Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/20

MARAN or MARAYAN occurred, hastened to the temple, and cut one of his fingers, the blood of which he offered to the spirit. The boy was then set free, and the old man, who was more than a match for the Mārān, began to recite the hymns. The spirits, raising the Mārān on high, sucked away his blood, and vanished. The particular timila has since this event never been used by any Mārān. The higher classes of Mārāns claim six privileges, called pāno, kōni, tirumuttam, natumuttam, velichchor, and puchchor. Kōni means literally a ladder, and refers to the stretcher, made of bamboo and kūsa grass or straw, on which the corpses of high caste Hindus are laid. Tirumuttam is sweeping the temple courtyard, and natumuttam the erection of a small pandal (booth) in the courtyard of a Nambūtiri's house, where oblations are offered to the departed spirit on the tenth day after death. Velichchor, or sacrificial rice, is the right to retain the remains of the food offered to the manes, and puchchor the offering made to the deity, on whom the priest throws a few flowers as part of the consecration ceremony. A large portion of the time of a Mārān is spent within the temple, and all through the night some watch over it. Many functions are attended to by them in the houses of Nambūtiris. Not only at the tonsure ceremony, and samavartana or closing of the Brāhmacharya stage, but also on the occasion of sacrificial rites, the Mārān acts as the barber. At the funeral ceremony, the preparation of the last bed, and handing the til (Sesamum) seeds, have to be done by him. The Chitikkans perform only the functions of shaving and attendance at funerals, and, though they may beat drums in temples, they are not privileged to touch the asu and pāni. At Vechūr there is a class of potters called Kūsa Mārān, who should