Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/50

TIYAN gives her own cloth to effect the purification. Theoretically, the Tiyan has the power to give or withhold māttu, and thus keep any one out of caste in a state of impurity; but it is a privilege which is seldom if ever exercised. Yet it is one which he admittedly holds, and is thus in a position to exercise considerable control over the Nambūtiri and Nāyar communities. It is odd that it is not a soiled cloth washed and returned to the person which gives purification, but one of the washerwoman's own cloths. So the māttu may have a deeper meaning than lies in mere change of cloth, dressing in a clean one, and giving the soiled one to a person of inferior caste to wash. This māttu is second in importance to no custom. It must be done on the last day of pollution after birth and death ceremonies, and menstruation, or the person concerned remains outcasted. It is noteworthy that the Izhuvans know nothing of māttu.

An Izhuvan will eat rice cooked by a Tiyan, but a Tiyan will not eat rice cooked by an Izhuvan — a circumstance pointing to the inferiority of the Izhuvan. A Nāyar, as well as a Tiyan, will partake of almost any form of food or drink, which is prepared even by a Māppilla (Malabar Muhammadan), who is deemed inferior to both. But the line is drawn at rice, which must be prepared by one of equal caste or class, or by a superior. An Izhuvan, partaking of rice at a Tiyan's house, must eat it in a verandah; he cannot do so in the house, as that would be defilement to the Tiyan. Not only must the Izhuvan eat the rice in the verandah, but he must wash the plates, and clean up the place where he has eaten. Again, an Izhuvan could have no objection to drinking from a Tiyan's well. Further, there is practically no mixture in the distribution of Tiyans and Izhuvans. Where there are Izhuvans there