The consent of the maternal uncles is necessary before a pair can be united in matrimony. When the wedding day has been fixed, the bridegroom's party distribute grama thambulam (village pan-supari or betel) to the headman and villagers. The marriage milk-post is made of Mimusops hexandra, Erythrina indica, Casuarina equisetifolia, the green wood of some other tree, or even a pestle. In one form of the marriage ceremony, which varies in detail according to locality, the bridegroom, on the arrival of the bride at the pandal (booth), puts on the sacred thread, and the Brahman purohit makes the sacred fire, and pours ghi (clarified butter) into it. The bridegroom ties the tali round the bride's neck, and the maternal uncles tie flat silver or gold plates, called pattam, on the foreheads of the contracting couple. Rings are put on their second toes by the brother-in-law of the bridegroom and the maternal uncle of the bride. Towards evening, the sacred thread, the threads which have been tied to the marriage pots and the milk-post, and grain seedlings used at the ceremony, are thrown into the sea. Some Pattanavans allow a couple to live together as man and wife after the betrothal, but before the marriage ceremony. This is, however, on condition that the latter is performed as soon as it is convenient. The remarriage of widows is freely permitted. No marriage pandal is erected, and the bridegroom, or a female relation, ties the tali on the bride's neck within the house. Such marriage is, therefore, called naduvittu (interior of the house) tali. When a woman, who has been guilty of adultery, is remarried, a turmeric string is substituted for the golden tali, and is tied on the bride's neck by a woman.