Various kinds of vegetables are placed on the silver vessel, cooked,
and distributed. Cakes, called dosai, are made in the house, and,
during their preparation, holes are made in them by married women with
an iron style. These cakes are also distributed, and it is taken as
an insult if any individual does not receive one.
Every Nattukottai Chetti is said to have the inviolable right to claim
the hand of his paternal aunt's daughter. This being so, ill-assorted
marriages are quite common, the putative father being often but a
child. [114] The marriage ceremonies commence with the giving of
gold for the bride's neck. On an auspicious day, the bridegroom's
party give a gold coin to a goldsmith, who beats it into a thin
sheet, and goes home after receiving betel, etc. On the first day
of the marriage rites, a feast is given to the bridegroom's family,
and female ancestors are worshipped. On the following day, the
presentation of the dowry (sireduththal) takes place. The presents,
which are often of considerable value, are laid out for inspection, and
an inventory of them is made. Perishable articles, such as rice, ghi
(clarified butter), dhal (Cajanus indicus), and fruits are sold. The
bride's presents are taken to the house of the bridegroom, those who
carry them being rewarded with betel, a silk fan, scent bottle, silk
handkerchief, bottle of chocolate, a tin of biscuits, and a brass
vessel. On the third day, garlands are received from the temples
to which the bride and bridegroom belong. The bride's party go to
the house of the bridegroom, taking on a tray a silk handkerchief
and cloth, and in a silver vessel fifty rupees, betel, etc. These
are presented to the bridegroom. This ceremony is called mappillai
ariyappothal, or going to examine the son-in-law. The next item on
the programme is nalkuriththal, or fixing the day. The bridegroom's
party proceed to the house of the bride, taking with them two cocoanuts
wrapped up in a blanket, betel, turmeric, etc., as a present. The bride
is bathed and decorated, and purangkaliththal is proceeded with. She
stands by the side of her grandmother, and a Brahman purohit, taking
up a few leafy margosa (Melia Azadirachta) twigs, touches the girl's
shoulders, head, and knees with them, and throws them away. Her glass
bead necklace is then removed. At the uppu-eduththal (salt carrying)
ceremony, the bridegroom's party carry a basket containing salt,
a bundle containing nine kinds of grains, and a palmyra scroll for
writing the marriage contract on, to the bride's house. The sacred fire
is lighted, and homam performed by the Brahman purohit. An old man,
who has had a number of children, and belongs to a temple other than
that of a bride, and the bridegroom's sister, then tie the tali string
round her neck. This string bears a large tali, about seven inches long
and four inches broad, and seventeen to twenty-three gold ornaments,
often of considerable value. Some of them have very sharp points, so
that accidents sometimes arise from the points sticking in the eyes
of babies carried by women. For every day wear, the massive ornaments
are replaced by a smaller set. Immediately after the tali has been
tied, the marriage contract (isagudi manam) is written. Two copies
are made, for the bride and bridegroom respectively. As an example
of a marriage contract, the following may be cited: "This is written
for the marriage celebrated on ... between Subramanyan, the son of
Okkurudaiyan Arunachelam Chetti Ramanadhan Chetti and Valliammai,
the daughter of Arumbakurudaiyan K. Narayana Chetti, both formerly of
Ilayaththukudi, at the village of.... The value of jewels given to
the girl is ... of gold; his dowry amounts to ...; money for female
servant ...; sirattuchukram money ...; free gift of jewels.... This
esaikudimanam was written by me at.... Signed Ramanadhan Chetti." The
bridegroom goes on horseback to a Pillayar temple where he worships,
and then proceeds in procession through various streets to the
bride's house, accompanied by his sister carrying milk in a vessel,
and a cooly bearing a bundle of seed rice. At every Chetti house
the procession halts, and coloured rice lights are waved before
the bridegroom. At the entrance to the bride's house, he is met
by the bride, whose sister-in-law pushes the couple against each
other. Hence the ceremony is called mappillaikuidiththukattal,
or showing the bride to the bridegroom by pushing her. The couple
are then conducted to a dais within the house, and wristlets made of
cotton cloth are tied on by the purohit. They exchange cocoanuts and
garlands, and, amid the blowing of the conch shell (musical instrument)
by women, the bride's mother touches the couple with turmeric, ashes,
sandal, etc. On the fourth day, money called veththilai surul rupai
(betel-roll money) is given to the newly-married couple by Chettis
and the maternal uncles. A silver vessel, containing betel and two
rupees, is given to the bridegroom by his father-in-law. The bridegroom
usually carries on his shoulders a long purse of silk or red cloth,
called valluvaippai, into which he puts the betel and other things
which are given to him. On the last day of the marriage ceremonies,
toe-rings and wristlets are removed, and the bridal pair eat together.
In connection with pregnancy, two ceremonies are performed, called
respectively marunthidal (medicine giving) and thirthamkudiththal
(drinking holy water). The former is celebrated at about the fifth
month. On an auspicious day, the sister-in-law of the pregnant woman,
amid the blowing of the conch-shell by females, extracts the juice from
the leaves of five plants, and gives to the woman to drink. During
the seventh month the woman is given consecrated water (thirtham)
from the temple. All first-born children, both male and female,
have to go through a ceremony called pudhumai (newness). When they
are two years old, on an auspicious day, fixed by a Brahman purohit,
the maternal uncle of the child ties on its neck strings of coral
and glass beads, to which ornaments of pearls and precious stones are
added in the case of the wealthy. The child is further decorated with
other ornaments, and placed in an oval wooden tray, which is held
by the mother and her sister-in-law. They go round three times with
the tray, and the child's aunt, taking it up, carries it round to be
blessed by those who have assembled. Presents of money are given to
the child by relations and friends, and the maternal uncles have to
give a larger sum than the others. On the second or third day the
coral and bead ornaments are removed, and, on the fourth day, the
child, if a male, is shaved, and must thenceforth have the head clean
shaved throughout life. "The story goes that, when the Chola king of
Kaveripattanam persecuted them, the members of this caste resolved
not to shave their heads until they quitted his territories. When they
reached their new settlement they shaved their heads completely as a
memorial of their stern resolution." [115] When a death occurs among
the Nattukottai Chettis, news thereof is conveyed by the Thandakaran,
or caste messenger. Those who come to condole with the bereaved family
are received with outstretched hands (kainittikolludhal). The head of
the corpse is shaved, and it is washed and decorated. In front of the
house a pandal (booth), supported by four Thespesia populnea posts, and
roofed with twigs of Eugenia Jambolana, is erected. Beneath this the
corpse is laid, and all present go round it thrice. While the corpse
is being got ready for conveyance to the burning ground, the daughters
and sisters of the deceased husk paddy (unhusked rice). On the way
to the burning ground, the son carries the fire. If the deceased
is a young boy or girl, the pandal is removed after the funeral;
otherwise it is removed, on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Sunday, within
four days. The Nattukottais restrict the name pandal to the funeral
booth, the marriage booth being called kavanam or kottagai. Even an
ordinary shed set up in front of a house is not called a pandal,
as the name is associated with funerals. On the day following the
funeral, the bigger fragments of bones are collected by a barber, and
given to the son, who places them in an earthen pot. A Pandaram offers
fruit, food, etc., to the deceased. Eight days afterwards, a feast,
at which meat is partaken of for the first time since the death, is
given to the relations of the dead person, and their pollution is at
an end. They may not, however, enter a temple for thirty days. On the
sixteenth day after death, the final death ceremonies (karmandhiram)
are performed, and liberal presents of money, religious books, such
as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Periya Puranam, wooden spoons for
domestic use, etc., are given to Brahmans.
There are three matams, whereat the Nattukottai Chettis are initiated
into their religion, at Patharakkudi (or Padanakkudi) and Kila
for males, and Tulavur for females. They are Saivites, but also,
more especially the women, worship such minor deities as Aiyanar,
Muneswara, and Karuppan. They are also said to worship two village
goddesses, called Sellattamman and Kannudayamman, at Nattarasankottai.
Nattukottai men have the lobes of the ears artificially dilated, but
seldom wear ornaments therein. They frequently have a gold chain round
the loins, and wear finger rings set with diamonds. The wives even
of wealthy men wear a cheap body cloth, and do menial house work,
such as cleaning the kitchen utensils. They plait baskets, and,
in some houses, wheels for spinning cotton may be seen.
Like other trading classes in Southern India, the Nattukottai
Chettis have a trade language of their own, which varies according
to locality. In the city of Madras they have three tables, for annas,
rupees, and tens of rupees respectively. Each of these is formed out
of the syllables of certain words. Thus, the anna table is composed
of the syllables of Tiripurasundari, the goddess at Madura, which is
a great centre for Nattukottai Chettis. The syllables (in the inverse
order), and their money equivalent are as follows:--
Ri 1/2 anna.
Da 3/4 anna.
Un 1 anna.
Su 2 annas.
Ra 3 annas.
Pu 4 annas.
Ri 8 annas.
Ti 12 annas.
The rupee table is composed of the word Vedagirisvararthunai,
meaning with the help of Vedagirisvarar, the god at Tirukalikundram
near Madras:--
Ve 1 rupee.
Da 2 rupees.
Gi 3 rupees.
Ri 4 rupees.
I 5 rupees.
Is 6 rupees.
Va 7 rupees.
Ra 8 rupees.
A 9 rupees.
Thu 10 rupees.
Nai 11 rupees.