Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/51

Rh are no Tiyans, and vice versâ. [In a photograph of a group of Izhuvan females of Palghat eating their meal, which was sent to me, they are all in a kneeling posture, with the buttocks supported on the heels. They are said to assume the same attitude when engaged in grinding and winnowing grain, and other occupations, with a resultant thickening of the skin over the knees.] Differences, which might well come under the heading marriage, may be considered here, for the purpose of comparison between the Tiyans and Izhuvans. During the preliminaries to the marriage ceremony among the Tiyans, the date of the marriage having been fixed in the presence of the representatives of the bride and bridegroom, the following formula is repeated by the Tandān or headman of the bride's party. Translated as accurately as possible, it runs thus."The tara and changati of both sides having met and consulted; the astrologer having fixed an auspicious day after examining the star and porutham; permission having been obtained from the tara, the relations, the illam and kulam, the father, uncle, and the brothers, and from the eight and four(twelve illams) and the six and four(ten kiriyams); the conji and adayalam ceremonies and the four tazhus having been performed, let me perform the kanjikudi ceremony for the marriage of ... . the son of . . . . with .... daughter of .... in the presence of muperium. This formula, with slight variations here and there, is repeated at every Tiyan marriage in South Malabar. It is a solemn declaration, giving validity to the union, although, in the way that custom and ritual survive long after their original significance has been forgotten, the meaning of many of the terms used is altogether unknown. What, for instance,