Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/114

MUKA DORA They are divided into two sections, viz., Kōravamsam, which reveres the sun, and Nāgavamsam, which reveres the cobra, and have further various exogamous septs or intipērulu, such as vēmu or nīm tree (Melia Azadirachta), chikkudi (Dolichos Lablab), velanga (Feronia elephantum), kākara (Momordica Charantia). Girls are married either before or after puberty. The mēnarikam system is in force, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle's daughter. On an auspicious day, some of the elders of the future bridegroom's family take a cock or goat, a new cloth for the girl's mother, rice and liquor to the girl's house. The presents are usually accepted, and the pasupu (turmeric) ceremony, practiced by many Telugu castes, is performed. On an appointed day, the bridegroom's party repair to the house of the bride, and bring her in procession to the house of the bridegroom. Early next morning, the contracting couple enter a pandal (booth), the two central pillars of which are made of the nērēdi (Eugenia Jambolana) and relli (Cassia Fistula) trees. The maternal uncle, who officiates, links their little fingers together. Their bodies are anointed with castor-oil mixed with turmeric powder, and they bathe. New cloths are then given to them by their fathers-in-law. Some rice is poured over the floor of the house, and the bride and bridegroom measure this three times. The ends of their cloths are tied together, and a procession is formed, which proceeds to the bank of a stream, where the bride fetches tooth-cleaning sticks three times, and gives them to the bridegroom, who repeats the process. They then sit down together, and clean their teeth. After a bath in the stream, the ends of their clothes are once more tied together, and the procession returns to