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BANT A few supplementary notes may be added on the Parivara, Nād, and Māsādika Bants. The Parivaras are confined to the southern taluks of the South Canara district. They may interdine, but may not intermarry with the other section. The rule of inheritance is mak- kalakattu (in the male line). Brāhman priests are engaged for the various ceremonials, so the Parivaras are more Brāhmanised than the Nād or Māsādika Bants. The Parivaras may resort to the wells used by Brāhmans, and they consequently claim superiority over the other sections. Among the Nād Bants, no marriage badge is tied on the neck of the bride. At a Parivara marriage, after the dhāre ceremony, the bridegroom ties a gold bead, called dhāre mani, on the neck of the bride. The remarriage of widows is not in vogue. In connection with the death ceremonies, a car is not, as among the Nād and Māsādika sections, set up over the mound (dhūpe). On the eleventh day, the spreading of a cloth on the mound for offerings of food must be done by Nekkāras, who wash clothes for Billavas.

The Nād or Nādava and Māsādika Bants follow the aliya santāna law of succession, and intermarriage is permitted between the two sections. The names of the balis, which have already been given, are common among the Māsādikas, and do not apply to the Nāds, among whom different sept names occur, e.g., Honne, Shetti, Koudichi, etc. Elaborate death ceremonies are only performed if the deceased was old, or a respected member of the community. The corpse is generally cremated in one of the rice-fields belonging to the family. After the funeral, the male members of the family return home, and place a vessel containing water and light in a room. One or two women must