Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/314

BĒDAR OR BŌYA Midathala, locust—Mādiga. Nakkala, jackal—Dudala, Golla, Mutrācha. Nemili, peacock—Balija. Pichiga, sparrow—Dēvānga. Pandhi, pig—Asili, Gamalla. Pasula, cattle—Mādiga, Māla. Puchakāya, colocynth—Kōmati, Vīramushti. Pūla, flowers—Padma Sālē, Yerukala. Tōta, garden—Chenchu, Mīla, Mutrācha, Bonthuk Savara. Udumala, lizard—Kāpu, Tōttiyan, Yānādi. Ulligadda, onions—Korava. Uluvala, horse-gram—Jōgi. Utla, swing for holding pots—Padma Sālē.

At Hospet, the preliminaries of a marriage among the Myāasa Bēdars are arranged by the parents of the parties concerned and the chief men of the kēri (street). On the wedding day, the bride and bridegroom sit on a raised platform, and five married men place rice stained with turmeric on the feet, knees, shoulders, and head of the bridegroom. This is done three times, and five married women then perform a similar ceremony on the bride. The bridegroom takes up the tāli, and, with the sanction of the assembled Bēdars, ties it on the bride's neck. In some places it is handed to a Brāhman priest, who ties it instead of the bridegroom. The unanimous consent of those present is necessary before the tāli-tying is proceeded with. The marriage ceremony among the Ūru Bēdars is generally performed at the bride's house, whither the bridegroom and his party proceed on the eve of the wedding. A feast, called thuppathūta or ghī (clarified butter) feast, is held, towards which the bridegroom's parents contribute rice, cocoanuts, betel leaves and nuts, and make a present of five bodices (rāvike). At the conclusion of the feast, all assemble beneath the marriage pandal (booth), and