Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/100

AGARU spot. Those who are particular about performing the death ceremonies on an elaborate scale offer cooked food to the soul of dead person until the fifteenth day, and carry out the final death ceremonies (karmāndhiram) on the sixteenth day. Presents are then given to Brāhmans,and, after the death pollution has been removed by sprinkling with holy water (punyāham), a feast is given to the relatives. The Agamudaiyans worship various minor deities, such as Aiyanar, Pidāri, and Karupannaswāmi.  Agaru.—Agaru, or Avaru, is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of Telugu cultivators in Vizagapatam and Ganjam, who are also sellers of vegetables and betel leaves. Agaru is said to mean betel in their language, which they call Bhāsha, and contains a good deal of Oriya. An extensive colony of Agarus is settled at Nellimerla near Vizianagram. Both males and females engage in the cultivation of the betel vine, and different kinds of greens,which find a ready sale in the Vizianagram market. Marriage is usually after puberty, and an Oriya Brahman officiates. The dead are burnt.  Agarwāl.—A few members of this Upper India trading caste, who deal in grain and jewellery, and are also bankers and usurers, have been returned at times of census.  Agasa.—In the South Canara district, there are three distinct classes of washermen, viz., (1) Konkani Christians; (2) Canarese-speaking washermen, who seem to be allied to the Agasas of Mysore; 3) Tulu-speaking washermen. The Tulu-speaking Agasas follow the aliya santāna law of inheritance (in the female line). Madivāla (madi, a clean cloth) is a synonym for 