Page:Hindu Feasts Fasts and Ceremonies.djvu/139

Rh the Malayali men assemble to witness a grand sham fight (Padakkali or Kayyankali). Each of the opposing sides must be under the patronage of some influential Malayalis who, a month or two before the Onam feast agree to conclude it in this, the usual way. This entertainment is a very costly one. The men engaged to fight are generally well known wrestlers and acrobats; they live at the expense of the person who engages them, and are specially trained in order to display their full skill on the Onam day. All the people assemble to witness the sports—men, boys and little girls, the women stopping at home to dance and sing the Tappattikali. The men divide themselves into two parties, or cheries, and sit on the ground in rows, 15 to 20 yards being left between them and here it is that the combatants display their skill. Two men are chosen as umpires on each side. The game commences at 1 o’clock every day and continues until 6 P.M. on Onam day and the two succeeding days, and at 6 P.M. on the 10th day of the feast—i.e., the third day from Onam proper which is also the third day after the commencement of the sports—the decision of the