Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/268

NANDIKATTU that day oblations of cooked food, water and gingelly (Sesamum) seeds are offered to the departed. If a daughter's son dies, her mother, and not the father, observes pollution. Nānchinād Vellāla has been assumed by males of the Dēva-dāsi caste in Travancore.  Nandikattu (bull's mouth). — An exogamous sept of Mēdara.  Nandimandalam.— A sub-division of Rāzu.  Nanga (naked). — A sub-division of Poroja.  '''Nangudi Vellāla. —''' The so-called Nangudi Vellālas, or Savalai Pillais, are found inhabiting several villages in the Tinnevelly district, and differ from other Vellālas in several important points. They say that they are Kōttai (fort) Vellālas, who have given up the custom of living within a fort. Nangudi women are not allowed to enter the fort at Srivaiguntam, wherein the Kottai Vellālas live. Within the last few years, marriages are said to have taken place between members of the two communities. The Nangudis have exogamous septs or kilais, named for the most part after persons or deities, which, like the septs of the Maravans, run in the female line. The hereditary caste headman is called Pattaththu Pillai. In olden times, members who disobeyed him were made to run through the streets with a rotten tender cocoanut tied to the kudumi (hair knot), while a man ran behind, applying a tamarind switch to the back. The consent of a girl's maternal uncle and his wife is necessary, before she can marry. The aunt's consent is signified by touching the tāli (marriage badge) on the wedding day. The uncle keeps a light, called ayira panthi, burning until the time for tying the tāli. A quarter measure of rice is tied up in a cloth, and the 