The houses of Pisharatis are called pisharam. Their primary occupation is to prepare garlands of flowers for Vaishnava temples, but they frequently undertake the talikazhakam or sweeping service in temples. Being learned men, and good Sanskrit scholars, they are employed as Sanskrit and Malayalam tutors in the families of those of high rank, and, in consequence, make free use of the title Asan. They are strict Vaishnavites, and the ashtakshara, or eight letters relating to Vishnu, as opposed to the panchakshara or five letters relating to Siva, forms their daily hymn of prayer. They act as their own caste priests, but for the punyaha or purificatory ceremony and the initiation into the ashtakshara, which are necessary on special occasions, the services of Brahmans are engaged. The Pisharatis celebrate the tali-kettu ceremony before the girl reaches puberty. The most important item therein is the joining of the hands of the bride and bridegroom. The planting of a jasmine shoot is observed as an indispensable preliminary rite. The events between this and the joining of hands are the same as with other Ambalavasis. The bride and bridegroom bathe, and wear clothes touched by each other. The girl's mother then gives her a wedding garland and a mirror, with which she sits, her face covered with a cloth. The cherutali, or marriage ornament, is tied by the bridegroom round the girl's neck. If this husband dies, the tali has to be removed, and the widow observes pollution. Her sons have to make oblations of cooked rice, and, for all social and religious purposes, the woman is regarded as a widow, though she is not debarred from contracting a sambandham (alliance) with a man of her own caste, or a Brahman. If the wife dies, the husband has, in like manner, to observe pollution, and make oblations of cooked rice. There are cases in which the tali-kettu is performed by a Pisharati, and sambandham contracted with a Brahman. If the tali-tier becomes the husband, no separate cloth-giving ceremony need be gone through by him after the girl has reached puberty. Inheritance is in the female line, so much so that a wife and children are not entitled to compensation for the performance of a man's funeral rites.