By the Mattiyas, and other Oriya castes, the ghorojavai (house son-in-law) custom is practiced. According to this custom, the poorer folk, in search of a wife, work, according to a contract, for their future father-in-law for a specified time, at the expiration of which they set up a separate establishment with his daughter. To begin married life with, presents are made to the couple by the father-in-law.
The dead are burnt, and the spot where cremation takes place is marked by setting up in the ground a bamboo pole, to which one of the dead man's rags is attached. The domestic pots, which were used during his last illness, are broken there. Death pollution is observed for eight days. On the ninth day, the ashes, mixed with water, are cleared up, and milk is poured over the spot. The ashes are sometimes buried in a square hole, which is dug to a depth of about three feet, and filled in. Over it a small hut-like structure is raised. A few of these sepulchral monuments may be seen on the south side of the Pangām stream on the Jeypore-Malkangiri road. The personal names of the Mattiyas are often taken from the day of the week on which they are born.
Māvilān. — Described, in the Madras Census Report,1901, as a small tribe of shikāris (hunters) and herbalists, who follow makkathāyam (inheritance from father to son), and speak corrupt Tulu. Tulumār (native of the Tulu country), and Chingattān (lion-hearted people) were returned as sub-divisions. " The name," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,*[1] "is said to be derived from māvilāvu, a medicinal herb. I think, however, the real derivation must be sought in Tulu or Canarese, as it seems to be a Canarese caste. These people are found only in the
- ↑ * Madras Census Report, 1891.
