It is noted by Mr. Hemingway that some of the Pandamuttu Pallis of the Trichinopoly district "practice the betrothal of infant girls, the ceremony consisting of pouring cow-dung water into the mouth of the baby. They allow a girl to marry a boy younger than herself, and make the latter swallow a two-anna bit, to neutralise the disadvantages of such a match. Weddings are generally performed at the boy's house, and the bride's mother does not attend. The bride is concealed from view by a screen." It is said that, some years ago, a marriage took place at Panruti near Cuddalore on the old Svayamvara principle described in the story of Nala and Damayanti in the Mahabharata. According to this custom, a girl selects a husband from a large number of competitors, who are assembled for the purpose. Widow remarriage is permitted. At the marriage of a widow, the tali is tied by a married woman, the bridegroom standing by the side, usually inside the house. Widow marriage is known as naduvittu tali, as the tali-tying ceremony takes place within the house (naduvidu). To get rid of the pollution of the first menstrual period, holy water is sprinkled over the girl by a Brahman, after she has bathed. She seats herself on a plank, and rice cakes (puttu), a pounding stone, and arathi are waved in front of her. Sugar and betel are then distributed among those present. The dead are sometimes burnt, and sometimes buried. As soon as an individual dies, the son goes three times round the corpse, carrying an iron measure (marakkal), wherein a lamp rests on unhusked rice. The corpse is washed, and the widow bathes in such a way that the water falls on it. Omission to perform this rite would entail disgrace, and there is an abusive phrase "May the water from the woman's body not fall on that of the corpse." The dead man and his widow exchange betel three times. The corpse is carried to the burning or burial-ground on a bamboo stretcher, and, on the way thither, is set down near a stone representing Arichandra, to whom food is offered. Arichandra was a king who became a slave of the Paraiyans, and is in charge of the burial-ground. By some Pallis a two-anna piece is placed on the forehead, and a pot of rice on the breast of the corpse. These are taken away by the officiating barber and Paraiyan respectively. [23] Men who die before they are married have to go through a post-mortem mock marriage ceremony. A garland of arka (Calotropis gigantea) flowers is placed round the neck of the corpse, and mud from a gutter is shaped into cakes, which, like the cakes at a real marriage, are placed on various parts of the body. A curious death ceremony is said by Mr. Hemingway to be observed by the Arasu Pallis in the Trichinopoly district. On the day after the funeral, two pots of water are placed near the spot where the corpse was cremated. If a cow drinks of the water, they think it is the soul of the dead come to quench its thirst.