Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/53

Rh into a mortar full of cow-dung water, and the last man has to knock it down." Among some Kondaiyamkottai Maravans, a ceremony called palaya karmāndhiram, or old death ceremony, is performed. Some months after the death of one who has died an unnatural death, the skull is exhumed, and placed beneath a pandal (booth) in an open space near the village. Libations of toddy are indulged in, and the villagers dance wildly round the head. The ceremony lasts over three days, and the final death ceremonies are then performed. For the following account of the jellikattu or bullbaiting, which is practiced by the Maravans, I am indebted to a note by Mr. J. H. Nelson.* "This," he writes, "is a game worthy of a bold and free people, and it is to be regretted that certain Collectors (District Magistrates) should have discouraged it under the idea that it was somewhat dangerous. The jellikattu is conducted in the following manner. On a certain day in the year, large crowds of people, chiefly males, assemble together in the morning in some extensive open space, the dry bed of a river perhaps, or of a tank (pond), and many of them may be seen leading ploughing bullocks, of which the sleek bodies and rather wicked eyes afford clear evidence of the extra diet they have received for some days in anticipation of the great event. The owners of these animals soon begin to brag of their strength and speed, and to challenge all and any to catch and hold them; and in a short time one of the best beasts is selected to open the day's proceedings. A new cloth is made fast round his horns, to be the prize of his captor, and he is then led