Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/281

Rh men sprinkles water contained in a mango leaf over their hands. After bathing, they return home. The clothes, jewels, etc., of the deceased are laid on a cloth spread inside the house. A piece of turmeric is suspended from the ceiling by a string, and a tray containing water coloured yellow placed beneath it. Round this the females seat themselves. A cocoanut is broken, and a barber sprinkles the water thereof contained in a mango leaf over those assembled. On the following day, various kinds of food are prepared, and placed on leaves, with a piece of new cloth, within a room of the house. The cloth remains there for a year, when it is renewed. The renewal continues until another death occurs in the family. In the following table, the cephalic index of the Bants is compared with that of the Billavas and Shivalli Brāhmans: — The headman among the Bants is generally called Guttinayya, meaning person of the guttu or site. Every village, or group of villages, possesses a guttu, and the Bant who occupies, or holds in possession the house or site set apart as the guttu is the Guttinayya. When this passes to another by sale or inheritance, the office of headman passes with it. It is said that, in some instances, the headmanship has in this way passed to classes other than Bants, e.g., Brāhmans and Jains. In some villages, the headman is, as among some other castes, called Gurikāra, whose appointment is hereditary.