Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/65

Rh A man most frequently marries his maternal uncle's daughter, less frequently the daughter of his paternal aunt. Marriage with a deceased wife's sister is regarded with special favour. Marriage with two living sisters, if one of them is suffering from disease, is common.

In a note on the Mēdaras of the Vizagapatam district, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes that girls are married before or after puberty. A Brāhman officiates at the marriage ceremonies. Widows are allowed to remarry once, and the sathamānam (marriage badge) is tied by the new husband on the neck of the bride, who has, as in the Gūdala caste, to sit near a mortar. Formerly all the Mēdaras were Saivites, but many are at the present day Vaishnavites, and even the Vaishnavites worship Siva. Every family has some special person or persons whom they worship, for example, Vīrullu, or boys who have died unmarried. A silver image is made, and kept in a basket. It is taken out on festive occasions, as before a marriage in a family, and offerings of milk and rice gruel are made to it. Bāla Pērantālu, or girls who have died before marriage, and Pērantālu, or women who have died before their husbands, are worshipped with fruits, turmeric, rice, cocoanuts, etc. Some of the Saivites bury their dead in a sitting posture, while others resort to cremation. All the Vaishnavites burn the dead, and, like the Saivites, throw the ashes into a river. The place of burning or burial is not as a rule marked by any stone or mound. But, if the family can afford it, a tulsi fort is built, and the tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) planted therein. In the Vizagapatam district, death pollution is said to last for three days, during which the caste occupation is not carried out. On the third day, a fowl is killed, and food cooked. It