Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 6 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 6 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
The party I saw were mostly unmarried girls, but one of them had
been married for a year. When not posing for the camera, or dancing,
she tied a small piece of cloth round her neck, so as to hang over
the shoulders. This, as far as I could make out, was not because she
was married, but simply because she was more shy than the rest.
"Two houses are kept in the village, for the unmarried girls and young
men respectively. Apparently marriages are matters of inclination,
the parents having no say in the matter. The young couple having
contracted friendship (by word of mouth, and not by deed, as it was
explained to me), inform their parents of it. The young man goes to
make his demand of the girl's parents, apparently without at the time
making any presents to them, contrary to the custom of the Kondhs and
others. Then there seem to be a series of promises on the part of the
parents to give the girl. But the witnesses were rather confused on the
point. I gather that the sort of final betrothal takes place in Dyali
(the month after Dusserah), and the marriage in Magha. At the time
of marriage, the girl's parents are presented with a pair of bulls,
a cloth, and a pot of landa (sago-palm toddy). But no return is made
for them. The father gives the girl some ornaments. The married woman,
whom I saw, had been given a bracelet by her husband, but it was not a
conspicuously valuable one, and in no way indicative of her status." In
connection with marriage, Mr. Sandell adds that "a youth of one village
does not marry a maiden of the same village, as they are regarded as
brother and sister. The marriage pit is still in use, and may last
all through the cold weather. A number of small villages will club
together, and have one big pit." In the case observed by Mr. Sandell,
three of the local maidens were shut up in the pit at night, and
five stranger youths admitted. The pit may be twelve feet across,
and is covered with tatties (mats) and earth, a trap-door being left.
"After childbirth, the mother is unclean for some days. The time is,
I gather, reckoned by the dropping of the navel-string, and is given
as eight to sixteen days. During that period, the woman is not allowed
to cook, or even touch her meals.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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