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
From a still further account of the ceremonial observances in
connection with marriage, with variations, I gather that the liquor
is the fermented juice of the salop or sago palm (Caryota urens),
and is called ara-sal. On arrival at the girl's house, on the
first occasion, the young man's party sit at the door thereof, and,
making three cups from the leaves kiredol (Uncaria Gambier) or jak
(Artocarpus integrifolia), pour the liquor into them, and lay them on
the ground. As the liquor is being poured into the cups, certain names,
which seem to be those of the ancestors, are called out. The liquor
is then drunk, and an arrow (am) is stuck in the roof, and a brass
bangle (khadu) left, before the visitors take their departure. If the
match is unacceptable to the girl's family, the arrow and bangle are
returned. The second visit is called pank-sal, or sang-sang-dal-sol,
because the liquor pots are smeared with turmeric paste. Sometimes
it is called nyanga-dal-sol, because the future bridegroom carries
a small pot of liquor on a stick borne on the shoulder; or pojang,
because the arrow, which has been stuck in the roof, is set up in the
ground close to one of the pots of liquor. In some places, several
visits take place subsequent to the first visit, at one of which,
called rodai-sal, a quarrel arises.
It is noted by Mr. Ramamurti Pantulu that, among the Savaras who
have settled in the low country, some differences have arisen in
the marriage rites "owing to the introduction of Hindu custom, i.e.,
those obtaining among the Sudra castes. Some of the Savaras who are
more Hinduised than others consult their medicine men as to what
day would be most auspicious for a marriage, erect pandals (booths),
dispense with the use of liquor, substituting for it thick jaggery
(crude sugar) water, and hold a festival for two or three days. But
even the most Hinduised Savara has not yet fallen directly into the
hands of the Brahman priest." At the marriage ceremony of some Kapu
Savaras, the bride and bridegroom sit side by side at the auspicious
moment, and partake of boiled rice (korra) from green leaf-cups, the
pair exchanging cups. Before the bridegroom and his party proceed to
their village with the bride, they present the males and females of
her village with a rupee, which is called janjul naglipu, or money paid
for taking away the girl. In another form of Kapu Savara marriage, the
would-be bridegroom and his party proceed, on an auspicious day, to the
house of the selected girl, and offer betel and tobacco, the acceptance
of which is a sign that the match is agreeable to her parents. On a
subsequent day, a small sum of money is paid as the bride-price. On
the wedding day the bride is conducted to the home of the bridegroom,
where the contracting couple are lifted up by two people, who dance
about with them. If the bride attempts to enter the house, she is
caught hold of, and made to pay a small sum of money before she is
permitted to do so.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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