Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 3 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 3 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
Among the Chinna Kondalu, a girl is married before or after
puberty. When a marriage is decided on, the girl's parents receive a
present (voli) of four rupees and a female cloth. On an auspicious
day fixed by the Chukkamusti (star-gazer), the bride is conducted
to the home of the bridegroom. The contracting couple are bathed in
turmeric-water, put on new cloths presented by their fathers-in-law,
and wrist-threads are tied on their wrists. On the same day, or
the following morning, at a time settled by the Chukkamusti, the
bridegroom, under the direction of a caste elder, ties the sathamanam
(marriage badge) on the bride's neck. On the following day, the
wrist-threads are removed, and the newly married couple bathe.
Among the Pedda, as among the Chinna Kondalu, a girl is married
before or after puberty. When a man contemplates taking a wife, his
parents carry three pots of liquor to the home of the girl whose hand
he seeks. The acceptance of these by her father is a sign that the
match is agreeable to him, and a jholla tonka (bride-price) of five
rupees is paid to him. The future bridegroom's party has to give
three feasts to that of the bride-elect, for each of which a pig is
killed. The girl is conducted to the house of the bridegroom, and, if
she has reached puberty, remains there. Otherwise she returns home,
and joins her husband later on, the occasion being celebrated by a
further feast of pork.
Both sections allow the remarriage of widows. Among the Pedda Kondalu,
a younger brother may marry the widow of his elder brother. By both
sections divorce is permitted. Among the Chinna Kondalus, a man who
marries a divorcée has to pay her first husband twenty-four rupees,
of which half is divided among the neighbouring caste villages in
certain recognised proportions.
The dead are usually burnt by both sections. The Pedda Kondalu kill
a pig on the third day, and hold a feast, at which much liquor is
disposed of. By the Chinna Kondalu the chinna rozu (little day)
ceremony is observed, as it is by other castes dwelling in the plains.
The Chinna Kondalu bear the titles Anna or Ayya when they are
merely cultivators under Bhaktha landlords, and Dora under other
circumstances. The Pedda Kondalu usually have no title.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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