When a girl reaches puberty, she is placed apart in a portion of the house where she cannot be seen by males, even of the household, and sits in a space enclosed by seven arrows connected together by a thread. On the seventh day she bathes, and is presented with a new cloth. It is customary for a man to marry his paternal uncle's daughter. At the time of marriage, the bridegroom's party repair to the house of the bride with a sheep, goat, rice, and a female cloth with a rupee placed on it, and four quarter-anna bits inserted within its fold. The cloth and money are taken by the bride's mother, and the animals and rice are used for a feast. On the following day, the bride goes to the house of the bridegroom, in front of which a pandal (booth), made out of nine poles of the neredu tree (Eugenia Jambolana) has been set up. At the auspicious hour, which has been fixed by the Desari who officiates, in the absence of a Brahman, at the marriage rites, the bride and bridegroom take their seats in the pandal with a curtain between them. The Desari joins their hands together, and ties to the ends of their cloths a new cloth to which a quarter-anna piece is attached, betel leaves and nuts, and seven grains of rice. The curtain is then removed, and the pair enter the house. The knotted new cloth is removed, and kept in the house during the next two days, being untied and re-tied every morning. On the third day, the couple again come within the pandal, and the new cloth is again tied to them. They are bathed together in turmeric water, and the cloth is then untied for the last time. The rice is examined to see if it is in a good state of preservation, and its condition is regarded as an omen for good or evil. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother usually marries the widow of his elder brother. There is for all the Ronas a headman of their caste, called Bhatho Nayako, at Nundapur, who decides offences, such as eating in the house of a man of inferior caste, and performs the ceremonial cleansing of a man who has been beaten with a shoe. Divorce and civil suits are settled by a caste council. The Ronas worship the deity Takurani. They wear the sacred thread, and are said to have bought the right to do so from a former Raja of Jeypore. They also wear a necklace of tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) beads. The necklace is first tied on by Oriya Brahmans from Orissa, or Vaishnava Brahmans from Srikurmam in Ganjam, who pay periodic visits to the community, and receive presents of money and food. Rona Paikos will eat at the hands of Brahmans only, whereas Puttiya Paikos will eat in the houses of Koronos, Malis, Kummaras, and Gaudos. All eat animal food, beef and pork excepted. Some Ronas are still the armed retainers of the Jeypore Rajas, and their forefathers were versed in the use of the matchlock. Some Ronas at the present day use bows and arrows. The caste title is Nayako.