Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/460

The betrothal ceremony takes place at the house of the future bride, in the presence of both the maternal uncles, and consists in tying fruit and betel leaf in the girl's cloth. On the wedding day, the bridegroom is shaved, and an Arumaikkāri pours water over him. If he has a sister, the ceremony of betrothing his prospective daughter to her son, is performed. He then goes on horseback, carrying some fruit and a pestle, to a stone planted for the occasion, and called the nāttukal, which he worships. The stone is supposed to represent the Kongu king, and the pestle the villagers, and the whole ceremony is said to be a relic of a custom of the ancient Kongu people, to which the caste formerly belonged, which required them to obtain the sanction of the king for every marriage. On his return from the nattukal, balls of white and coloured rice are taken round the bridegroom, to ward off the evil eye. His mother then gives him three mouthfuls of food, and eats the remainder herself, to indicate that henceforth she will not provide him with meals. A barber then blesses him, and he repairs on horseback to the bride's house, where he is received by one of her party similarly mounted. His ear-rings are put in the bride's ears, and the pair are carried on the shoulders of their maternal uncles to the nāttukal. On their return thence, they are touched by an Arumaikkāran with a betel leaf dipped in oil, milk and water. The tāli (marriage badge) is worshipped and blessed, and the Arumaikkāran ties it on her neck. The barber then pronounces an elaborate blessing, which runs as follows: " Live as long as the sun and moon may endure, or Pasupatisvarar (Siva) at Karūr. May your branches spread like the banyan tree, and your roots like grass, and may you flourish like the bamboo. May ye twain be like the flower and the thread, which