Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/300

gold thread, and a pair of gold bracelets. When they reach the house, the women who have accompanied the bridegroom throw paddy over those who have collected at the entrance thereto, by whom the compliment is returned. The bridegroom takes his seat on the dais, and the bride is conducted thither by her brothers. A wide-meshed green curtain is thrown over her shoulders, and her hands are pressed over her eyes, and held there by one of her brothers, so that she cannot see. Generally two brothers sit by her side, and, when one is tired, the other relieves him. The purōhit invests the bridegroom with a second thread as a sign of marriage. Damp rice is scattered from a basket all round the contracting couple, and the tāli, after it has been blessed by Brāhmans, is tied round the neck of the bride by the bridegroom and her brothers. At the moment when the tāli is tied, the bride's hands are removed from her face, and she is permitted to see her husband. The pair then go round the dais, and the bride places her right foot thrice on a grindstone. Their little fingers are linked, and their cloths tied together. Thus united, they are conducted to a room, in which fifty pots, painted white and with various designs on them, are arranged in rows. In front of them, two pots, filled with water, are placed, and, in front of the two pots, seven lamps. Round the necks of these pots, bits of turmeric are tied. They are called avareti kundalu or avireni kundalu, and are made to represent minor deities. The pots are worshipped by the bridal couple, and betel is distributed among the Brāhmans and Rāzus, of whom members of the Pūsapāti and Gottimukkala septs take precedence over the others. On the following day, the purōhit teaches the sandyavandhanam (morning and evening ablutions), which is, however, quite different from the Brāhmanical rite. On