Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/212

assembled, is given by the Brāhman to the bridegroom, who ties it on the bride's neck. The screen is then removed, and the couple sit side by side. The sacred fire is lighted, their hands are linked together, and the ends of their cloths tied together. They then leave the pandal, and, placing their feet on a grindstone, look at the pole-star (Arundati). Entering the pandal once more, they sit therein, and the elders bless them by throwing rice coloured with turmeric over their heads. On the fourth day, they again sit within the pandal, and cooked rice, coloured white, red, yellow, green, and black, on five trays, and nine lighted wicks on a tray are waved before them. Five married men and women, holding a string, stand round them in a circle, within which is the bride's brother with a twig of pīpal (Ficus religiosa). The bridegroom places his hands together, and small rice cakes are placed on the head, shoulders, bend of the elbows and knees, and between the fingers of the couple. They are then bathed, and, taking betel in their hands, bow to the four corners of the earth. The bridegroom makes a nāmam (Vaishnavite sect mark), or places vibhūti (sacred ashes) on the twelve posts of the pandal, and the bride places a little cooked rice and water before each post, to which camphor is burnt, and pūja done. They then start for the bride's house, but the bride's sister meets them at the entrance thereto, and will not allow them to go in until she has extracted a promise that their child shall marry hers. The bride proceeds to a tank, sowing some paddy (rice) on the way thither, and brings back a pot of water, with which she washes her husband's hands and feet. Husband and wife then feed each other with a small quantity of rice and milk. Their hands are then cleaned, and the bride's brother puts a gold ring on the finger of the bridegroom.