated between members of the same section, the kudi-vaippu form is in vogue. If a girl is unmarried when she reaches puberty, she is not permitted to take part in any religious ceremonies, or enter any temple until she is married.