Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/307

Rh pāndi, composed of several pieces of plantain leaf tied together, has been carried three or four times round her. She must not touch any utensils, and must abstain from touching her head with the hand, and, if the skin itches, the body must be scratched with a small stick. Concerning a very interesting form of marriage, Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar writes as follows.* "A large hut is constructed of 'holly' and other leaves, inside which the girl is ensconced. Then all the young men and women of the village gather round the hut, and form a ring about it. The girl's father, or the nearest male relative, sits a short distance from the crowd, with a tom-tom in his hands. Then commences the music, and a chant is sung by the father, which has been freely translated as follows: —


 * Take the stick, my sweetest daughter,
 * Now seize the stick, my dearest love.
 * Should you not capture the husband you wish for.
 * Remember, 'tis fate decides whom you shall have.

"All the young men, who are eligible for marriage, arm themselves with a stick each, and begin to dance round the hut, inside which the bride is seated. This goes on for close on an hour, when each of them thrusts his stick inside the hut through the leafy covering. The girl has then to take hold of one of these sticks from the inside, and the owner of the stick which she seizes becomes the husband of the concealed bride. This ceremony is followed up by feasting, after which the marriage is consummated." A photograph by Mr. F. Fawcett shows a young man with a ring hanging round his neck, as a sign that he was