In an account of the tali-kettu ceremony, in the Cochin Census Report,

1901, it is stated that "the celebration of the ceremony is costly,

and advantage is therefore taken of a single occasion in the course

of ten or twelve years, at which all girls in a family, irrespective

of their ages, and, when parties agree, all girls belonging to

families that observe death pollution between one another go through

the ceremony. The ceremony opens with the fixing of a post for the

construction of a pandal or shed, which is beautifully decorated

with cloth, pictures and festoons. The male members of the village

are invited, and treated to a feast followed by the distribution

of pan-supari. Every time that a marriage ceremony is celebrated,

a member of the family visits His Highness the Raja with presents,

and solicits his permission for the celebration. Such presents are

often made to the Nambudri Jenmis (landlords), by their tenants,

and by castes attached to illams. It may be noted that certain

privileges, such as sitting on a grass mat, having an elephant

procession, drumming, firing of pop-guns, etc., have often to be

obtained from the Ruler of the State. The marriage itself begins

with the procession to the marriage pandal with the eight auspicious

things (ashtamangalyam) and pattiniruththal (seating for song), at

the latter of which a Brahmini or Pushpini sings certain songs based

upon suitable Puranic texts. The girls and other female members of

the family, dressed in gay attire and decked with costly ornaments,

come out in procession to the pandal, where the Pushpini sings, with

tom-toms and the firing of pop-guns at intervals. After three, five,

or seven rounds of this, a cutting of the jasmine placed in a brass

pot is carried on an elephant by the Elayad or family priest to the

nearest Bhagavati temple, where it is planted on the night previous

to the ceremonial day with tom-toms, fireworks, and joyous shouts

of men and women. A few hours before the auspicious moment for the

ceremony, this cutting is brought back. Before the tali is tied,

the girls are brought out of the room, and, either from the ground

itself or from a raised platform, beautifully decorated with festoons,

etc., are made to worship the sun. The bridegroom, a Tirumulpad or

an enangan, is then brought into the house with sword in hand, with

tom-toms, firing of pop-guns, and shouts of joy. At the gate he is

received by a few female members with ashtamangalyam in their hands,

and seated on a bench or stool in the pandal. A male member of the

family, generally a brother or maternal uncle of the girl, washes

the feet of the bridegroom. The girls are covered with new cloths

of cotton or silk, and brought into the pandal, and seated screened

off from one another. After the distribution of money presents to the

Brahmans and the Elayad, the latter hands over the tali, or thin plate

of gold shaped like the leaf of aswatha (Ficus religiosa), and tacked

on to a string, to the Tirumulpad, who ties it round the neck of the

girl. A single Tirumulpad often ties the tali round the neck of two,

three, or four girls. He is given one to eight rupees per girl for

so doing. Sometimes the tali is tied by the mother of the girl. The

retention of the tali is not at all obligatory, nay it is seldom worn

or taken care of after the ceremony. These circumstances clearly

show the purely ceremonial character of this form of marriage. The

Karamel Asan, or headman of the village, is an important factor on

this occasion. In a conspicuous part of the marriage pandal, he is

provided with a seat on a cot, on which a grass mat, a black blanket,

and white cloth are spread one over the other. Before the tali is tied,

his permission is solicited for the performance of the ceremony. He

is paid 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 puthans (a puthan = 10 pies) per girl,

according to the means of the family. He is also given rice, curry

stuff, and pan-supari. Rose-water is sprinkled at intervals on the

males and females assembled on the occasion. With the distribution of

pan-supari, scented sandal paste and jasmine flowers to the females of

the village and wives of relatives and friends, who are invited for

the occasion, these guests return to their homes. The male members,

one or two from each family in the village, are then treated to a

sumptuous feast. In some places, where the Enangu system prevails,

all members of such families, both male and female, are also provided

with meals. On the third day, the villagers are again entertained

to a luncheon of rice and milk pudding, and on the fourth day the

girls are taken out in procession for worship at the nearest temple

amidst tom-toms and shouting. After this a feast is held, at which

friends, relatives, and villagers are given a rich meal. With the

usual distribution of pan-supari, sandal and flowers, the invited

guests depart. Presents, chiefly in money, are made to the eldest

male member of the family by friends and relatives and villagers,

and with this the ceremony closes. From the time of fixing the first

pole for the pandal to the tying of the tali, the village astrologer

is in attendance on all ceremonial occasions, as he has to pronounce

the auspicious moment for the performance of each item. During the

four days of the marriage, entertainments, such as Kathakali drama

or Ottan Tullal, are very common. When a family can ill-afford to

celebrate the ceremony on any grand scale, the girls are taken to

the nearest temple, or to the illam of a Nambudri, if they happen to

belong to sub-divisions attached to illams, and the tali is tied with

little or no feasting and merriment. In the northern taluks, the very

poor people sometimes tie the tali before the Trikkakkarappan on the

Tiruvonam day."

An interesting account of the tali-kettu ceremony is given by Duarte

Barbosa, who writes as follows. [154] "After they are ten or twelve

years old or more, their mothers perform a marriage ceremony for

them in this manner. They advise the relations and friends that they

may come to do honour to their daughters, and they beg some of their

relations and friends to marry these daughters, and they do so. It must

be said that they have some gold jewel made, which will contain half

a ducat of gold, a little shorter than the tag of lace, with a hole

in the middle passing through it, and they string it on a thread of

white silk; and the mother of the girl stands with her daughter very

much dressed out, and entertaining her with music and singing, and a

number of people. And this relation or friend of hers comes with much

earnestness, and there performs the ceremony of marriage, as though he

married her, and they throw a gold chain round the necks of both of

them together, and he puts the above mentioned jewel round her neck,

which she always has to wear as a sign that she may now do what she

pleases. And the bridegroom leaves her and goes away without touching

her nor more to say to her on account of being her relation; and, if

he is not so, he may remain with her if he wish it, but he is not bound

to do so if he do not desire it. And from that time forward the mother

goes begging some young men to deflower the girl, for among themselves

they hold it an unclean thing and almost a disgrace to deflower women."

The tali-kettu ceremony is referred to by Kerr, who, in his translation

of Castaneda, states that "these sisters of the Zamorin, and other

kings of Malabar, have handsome allowances to live upon; and, when

any of them reaches the age of ten, their kindred send for a young

man of the Nayar caste out of the kingdom, and give him presents

to induce him to initiate the young virgin; after which he hangs a

jewel round her neck, which she wears all the rest of her life, as

a token that she is now at liberty to dispose of herself to anyone

she pleases as long as she lives."

The opinion was expressed by Mr. (now Sir Henry) Winterbotham, one of

the Malabar Marriage Commissioners, that the Brahman tali-tier was

a relic of the time when the Nambutiris were entitled to the first

fruits, and it was considered the high privilege of every Nayar maid

to be introduced by them to womanhood. In this connection, reference

may be made to Hamilton's 'New Account of the East Indies', where

it is stated that "when the Zamorin marries, he must not cohabit

with his bride till the Nambudri, or chief priest, has enjoyed her,

and he, if he pleases, may have three nights of her company, because

the first fruits of her nuptials must be an holy oblation to the

god she worships. And some of the nobles are so complaisant as to

allow the clergy the same tribute, but the common people cannot have

that compliment paid to them, but are forced to supply the priests'

places themselves."

Of those who gave evidence before the Malabar Commission, some thought

the tali-kettu was a marriage, some not. Others called it a mock

marriage, a formal marriage, a sham marriage, a fictitious marriage,

a marriage sacrament, the preliminary part of marriage, a meaningless

ceremony, an empty form, a ridiculous farce, an incongruous custom,

a waste of money, and a device for becoming involved in debt. "While,"

the report states, "a small minority of strict conservatives still

maintain that the tali-kettu is a real marriage intended to confer

on the bridegroom a right to cohabit with the bride, an immense

majority describe it as a fictitious marriage, the origin of which

they are at a loss to explain. And another large section tender the

explanation accepted by our President (Sir T. Muttusami Aiyar) that,

in some way or other, it is an essential caste observance preliminary

to the forming of sexual relations."

In a recent note, Mr. K. Kannan Nayar writes [155]:

"Almost every Nayar officer in Government employ, when applying for

leave on account of the kettukallianam of his daughter or niece,

states in his application that he has to attend to the 'marriage'

of the girl. The ceremony is generally mentioned as marriage even in

the letters of invitation sent by Nayar gentlemen in these days....

This ceremony is not intended even for the betrothal of the girl to

a particular man, but is one instituted under Brahman influence as an

important kriya (sacrament) antecedent to marriage, and intended, as

the popular saying indicates, for dubbing the girl with the status of

Amma, a woman fit to be married. The saying is Tali-kettiu Amma ayi,

which means a woman has become an Amma when her tali-tying ceremony

is over."

In summing up the evidence collected by him, Mr. L. Moore states

[156] that it seems to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that "from

the sixteenth century at all events, and up to the early portion of

the nineteenth century, the relations between the sexes in families

governed by marumakkattayam were of as loose a description as it

is possible to imagine. The tali-kettu kalyanam, introduced by the

Brahmans, brought about no improvement, and indeed in all probability

made matters much worse by giving a quasi-religious sanction to a

fictitious marriage, which bears an unpleasant resemblance to the

sham marriage ceremonies performed among certain inferior castes

elsewhere as a cloak for prostitution. As years passed, some time

about the opening of the nineteenth century, the Kerala Mahatmyam

and Keralolpathi were concocted, probably by Nambudris, and false

and pernicious doctrines as to the obligations laid on the Nayars by

divine law to administer to the lust of Nambudris were disseminated

abroad. The better classes among the Nayars revolted against the

degrading custom thus established, and a custom sprang up especially

in North Malabar, of making sambandham a more or less formal contract,

approved and sanctioned by the karnavan (senior male) of the tarwad

to which the lady belonged, and celebrated with elaborate ceremony

under the pudamuri form. That there was nothing analogous to the

pudamuri prevalent in Malabar from A.D. 1550 to 1800 may, I think,

be fairly presumed from the absence of all allusion to it in the works

of the various European writers." According to Act IV, Madras, 1896,

sambandham means an alliance between a man and a woman, by reason of

which they in accordance with the custom of the community to which

they belong, or either of them belongs, cohabit or intend to cohabit

as husband and wife.

Of sambandham the following account was given by Mr. Chandu Menon to

the Malabar Marriage Commission. "The variations of the sambandham are

the pudamuri, vastradanam, uzhamporukkuka, vitaram kayaruka, etc.,

which are local expressions hardly understood beyond the localities

in which they are used, but there would be hardly a Malaiyali who

would not readily understand what is meant by sambandham tudanguga

(to begin sambandham). The meaning of this phrase, which means to

'marry,' is understood throughout Keralam in the same way, and

there can be no ambiguity or mistake about it. It is thus found that

sambandham is the principal word denoting marriage among marumakkatayam

Nayars. [Sambandhakaran is now the common term for husband.] It will

also be found, on a close and careful examination of facts, that the

principal features of this sambandham ceremony all over Keralam are

in the main the same. As there are different local names denoting

marriage, so there may be found local variations in the performance

of the ceremony. But the general features are more or less the

same. For instance, the examination, prior to the betrothal, of the

horoscopes of the bride and bridegroom to ascertain whether their

stars agree astrologically; the appointment of an auspicious day for

the celebration of the ceremony; the usual hour at which the ceremony

takes place; the presentation of danam (gifts) to Brahmans; sumptuous

banquet; the meeting of the bride and bridegroom, are features which

are invariably found in all well-conducted sambandhams in all parts of

Keralam alike. But here I would state that I should not be understood

as saying that each and every one of the formalities above referred

to are gone through at all sambandhams among respectable Nayars;

and I would further state that they ought to be gone through at every

sambandham, if the parties wish to marry according to the custom of

the country. I would now briefly refer to the local variations to

be found in the ceremony of the sambandham, and also the particular

incidents attached to certain forms of sambandham in South Malabar. I

shall describe the pudamuri or vastradanam as celebrated in North

Malabar, and then show how the other forms of sambandham differ from

it. Of all the forms of sambandham, I consider the pudamuri the most

solemn and the most fashionable in North Malabar. The preliminary

ceremony in every pudamuri is the examination of the horoscopes of

the bride and bridegroom by an astrologer. This takes place in the

house of the bride, in the presence of the relations of the bride

and bridegroom. The astrologer, after examination, writes down the

results of his calculations on a piece of palmyra leaf, with his

opinion as to the fitness or otherwise of the match, and hands it

over to the bridegroom's relations. If the horoscopes agree, a day

is then and there fixed for the celebration of the marriage. This

date is also written down on two pieces of cadjan (palm leaf), one

of which is handed over to the bride's Karanavan, and the other to

the bridegroom's relations. The astrologer and the bridegroom's party

are then feasted in the bride's house, and the former also receives

presents in the shape of money or cloth. This preliminary ceremony,

which is invariably performed at all pudamuris in North Malabar,

is called pudamuri kurikkal, but is unknown in South Malabar. Some

three or four days prior to the date fixed for the celebration of the

pudamuri, the bridegroom visits his Karanavans and elders in caste,

to obtain formal leave to marry. The bridegroom on such occasion

presents his elders with betel and nuts, and obtains their formal

sanction to the wedding. On the day appointed, the bridegroom proceeds

after sunset to the house of the bride, accompanied by a number of

his friends. He goes in procession, and is received at the gate of

the house by the bride's party, and conducted with his friends to

seats provided in the tekkini or southern hall of the house. There the

bridegroom distributes presents (danam) or money gifts to the Brahmans

assembled. After this, the whole party is treated to a sumptuous

banquet. It is now time for the astrologer to appear, and announce

the auspicious hour fixed. He does it accordingly, and receives

his dues. The bridegroom is then taken by one of his friends to the

padinhatta or principal room of the house. The bridegroom's party has,

of course, brought with them a quantity of new cloths, and betel leaves

and nuts. The cloths are placed in the western room of the house

(padinhatta), in which all religious and other important household

ceremonies are usually performed. This room will be decorated, and

turned into a bed-room for the occasion. There will be placed in the

room a number of lighted lamps, and ashtamangalyam, which consists of

eight articles symbolical of mangalyam or marriage. These are rice,

paddy (unhusked rice), the tender leaves of cocoanut trees, an arrow,

a looking-glass, a well-washed cloth, burning fire, and a small round

box called cheppu. These will be found placed on the floor of the room

as the bridegroom enters it. The bridegroom with his groomsman enters

the room through the eastern door. The bride, dressed in rich cloths

and bedecked with jewels, enters the room through the western door,

accompanied by her aunt or some other elderly lady of her family. The

bride stands facing east, with the ashtamangalyam and lit-up lamps

in front of her. The groomsman then hands over to the bridegroom a

few pieces of new cloth, and the bridegroom puts them into the hands

of the bride. This being done, the elderly lady who accompanied the

bride sprinkles rice over the lamps and the head and shoulders of

the bride and bridegroom, who immediately leaves the room, as he

has to perform another duty. At the tekkini or southern hall, he

now presents his elders and friends with cakes, and betel leaf and

nuts. Betel and nuts are also given to all the persons assembled at

the place. After the departure of the guests, the bridegroom retires

to the bed-room with the bride. Next morning, the vettilakettu or

salkaram ceremony follows, and the bridegroom's female relations take

the bride to the husband's house, where there is feasting in honour

of the occasion. Uzhamporukkuka or vidaram kayaral is a peculiar form

of marriage in North Malabar. It will be seen from description given

above that the pudamuri is necessarily a costly ceremony, and many

people resort to the less costly ceremony of uzhamporukkuka or vidaram

kayaral. The features of this ceremony are to a certain extent the

same as pudamuri, but it is celebrated on a smaller scale. There is

no cloth-giving ceremony. The feasting is confined to the relations

of the couple. The particular incident of this form of marriage

is that the husband should visit the wife in her house, and is not

permitted to take her to his house, unless and until he celebrates

the regular pudamuri ceremony. This rule is strictly adhered to in

North Malabar, and instances in which the husband and wife joined by

the uzhamporukkuka ceremony, and with grown-up children as the issue

of such marriage, undergo the pudamuri ceremony some fifteen or twenty

years after uzhamporukkuka, in order to enable the husband to take the

wife to his house, are known to me personally. The sambandham of South

Malabar, and the kidakkora kalyanam of Palghat have all or most of the

incidents of pudamuri, except the presenting of cloths. Here money is

substituted for cloths, and the other ceremonies are more or less the

same. There is also salkaram ceremony wanting in South Malabar, as

the wives are not at once taken to the husband's house after marriage."

In connection with the following note by Mr. C. P. Raman Menon on

sambandham among the Akattu Charna or Akathithaparisha (inside clan),

Mr. Fawcett states that "my informant says in the first place that

the man should not enter into sambandham with a woman until he is

thirty. Now-a-days, when change is running wild, the man is often

much less. In North Malabar, which is much more conservative than

the south, it was, however, my experience that sambandham was rare on

the side of the man before twenty-seven." "The Karanavan," Mr. Raman

Menon writes, "and the women of his household choose the bride,

and communicate their choice to the intending bridegroom through a

third party; they may not, dare not speak personally to him in the

matter. He approves. The bride's people are informally consulted,

and, if they agree, the astrologer is sent for, and examines the

horoscopes of both parties to the intended union. As a matter of

course these are found to agree, and the astrologer fixes a day

for the sambandham ceremony. A few days before this takes place,

two or three women of the bridegroom's house visit the bride,

intimating beforehand that they are coming. There they are well

treated with food and sweetmeats, and, when on the point of leaving,

they inform the senior female that the bridegroom (naming him) wishes

to have sambandham with ... (naming her), and such and such a day is

auspicious for the ceremony. The proposal is accepted with pleasure,

and the party from the bridegroom's house returns home. Preparations

for feasting are made in the house of the bride, as well as in that

of the bridegroom on the appointed day. To the former all relations

are invited for the evening, and to the latter a few friends who are

much of the same age as the bridegroom are invited to partake of food

at 7 or 8 P.M., and accompany him to the bride's house. After eating

they escort him, servants carrying betel leaves (one or two hundred

according to the means of the taravad), areca nuts and tobacco, to

be given to the bride's household, and which are distributed to the

guests. When the bride's house is far away, the bridegroom makes his

procession thither from a neighbouring house. Arrived at the bride's

house, they sit awhile, and are again served with food, after which

they are conducted to a room, where betel and other chewing stuff

is placed on brass or silver plates called thalam. The chewing over,

sweetmeats are served, and then all go to the bridal chamber, where

the women of the house and others are assembled with the bride, who,

overcome with shyness, hides herself behind the others. Here again

the bridegroom and his party go through more chewing, while they chat

with the women. After a while the men withdraw, wishing the couple

all happiness, and then the women, departing one by one, leave the

couple alone, one of them shutting the door from the outside. The

Pattar Brahmans always collect on these occasions, and receive small

presents (dakshina) of two to four annas each, with betel leaves and

areca nuts from the bridegroom, and sometimes from the bride. A few

who are invited receive their dakshina in the bridal chamber, the

others outside. Those of the bridegroom's party who live far away

are given sleeping accommodation at the bride's house [in a Nayar

house the sleeping rooms of the men and women are at different ends

of the house]. About daybreak next morning the bridegroom leaves

the house with his party, leaving under his pillow 8, 16, 32, or

64 rupees, according to his means, which are intended to cover the

expenses of the wife's household in connection with the ceremony. The

sambandham is now complete. The girl remains in her own taravad house,

and her husband visits her there, coming in the evening and leaving

next morning. A few days after the completion of the ceremony, the

senior woman of the bridegroom's house sends some cloths, including

pavu mundu (superior cloths) and thorthu mundu (towels) and some

oil to the bride for her use for six months. Every six months she

does the same, and, at the Onam, Vishu, and Thiruvathira festivals,

she sends besides a little money, areca nuts, betel and tobacco. The

money sent should be 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64 rupees. Higher sums are very

rarely sent. Before long, the women of the husband's house express a

longing for the girl-wife to be brought to their house, for they have

not seen her yet. Again the astrologer is requisitioned, and, on the

day he fixes, two or three of the women go to the house of the girl,

or, as they call her, Ammayi (uncle's wife). They are well treated,

and presently bring away the girl with them. As she is about to enter

the gate-house of her husband's taravad, the stile of which she crosses

right leg first, two or three of the women meet her, bearing a burning

lamp and a brass plate (thalam), and precede her to the nalukattu of

the house. There she is seated on a mat, and a burning lamp, a nazhi

(measure) of rice, and some plantains are placed before her. One of

the younger women takes up a plantain, and puts a piece of it in the

Ammayi's mouth; a little ceremony called madhuram tital, or giving the

sweets for eating. She lives in her husband's house for a few days,

and is then sent back to her own with presents, bracelets, rings or

cloths, which are gifts of the senior woman of the house. After this

she is at liberty to visit her husband's house on any day, auspicious

or inauspicious. In a big taravad, where there are many women, the

Ammayi does not, as a rule, get much sympathy and good-will in the

household, and, if she happens to live temporarily in her husband's

house, as is sometimes, though very rarely the case in South Malabar,

and to be the wife of the Karanavan, it is observed that she gets more

than her share of whatever good things may be going. Hence the proverb,

'Place Ammayi Amma on a stone, and grind her with another stone.' A

sambandham ceremony at Calicut is recorded by Mr. Fawcett, at which

there were cake and wine for the guests, and a ring for the bride.

In connection with sambandham, Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar writes from

Travancore that "it is known in different localities as gunadosham

(union through good or evil), vastradanam or putavakota (giving of

cloth), and uzhamporukkal (waiting one's turn). It may be performed

without any formal ceremony whatever, and is actually a private

transaction confidentially gone through in some families. The

bridegroom and his friends assemble at the house of the bride on the

appointed night, and, before the assembled guests, the bridegroom

presents the bride with a few unbleached cloths. Custom enjoins that

four pieces of cloth should be presented, and the occasion is availed

of to present cloths to the relatives and servants of the bride

also. The girl asks permission of her mother and maternal uncle,

before she receives the cloths. After supper, and the distribution

of pan-supari, the party disperses. Another day is fixed for the

consummation ceremony. On that day the bridegroom, accompanied by a few

friends, goes to the bride's house with betel leaves and nuts. After

a feast, the friends retire."

It is noted in the Cochin Census Report, 1901, that one name for the

sambandham rite is kitakkora, meaning bed-chamber ceremony. In the same

report, the following account of a puberty ceremony is given. "The

tirandukuli ceremony is practically a public declaration that a girl

has reached the age of maturity. When a girl attains puberty, she

is seated in a separate room, where a lamp is lit, and a brass pot

with a bunch of cocoanut flowers is kept. She has to keep with her a

circular plate of brass called valkannadi, literally a looking-glass

with a handle. The event is proclaimed by korava (shouts of joy by

females). The females of the neighbouring houses, and of the families

of friends and relatives, visit her. New cloths are presented to the

girl by her near relatives. On the third day the villagers, friends and

relatives are treated to a luncheon of rice and milk pudding. Early

in the morning on the fourth day, the Mannans or Velans appear. The

girl is anointed with oil, and tender leaves of the cocoanut palm

are tied round the head and waist. In the company of maidens she is

brought out of the room, and the Velans sing certain songs. Thence

the party move on to the tank, where the girl wears a cloth washed

by a Velan, and takes a bath. After the bath the Velans again sing

songs. In the afternoon, the girl is taken out by the females invited

for the occasion to an ornamental pandal, and the Velans, standing at a

distance, once more sing. With the usual distribution of pan-supari,

sandal and jasmine flowers, the ceremony closes. In the midst of

the song, the female guests of the village, the wives of friends and

relatives, and most of the members of the family itself, present each a

small cloth to the Velans. They are also given a small amount of money,

rice, betel leaf, etc. The guests are then entertained at a feast. In

some places, the girl is taken to a separate house for the bath on the

fourth day, whence she returns to her house in procession, accompanied

by tom-toms and shouting. In the northern taluks, the Velan's song is

in the night, and the performance of the ceremony on the fourth day

is compulsory. In the southern taluks, it is often put off to some

convenient day. Before the completion of this song ceremony, the girl

is prohibited from going out of the house or entering temples."

It is provided, by the Malabar Marriage Act, 1896, that, "when a

sambandham has been registered in the manner therein laid down, it

shall have the incidence of a legal marriage; that is to say, the wife

and children shall be entitled to maintenance by the husband or father,

respectively, and to succeed to half his self-acquired property,

if he dies intestate; while the parties to such a sambandham cannot

register a second sambandham during its continuance, that is, until

it is terminated by death or by a formal application for divorce in

the Civil Courts. The total number of sambandhams registered under

the Act has, however, been infinitesimal, and the reason for this

is, admittedly, the reluctance of the men to fetter their liberty to

terminate sambandham at will by such restrictions as the necessity

for formal divorce, or to undertake the burdensome responsibility of

a legal obligation to maintain their wife and offspring. If, as the

evidence recorded by the Malabar Marriage Commission tended to show,

'a marriage law in North Malabar, and throughout the greater part of

South Malabar, would merely legalise what is the prevailing custom,'

it is hard to see why there has been such a disinclination to lend

to that custom the dignity of legal sanction." [157] The following

applications to register sambandhams under the Act were received from

1897 to 1904:--

Nayars. Tiyans. Others. Total.

1897 28 6 2 36

1898 8 2 4 14

1899 8 2 4 14

1900 8 ... 9 17

1901 3 ... 1 4

1902 ... ... ... ...

1903 2 ... ... 2

--- --- -- --

Total 57 10 20 87

In a recent account of a Nayar wedding in high life in Travancore,

the host is said to have distributed flowers, attar, etc., to all

his Hindu guests, while the European, Eurasian, and other Christian

guests, partook of cake and wine, and other refreshments, in a

separate tent. The Chief Secretary to Government proposed the toast

of the bride and bridegroom.

The following note on Nayar pregnancy ceremonies was supplied to

Mr. Fawcett by Mr. U. Balakrishnan Nayar. "A woman has to observe

certain ceremonies during pregnancy. First, during and after the

seventh month, she (at least among the well-to-do classes) bathes,

and worships in the temple every morning, and eats before her morning

meal a small quantity of butter, over which mantrams (consecrated

formulæ) have been said by the temple priest, or by Nambutiris. This

is generally done till delivery. Another, and even more important

ceremony, is the puli-kuti (drinking tamarind juice). This is

an indispensable ceremony, performed by rich and poor alike, on a

particular day in the ninth month. The day and hour are fixed by the

local astrologer. The ceremony begins with the planting of a twig of

the ampasham tree on the morning of the day of the ceremony in the

principal courtyard (natu-muttam) of the taravad. At the appointed hour

or muhurtam, the pregnant woman, after having bathed, and properly

attired, is conducted to a particular portion of the house (vatakini

or northern wing), where she is seated, facing eastward. The ammayi, or

uncle's wife, whose presence on the occasion is necessary, goes to the

courtyard, and, plucking a few leaves of the planted twig, squeezes a

few drops of its juice into a cup. This she hands over to the brother,

if any, of the pregnant woman. It is necessary that the brother should

wear a gold ring on his right ring finger. Holding a country knife

(pissan kathi) in his left hand, which he directs towards the mouth,

he pours the tamarind juice over the knife with his right hand three

times, and it dribbles down the knife into the woman's mouth, and

she drinks it. In the absence of a brother, some other near relation

officiates. After she has swallowed the tamarind juice, the woman is

asked to pick out one of several packets of different grains placed

before her. The grain in the packet she happens to select is supposed

to declare the sex of the child in her womb. The ceremony winds up with

a sumptuous feast to all the relatives and friends of the family." In

connection with pregnancy ceremonies, Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar writes

that "the puli-kuti ceremony is performed at the seventh, or sometimes

the ninth month. The husband has to contribute the rice, cocoanut,

and plantains, and present seven vessels containing sweetmeats. In

the absence of a brother, a Maran pours the juice into the mouth

of the woman." It is noted in the Cochin Census Report, 1901, that

"the puli-kudi ceremony consists in administering to the woman with

child a few pills of tamarind and other acid substances. The pills

are placed at the end of a knife-blade, and pushed into the mouth

of the woman by means of a gold ring. The ceremony, which in a way

corresponds to the pumsavana of the Brahmans, is performed either by

a brother or uncle of the woman, and, in the absence of both, by the

husband himself. Unlike Brahmans, the ceremony is performed only at

the time of the first pregnancy." In the eighth month, a ceremony,

called garbha veli uzhiyal, is performed by the Kaniyan (astrologer)

to remove the effects of the evil eye.

The ceremonies observed in connection with pregnancy are described

as follows in the Gazetteer of Malabar. "The first regular ceremony

performed during pregnancy is known as pulikudi or drinking tamarind,

which corresponds to the Pumsavanam of the Brahmans. But there

are other observances of less importance, which commonly, if not

invariably, precede this, and may be considered as corresponding to the

Garbharakshana (embryo or womb protection) ceremony sometimes performed

by Brahmans, though not one of the obligatory sacraments. Sometimes

the pregnant woman is made to consume daily a little ghee (clarified

butter), which has been consecrated by a Nambudiri with appropriate

mantrams. Sometimes exorcists of the lower castes, such as Panans,

are called in, and perform a ceremony called Balikkala, in which

they draw magic patterns on the ground, into which the girl throws

lighted wicks, and sing rude songs to avert from the unborn babe the

unwelcome attentions of evil spirits, accompanying them on a small

drum called tudi, or with bell-metal cymbals. The ceremony concludes

with the sacrifice of a cock, if the woman is badly affected by the

singing. The pulikudi is variously performed in the fifth, seventh,

or ninth month. An auspicious hour has to be selected by the village

astrologer for this as for most ceremonies. A branch of a tamarind

tree should be plucked by the pregnant woman's brother, who should go

to the tree with a kindi (bell-metal vessel) of water, followed by an

Enangatti [158] carrying a hanging lamp with five wicks (tukkuvilakku),

and, before plucking it, perform three pradakshinams round it. In the

room in which the ceremony is to be performed, usually the vadakkini,

there is arranged a mat, the usual lamp (nilavilakku) with five

wicks, and a para measure of rice (niracchaveppu), also the materials

necessary for the performance of Ganapathi puja (worship of the god

Ganesa), consisting of plantains, brown sugar, leaves of the sacred

basil or tulasi (Ocimum sanctum), sandal paste, and the eight spices

called ashtagantham. The woman's brother performs Ganapathi puja, and

then gives some of the tamarind leaves to the Enangatti, who expresses

their juice, and mixes it with that of four other plants. [159] The

mixture is boiled with a little rice, and the brother takes a little

of it in a jack (Artocarpus integrifolia) leaf folded like a spoon,

and lets it run down the blade of a knife into his sister's mouth. He

does this three times. Then the mixture is administered in the same

manner by some woman of the husband's family, and then by an Ammayi

(wife of one of the members of the girl's tarwad). The branch is

then planted in the nadumittam, and feasting brings the ceremony

to a close. The above description was obtained from an Urali Nayar

of Calicut taluk. In other localities and castes, the details vary

considerably. Sometimes the mixture is simply poured into the woman's

mouth, instead of being dripped off a knife. Some castes use a small

spoon of gold or silver instead of the jack leaves. In South Malabar

there is not as a rule any procession to the tamarind tree. Among

Agathu Charna Nayars of South Malabar, the ceremony takes place in

the nadumittam, whither the tamarind branch is brought by a Tiyan. The

girl carries a valkannadi or bell-metal mirror, a charakkol or arrow,

and a pisankatti (knife). An Enangatti pours some oil on her head,

and lets it trickle down two or three hairs to her navel where it is

caught in a plate. Then the girl and her brother, holding hands, dig a

hole with the charakkol and pisankatti, and plant the tamarind branch

in the nadumittam, and water it. Then the juice is administered. Until

she is confined, the girl waters the tamarind branch, and offers rice,

flowers, and lighted wicks to it three times a day. When labour begins,

she uproots the branch."

"At delivery," Mr. Balakrishnan Nayar writes, "women of the barber

caste officiate as midwives. In some localities, this is performed by

Velan caste women. Pollution is observed for fifteen days, and every

day the mother wears cloths washed and presented by a woman of the

Vannan [or Tiyan] caste. On the fifteenth day is the purificatory

ceremony. As in the case of death pollution, a man of the Attikurissi

clan sprinkles on the woman a liquid mixture of oil and the five

products of the cow (panchagavya), with gingelly (Sesamum) seeds. Then

the woman takes a plunge-bath, and sits on the ground near the tank

or river. Some woman of the family, with a copper vessel in her hands,

takes water from the tank or river, and pours it on the mother's head

as many as twenty-one times. This done, she again plunges in the water,

from which she emerges thoroughly purified. It may be noted that,

before the mother proceeds to purify herself, the new-born babe has

also to undergo a rite of purification. It is placed on the bare

floor, and its father or uncle sprinkles a few drops of cold water

on it, and takes it in his hands. The superstitious believe that

the temperament of the child is determined by that of the person

who thus sprinkles the water. All the members of the taravad observe

pollution for fifteen days following the delivery, during which they

are prohibited from entering temples and holy places." It is noted by

Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar that the first act done, when a male child is

born, is to beat the earth with a cocoanut leaf, and, if the issue

is a female, to grind some turmeric in a mortar, with the object,

it is said, of removing the child's fear.

In connection with post-natal ceremonies, Mr. Balakrishnan Nayar

writes further that "the twenty-seventh day after the child's birth,

or the first recurring day of the star under which it was born,

marks the next important event. On this day, the Karanavan of the

family gives to the child a spoonful or two of milk mixed with

sugar and slices of plantain. Then he names the child, and calls

it in the ear by the name three times. This is followed by a feast

to all friends and relatives, the expenses of which are met by the

father of the child. With the Nayar, every event is introduced by

a ceremonial. The first meal of rice (chorun) partaken of by the

child forms no exception to the rule. It must be remembered that

the child is not fed on rice for some time after birth, the practice

being to give it flour of dried plantain boiled with jaggery (crude

sugar). There is a particular variety of plantain, called kunnan,

used for this purpose. Rice is given to the child for the first time

generally during the sixth month. The astrologer fixes the day, and,

at the auspicious hour, the child, bathed and adorned with ornaments

(which it is the duty of the father to provide) is brought, and laid

on a plank. A plantain leaf is spread in front of it, and a lighted

brass lamp placed near. On the leaf are served a small quantity of

cooked rice--generally a portion of the rice offered to some temple

divinity--some tamarind, salt, chillies, and sugar. [In some places

all the curries, etc., prepared for the attendant feast, are also

served.] Then the Karanavan, or the father, ceremoniously approaches,

and sits down facing the child. First he puts in the mouth of the

child a mixture of the tamarind, chillies and salt, then some rice,

and lastly a little sugar. Thenceforward the ordinary food of the child

is rice. It is usual on this occasion for relatives (and especially

the bandhus, such as the ammayi, or 'uncle's wife') to adorn the child

with gold bangles, rings and other ornaments. The rice-giving ceremony

is, in some cases, preferably performed at some famous temple, that

at Guruvayur being a favourite one for this purpose." It is noted

by Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar that the rice-giving ceremony is usually

performed by taking the child to a neighbouring temple, and feeding

it with the meal offered to the deity as nivadiyam. In some places,

the child is named on the chorun day.

Of ceremonies which take place in infancy and childhood, the following

account is given in the Gazetteer of Malabar. "On the fifth day after

birth, a woman of the Attikurissi or Marayan caste among Nayars, or

of the barber caste in the lower classes, is called in, and purifies

the mother, the other women of the household, and the room in which

the child was born, by lustration with milk and gingelly oil, using

karuga (Cynodon Dactylon) as a sprinkler. Her perquisites are the

usual niracchaveppu (1 edangazhi of paddy and 1 nazhi of uncooked rice)

placed together with a lamp of five wicks in the room to be cleansed,

and a small sum in cash. A similar purification ceremony on the 15th

day concludes the pollution period. In some cases, milk and cow's urine

are sprinkled over the woman, and, after she has bathed, the Marayan,

or Attikurissi waves over her and the child two vessels, one containing

water, stained red with turmeric and lime, and one water blackened with

powdered charcoal. During this and other periods, a characteristic

service called mattu (change) has to be rendered by people of the

Mannan caste to Nayars, and to other castes by their proper washermen,

who may or may not be Mannans. On the day of birth, the Mannatti

brings a clean tuni (cloth) of her own, and a mundu (cloth), which

she places in the yard, in which she finds the accustomed perquisites

of grain set out, and a lamp. An Attikurissi Nayar woman takes the

clean clothes, and the Mannatti removes those previously worn by the

mother. Every subsequent day during the pollution period, the Mannatti

brings a change of raiment, but it is only on the 7th and 15th days

that any ceremonial is observed, and that the Attikurissi woman is

required. On those days, a Mannan man attends with the Mannatti, He

makes three pradakshinams round the clean clothes, the lamp, and the

niracchaveppu, and scatters a little of the grain forming the latter

on the ground near it, with an obeisance, before the Attikurissi

woman takes the clothes indoors. This rite of mattu has far reaching

importance. It affords a weapon, by means of which the local tyrant can

readily coerce his neighbours, whom he can subject to the disabilities

of excommunication by forbidding the washerman to render them this

service; while it contributes in no small degree to the reluctance

of Malayali women to leave Kerala, since it is essential that the

mattu should be furnished by the appropriate caste and no other.

"On the twenty-eighth day (including the day of birth) comes the

Palu-kudi (milk-drinking) ceremony, at which some women of the father's

family must attend. Amongst castes in which the wife lives with the

husband, the ceremony takes place in the husband's house, to which

the wife and child return for the first time on this day. The usual

lamp, niracchaveppu and kindi of water, are set forth with a plate,

if possible of silver, containing milk, honey, and bits of a sort of

plantain called kunnan, together with three jack leaves folded to serve

as spoons. The mother brings the child newly bathed, and places it in

his Karnavan's lap. The goldsmith is in attendance with a string of

five beads (mani or kuzhal) made of the panchaloham or five metals,

gold, silver, iron, copper and lead, which the father ties round

the baby's waist. The Karnavan, or the mother, then administers a

spoonful of the contents of the plate to the child with each of the

jack leaves in turn. The father's sister, or other female relative,

also administers some, and the Karnavan then whispers the child's

name thrice in its right ear.

"The name is not publicly announced till the Chorunnu or Annaprasanam

(rice giving), which takes place generally in the sixth month,

and must be performed at an auspicious moment prescribed by an

astrologer. The paraphernalia required are, besides the five-wicked

lamp, some plantain leaves on which are served rice and four kinds of

curry called kalan, olan, avil, and ericchakari, some pappadams (wafers

of flour and other ingredients), plantains and sweetmeats called upperi

(plantains fried in cocoanut oil). The mother brings the child newly

bathed, and wearing a cloth for the first time, and places it in the

Karnavan's lap. The father then ties round the child's neck a gold

ring, known as muhurta mothiram (auspicious moment ring), and the

relatives present give the child other ornaments of gold or silver

according to their means, usually a nul or neck-thread adorned with

one or more pendants, an arannal or girdle, a pair of bangles, and a

pair of anklets. The Karnavan then, after an oblation to Ganapathi,

gives the child some of the curry, and whispers its name in its right

ear three times. He then carries the child to a cocoanut tree near

the house, round which he makes three pradakshinams, pouring water

from a kindi round the foot of the tree as he does so. The procession

then returns to the house, and on the way an old woman of the family

proclaims the baby's name aloud for the first time in the form of

a question, asking it 'Krishnan' (for instance), 'dost thou see the

sky?' In some cases, the father simply calls out the name twice.

"The Vidyarambham ceremony to celebrate the beginning of the child's

education takes place in the fifth or seventh year. In some places,

the child is first taken to the temple, where some water sanctified

by mantrams is poured over his head by the Shantikaran (officiating

priest). The ceremony at the house is opened by Ganapathi puja

performed by an Ezhuttacchan, or by a Nambudri, or another Nayar. The

Ezhuttacchan writes on the child's tongue with a gold fanam (coin)

the invocation to Ganapathi (Hari Sri Ganapathayi nama), or sometimes

the fifty-one letters of the Malayalam alphabet, and then grasps the

middle finger of the child's right hand, and with it traces the same

letters in parched rice. He also gives the child an ola (strip of

palm leaf) inscribed with them, and receives in return a small fee in

cash. Next the child thrice touches first the Ezhuttacchan's feet, and

then his own forehead with his right hand, in token of that reverent

submission to the teacher, which seems to have been the key-note of

the old Hindu system of education.

"The Kathukuttu or ear-boring is performed either at the same time as

the Pala-kudi or the Choulam, or at any time in the fifth or seventh

year. The operator, who may be any one possessing the necessary skill,

pierces first the right and then the left ear with two gold or silver

wires brought by the goldsmith, or with karamullu thorns. The wires

or thorns are left in the ears. In the case of girls, the hole is

subsequently gradually distended by the insertion of nine different

kinds of thorns or plugs in succession, the last of which is a bamboo

plug, till it is large enough to admit the characteristic Malayali

ear ornament, the boss-shaped toda."

Of the death ceremonies among the Nayars of Malabar, the following

detailed account is given by Mr. Fawcett. "When the dying person is

about to embark for that bourne from which no traveller returns, and

the breath is about to leave his body, the members of the household,

and all friends who may be present, one by one, pour a little water,

a few drops from a tiny cup made of a leaf or two of the tulsi (Ocimum

sanctum), into his mouth, holding in the hand a piece of gold or a

gold ring, the idea being that the person should touch gold ere it

enters the mouth of the person who is dying. If the taravad is rich

enough to afford it, a small gold coin (a rasi fanam, if one can be

procured) is placed in the mouth, and the lips are closed. As soon as

death has taken place, the corpse is removed from the cot or bed and

carried to the vatakkini (a room in the northern end of the house),

where it is placed on long plantain leaves spread out on the floor;

while it is in the room, whether by day or night, a lamp is kept

burning, and one member of the taravad holds the head in his lap,

and another the feet in the same way; and here the neighbours come

to take a farewell look at the dead. As the Malayalis believe that

disposal of a corpse by cremation or burial as soon as possible after

death is conducive to the happiness of the spirit of the departed,

no time is lost in setting about the funeral. The bodies of senior

members of the taravad, male or female, are burned, those of children

under two are buried; so too are the bodies of all persons who have

died of cholera or small-pox. When preparations for the funeral have

been made, the corpse is removed to the natumuttam or central yard of

house, if there is one (there always is in the larger houses); and,

if there is not, is taken to the front yard, where it is again laid on

plantain leaves. It is washed and anointed, the usual marks are made

with sandal paste and ashes as in life, and it is neatly clothed. There

is then done what is called the potavekkuka ceremony, or placing new

cotton cloths (koti mundu) over the corpse by the senior member of

the deceased's taravad followed by all the other members, and also

the sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, and all relatives. These cloths

are used for tying up the corpse, when being taken to the place of

burial or cremation. In some parts of Malabar, the corpse is carried

on a bier made of fresh bamboos, tied up in these cloths, while in

others it is carried, well covered in the cloths, by hand. In either

case it is carried by the relatives. Before the corpse is removed,

there is done another ceremony called paravirakkuka, or filling up

paras. (A para is a measure nearly as big as a gallon.) All adult male

members of the taravad take part in it under the direction of a man

of the Attikkurissi clan who occupies the position of director of the

ceremonies during the next fifteen days, receiving as his perquisites

all the rice and other offerings made to the deceased's spirit. It

consists in filling up three para measures with paddy (unhusked rice),

and one edangali (1/10 of a para) with raw rice. These offerings of

paddy and rice are placed very near the corpse, together with a burning

lamp of the kind commonly used in Malabar, called nela vilaku. If the

taravad is rich enough to afford one, a silk cloth is placed over the

corpse before its removal for cremation. As much fuel as is necessary

having been got ready at the place of cremation, a small pit about the

size of the corpse is dug, and across this are placed three long stumps

of plantain tree, one at each end, and one in the middle, on which as

a foundation the pyre is laid. The whole, or at least a part of the

wood used, should be that of the mango tree. As the corpse is being

removed to the pyre, the senior Anandravan [160] who is next in age

(junior) to the deceased tears from one of the new cloths laid on the

corpse a piece sufficient to go round his waist, ties it round his

waist and holds in his hand, or tucks into his cloth at the waist,

a piece of iron, generally a long key. This individual is throughout

chief among the offerers of pindam (balls of rice) to the deceased. The

corpse is laid on the bier with the head to the south, with the fuel

laid over it, and a little camphor, sandalwood and ghi (clarified

butter), if these things are within the means of the taravad. Here

must be stated the invariable rule that no member of the taravad,

male or female, who is older than the deceased, shall take any part

whatever in the ceremony, or in any subsequent ceremony following on

the cremation or burial. All adult males junior to the deceased should

be present when the pyre is lighted. The deceased's younger brother,

or, if there is none surviving, his nephew (his sister's eldest son)

sets fire to the pyre at the head of the corpse. If the deceased left

a son, this son sets fire at the same time to the pyre at the feet of

the corpse. In the case of the deceased being a woman, her son sets

fire to the pyre; failing a son, the next junior in age to her has

the right to do it. It is a matter of greatest importance that the

whole pyre burns at once. The greatest care is taken that it burns

as a whole, consuming every part of the corpse. While the corpse is

being consumed, all the members of the deceased's taravad who carried

it to the pyre go and bathe in a tank (there is always one in the

compound or grounds round every Nayar's house). The eldest, he who

bears the piece of torn cloth and iron (the key), carries an earthen

pot of water, and all return together to the place of cremation. It

should be said that, on the news of a death, the neighbours assemble,

assisting in digging the grave, preparing the pyre, and so on, and,

while the members of the taravad go and bathe, they remain near the

corpse. By the time the relatives return it is almost consumed by

the fire, and the senior Anandravan carries the pot of water thrice

round the pyre, letting the water leak out by making holes in the

pot as he walks round. On completing the third round, he dashes the

pot on the ground close by where the head of the dead body has been

placed. A small image representing the deceased is then made out of

raw rice, and to this image a few grains of rice and gingelly seeds

are offered. When this has been done, the relatives go home and the

neighbours depart, bathing before entering their houses. When the

cremation has been done by night, the duty of seshakriya (making

offerings to the deceased's spirit) must be begun the next day

between 10 and 11 A.M., and is done on seven consecutive days. In

any case the time for this ceremony is after 10 and before 11, and

it continues for seven days. It is performed as follows. All male

members of the taravad younger than the deceased go together to a

tank and bathe, i.e., they souse themselves in the water, and return

to the house. The eldest of them, the man who tore off the strip of

cloth from the corpse, has with him the same strip of cloth and the

piece of iron, and all assemble in the central courtyard of the house,

where there have been placed ready by an enangan some rice which has

been half boiled, a few grains of gingelly, a few leaves of the cherula

(Ærua lanata), some curds, a smaller measure of paddy, and a smaller

measure of raw rice. These are placed in the north-east corner with a

lamp of the ordinary Malabar pattern. A piece of palmyra leaf, about

a foot or so in length and the width of a finger, is taken, and one

end of it is knotted. The knotted end is placed in the ground, and

the long end is left sticking up. This represents the deceased. The

rice and other things are offered to it. The belief concerning this

piece of palmyra leaf is explained thus. There are in the human body

ten humours:--Vayus, Pranan, Apanan, Samanan, Udanan, Vyanan, Nagan,

Kurman, Krikalan, Devadattan, Dhananjayan. These are called Dasavayu,

i.e., ten airs. When cremation was done for the first time, all these,

excepting the last, were destroyed by the fire. The last one flew

up, and settled on a palmyra leaf. Its existence was discovered by

some Brahman sages, who, by means of mantrams, forced it down to a

piece of palmyra leaf on the earth. So it is thought that, by making

offerings to this Dhananjayan leaf for seven days, the spirit of the

deceased will be mollified, should he have any anger to vent on the

living members of the taravad. The place where the piece of leaf

is to be fixed has been carefully cleaned, and the leaf is fixed

in the centre of the prepared surface. The offerings made to it go

direct to the spirit of the deceased, and the peace of the taravad is

assured. The men who have bathed and returned have brought with them

some grass (karuka pulla), plucked on their way back to the house. They

kneel in front of the piece of palmyra, with the right knee on the

ground. Some of the grass is spread on the ground near the piece of

leaf, and rings made with it are placed on the ring finger of the

right hand by each one present. The first offerings consist of water,

sandal paste, and leaves of the cherula, the eldest of the Anandravans

leading the way. Boys need not go through the actual performance of

offerings; it suffices for them to touch the eldest as he is making

the offerings. The half boiled rice is made into balls (pindam), and

each one present takes one of these in his right hand, and places it

on the grass near the piece of palmyra leaf. Some gingelly seeds are

put into the curd, which is poured so as to make three rings round the

pindams. It is poured out of a small cup made with the leaf on which

the half-boiled rice had been placed. It should not be poured from any

other kind of vessel. The whole is then covered with this same plantain

leaf, a lighted wick is waved, and some milk is put under the leaf. It

is undisturbed for some moments, and leaf is gently tapped with the

back of the fingers of the right hand. The leaf is then removed, and

torn in two at its midrib, one piece being placed on either side of

the pindams. The ceremony is then over for the day. The performers

rise, and remove the wet clothing they have been wearing. The eldest

of the Anandravans should, it was omitted to mention, be kept somewhat

separated from the other Anandravans while in the courtyard, and before

the corpse is removed for cremation; a son-in-law or daughter-in-law,

or some such kind of relation remaining, as it were, between him

and them. He has had the piece of cloth torn from the covering of

the corpse tied round his waist, and the piece of iron in the folds

of his cloth, or stuck in his waist during the ceremony which has

just been described. Now, when it has been completed, he ties the

piece of cloth to the pillar of the house nearest to the piece of

palmyra leaf which has been stuck in the ground, and puts the piece

of iron in a safe place. The piece of palmyra leaf is covered with

a basket. It is uncovered every day for seven days at the same hour,

while the same ceremony is repeated. The balls of rice are removed by

women and girls of the taravad who are junior to the deceased. They

place them in the bell-metal vessel in which the rice was boiled. The

senior places the vessel on her head, and leads the way to a tank,

on the bank of which the rice is thrown. It is hoped that crows will

come and eat it; for, if they do, the impression is received that

the deceased's spirit is pleased with the offering. But, if somehow

it is thought that the crows will not come and eat it, the rice is

thrown into the tank. Dogs are not to be allowed to eat it. The women

bathe after the rice has been thrown away. When the ceremony which

has been described has been performed for the seventh time, i.e.,

on the seventh day after death, the piece of palmyra leaf is removed

from the ground, and thrown on the ashes of the deceased at the place

of cremation. During these seven days, no member of the taravad goes

to any other house. The house of the dead, and all its inmates are

under pollution. No outsider enters it but under ban of pollution,

which is, however, removable by bathing. A visitor entering the house

of the dead during these seven days must bathe before he can enter

his own house. During these seven days, the Karanavan of the family

receives visits of condolence from relatives and friends to whom he

is "at home" on Monday, Wednesday or Saturday. They sit and chat,

chew betel, and go home, bathing ere they enter their houses. It is

said that, in some parts of Malabar, the visitors bring with them

small presents in money or kind to help the Karanavan through the

expenditure to which the funeral rites necessarily put him. To hark

back a little, it must not be omitted that, on the third day after the

death, all those who are related by marriage to the taravad of the

deceased combine, and give a good feast to the inmates of the house

and to the neighbours who are invited, one man or woman from each

house. The person so invited is expected to come. This feast is called

patni karigi. On the seventh day, a return feast will be given by the

taravad of the deceased to all relatives and neighbours. Between the

seventh and fourteenth day after death no ceremony is observed, but the

members of the taravad remain under death pollution. On the fourteenth

day comes the sanchayanam. It is the disposal of the calcined remains;

the ashes of the deceased. The male members of the taravad go to

the place of cremation, and, picking up the pieces of unburnt bones

which they find there, place these in an earthen pot which has been

sun-dried (not burnt by fire in the usual way), cover up the mouth

of this pot with a piece of new cloth, and, all following the eldest

who carries it, proceed to the nearest river (it must be running

water), which receives the remains of the dead. The men then bathe,

and return home. In some parts of Malabar the bones are collected

on the seventh day, but it is not orthodox to do so. Better by far

than taking the remains to the nearest river is it to take them to

some specially sacred place, Benares, Gaya, Rameswaram, or even to

some place of sanctity much nearer home, as to Tirunelli in Wynaad,

and there dispose of them in the same manner. The bones or ashes of

any one having been taken to Gaya and there deposited in the river,

the survivors of the taravad have no need to continue the annual

ceremony for that person. This is called ashtagaya sradh. It puts

an end to the need for all earthly ceremonial. It is believed that

the collection and careful disposal of the ashes of the dead gives

peace to his spirit, and, what is more important, the pacified spirit

will not thereafter injure the living members of the taravad, cause

miscarriage to the women, possess the men (as with an evil spirit),

and so on. On the fifteenth day after death is the purificatory

ceremony. Until this has been done, any one touched by any member of

the taravad should bathe before he enters his house, or partakes of

any food. A man of the Athikurisi clan officiates. He sprinkles milk

oil, in which some gingelly seeds have been put, over the persons of

those under pollution. This sprinkling, and the bath which follows it,

remove the death pollution. The purifier receives a fixed remuneration

for his offices on this occasion, as well as when there is a birth in

the taravad. In the case of death of a senior member of a taravad,

well-to-do and recognised as of some importance, there is the feast

called pinda atiyantaram on the sixteenth day after death, given to

the neighbours and friends. With the observance of this feast of

pindams there is involved the diksha, or leaving the entire body

unshaved for forty-one days, or for a year. There is no variable

limit between forty-one days or a year. The forty-one-day period

is the rule in North Malabar. I have seen many who were under the

diksha for a year. He who lets his hair grow may be a son or nephew

of the deceased. One member only of the taravad bears the mark of

mourning by his growth of hair. He who is under the diksha offers

half-boiled rice and gingelly seeds to the spirits of the deceased

every morning after his bath, and he is under restriction from women,

from alcoholic drinks, and from chewing betel, also from tobacco. When

the diksha is observed, the ashes of the dead are not deposited as

described already (in the sun-dried vessel) until its last day--the

forty-first or a year after death. When it is carried on for a year,

there is observed every month a ceremony called bali. It is noteworthy

that, in this monthly ceremony and for the conclusion of the diksha,

it is not the thirtieth or three hundred and sixty-fifth day which

marks the date for the ceremonies, but it is the day (of the month)

of the star which was presiding when the deceased met his death:

the returning day on which the star presides. [161] For the bali, a

man of the Elayatu caste officiates. The Elayatus are priests for the

Nayars. They wear the Brahmin's thread, but they are not Brahmins. They

are not permitted to study the Vedas, but to the Nayars they stand in

the place of the ordinary purohit. The officiating Elayatu prepares

the rice for the bali, when to the deceased, represented by karuka

grass, are offered boiled rice, curds, gingelly seeds, and some other

things. The Elayatu should be paid a rupee for his services, which

are considered necessary even when the man under diksha is himself

familiar with the required ceremonial. The last day of the diksha is

one of festivity. After the bali, the man under diksha is shaved. All

this over, the only thing to be done for the deceased is the annual

sradh or yearly funeral commemorative rite. Rice-balls are made,

and given to crows. Clapping of hands announces to these birds that

the rice is being thrown for them, and, should they not come at once

and eat, it is evident that the spirit is displeased, and the taravad

had better look out. The spirits of those who have committed suicide,

or met death by any violent means, are always particularly vicious and

troublesome to the taravad, their spirits possessing and rendering

miserable some unfortunate member of it. Unless they are pacified,

they will ruin the taravad, so Brahman priests are called in, and

appease them by means of tilahomam, a rite in which sacrificial fire

is raised, and ghi, gingelly, and other things are offered through it."

"There are," Mr. Fawcett writes, "many interesting features in the

death ceremonies as performed by the Kiriattil class. Those who carry

the corpse to the pyre are dressed as women, their cloths being wet,

and each carries a knife on his person. Two junior male members of

the taravad thrust pieces of mango wood into the southern end of

the burning pyre, and, when they are lighted, throw them over their

shoulders to the southwards without looking round. Close to the

northern end of the pyre, two small sticks are fixed in the ground,

and tied together with a cloth, over which water is poured thrice. All

members of the taravad prostrate to the ground before the pyre. They

follow the enangu carrying the pot of water round the pyre, and go

home without looking round. They pass to the northern side of the

house under an arch made by two men standing east and west, holding

at arms length, and touching at the points, the spade that was used

to dig the pit under the pyre, and the axe with which the wood for the

pyre was cut or felled. After this is done the kodali ceremony, using

the spade, axe, and big knife. These are placed on the leaves where

the corpse had lain. Then follows circumambulation and prostration

by all, and the leaves are committed to the burning pyre."

In connection with the death ceremonies, it is noted in the Cochin

Census Report, 1901, that "the last moments of a dying person are

really very trying. All members (male and female), junior to the

dying person, pour into his or her mouth drops of Ganges or other

holy water or conjee (rice) water in token of their last tribute of

regard. Before the person breathes his last, he or she is removed

to the bare floor, as it is considered sacrilegious to allow the

last breath to escape while lying on the bed, and in a room with a

ceiling, which last is supposed to obstruct the free passage of the

breath. The names of gods, or sacred texts are loudly dinned into

his or her ears, so that the person may quit this world with the

recollections of God serving as a passport to heaven. The forehead,

breast, and the joints especially are besmeared with holy ashes,

so as to prevent the messengers of death from tightly tying those

parts when they carry away the person. Soon after the last breath,

the dead body is removed to some open place in the house, covered from

top to toe with a washed cloth, and deposited on the bare floor with

the head towards the south, the region of the God of death. A lighted

lamp is placed near the head, and other lights are placed all round

the corpse. A mango tree is cut, or other firewood is collected,

and a funeral pyre is constructed in the south-eastern corner of

a compound or garden known as the corner of Agni, which is always

reserved as a cemetery for the burning or burial of the dead. All male

members, generally junior, bathe, and, without wiping their head or

body, they remove the corpse to the yard in front of the house, and

place it on a plantain leaf. It is nominally anointed with oil, and

bathed in water. Ashes and sandal are again smeared on the forehead

and joints. The old cloth is removed, and the body is covered with

a new unwashed cloth or a piece of silk. A little gold or silver, or

small coins are put into the mouth. With the breaking of a cocoanut,

and the offering of some powdered rice, betel leaf, areca nut, etc.,

the body is taken to the pyre. The members junior to the deceased

go round the pyre three, five, or seven times, throw paddy and rice

over the dead body, put scantlings of sandal wood, prostrate at the

feet of the corpse, and then set fire to the pyre. When the body is

almost wholly consumed, one of the male members carries a pot of water,

and, after making three rounds, the pot is broken and thrown into the

pyre. The death of an elderly male member of a family is marked by

udakakriya and sanchayanam, and the daily bali performed at the bali

kutti (altar) planted in front of the house, or in the courtyard in

the centre of the house, where there is one. The Ashtikurissi Nayar

officiates as priest at all such obsequies. On the morning of the

fifteenth day, the members of the family wear cloths washed by a

Velan, and assemble together for purification by the Nayar priest,

both before and after bathing, who throws on them paddy and rice,

and sprinkles the holy mixture. The Elayad or family purohit then

performs another punnayaham or purification, and on the sixteenth day

he takes the place of the priest. On the evening of the fifteenth day,

and the morning of the sixteenth day, the purohits and villagers are

sumptuously feasted, and presents of cloths and money are made to the

Elayads. In the Chittur taluk, the Tamil Brahman sometimes performs

priestly functions in place of the Elayad. Diksha is performed for

forty-one days, or for a whole year, for the benefit of the departed

soul. This last ceremony is invariably performed on the death of the

mother, maternal uncle, and elder brother."

In connection with the habitations of the Nayars, Mr. Fawcett writes

as follows. "A house may face east or west, never north or south;

as a rule, it faces the east. Every garden is enclosed by a bank,

a hedge, or a fencing of some kind, and entrance is to be made at one

point only, the east, where there is a gate-house, or, in the case of

the poorest houses, a small portico or open doorway roofed over. One

never walks straight through this; there is always a kind of stile to

surmount. It is the same everywhere in Malabar, and not only amongst

the Nayars. The following is a plan of a nalapura or four-sided house,

which may be taken as representative of the houses of the rich:--

Numbers 6 and 7 are rooms, which are generally used for storing

grain. At A is a staircase leading to the room of the upper storey

occupied by the female members of the family. At B is another

staircase leading to the rooms of the upper storey occupied by the

male members. There is no connection between the portions allotted to

the men and women. No. 8 is for the family gods. The Karanavans and

old women of the family are perpetuated in images of gold or silver,

or, more commonly, brass. Poor people, who cannot afford to have these

images made, substitute a stone. Offerings are made to these images,

or to the stones at every full moon. The throat of a fowl will be cut

outside, and the bird is then taken inside and offered. The entrance

is at C.

There are windows at * * *. E are rooms occupied by women and

children. It may be noticed that the apartment where the men sleep has

no windows on the side of the house which is occupied by women. The

latter are relatively free from control by the men as to who may

visit them. We saw, when speaking of funeral ceremonies, that a house

is supposed to have a courtyard, and, of course, it has this only

when there are four sides to the house. The nalapura is the proper

form of house, for in this alone can all ceremonial be observed in

orthodox fashion. But it is not the ordinary Nayar's house that one

sees all over Malabar. The ordinary house is roughly of the shape here

indicated. Invariably there is an upper storey. There are no doors,

and only a few tiny windows opening to the west. Men sleep at one end,

women at the other, each having their own staircase. Around the house

there is always shade from the many trees and palms. Every house is

in its own seclusion."

Concerning Nayar dwellings, Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar writes that "the

houses of the Nayar, standing in a separate compound, have been by

many writers supposed to have been designed with special reference

to the requirements of offence and defence, and Major Welsh states

that the saying that every man's house is his castle is well verified

here. The higher ambition of the Nayar is, as has frequently been

said, to possess a garden, wherein he can grow, without trouble or

expense, the few necessaries of his existence. The garden surrounding

the house is surrounded by a hedge or strong fence. At the entrance

is an out-house, or patipura, which must have served as a kind of

guardroom in mediæval times. In poorer houses its place is taken by a

roofed door, generally provided with a stile to keep out cattle. The

courtyard is washed with cow-dung, and diverse figures are drawn

with white chalk on the fence. Usually there are three out-houses,

a vadakkettu on the north side serving as a kitchen, a cattle-shed,

and a tekketu on the southern side, where some family spirit is

located. These are generally those of Maruta, i.e., some member of

the family who has died of small-pox. A sword or other weapon, and

a seat or other emblem is located within this out-house, which is

also known by the names of gurusala (the house of a saint), kalari

(military training-ground), and daivappura (house of a deity). The

tekketu is lighted up every evening, and periodical offerings are

made to propitiate the deities enshrined within. In the south-west

corner is the serpent kavu (grove), and by its side a tank for

bathing purposes. Various useful trees are grown in the garden, such

as the jack, areca palm, cocoanut, plantain, tamarind, and mango. The

whole house is known as vitu. The houses are built on various models,

such as pattayappura, nalukettu, ettukettu, and kuttikettu."

Concerning the dress of the Nayars, Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar writes that

"the males dress themselves in a mundu (cloth), a loose lower garment,

and a towel. A neriyatu, or light cloth of fine texture with coloured

border, is sometimes worn round the mundu on festive occasions. Coats

and caps are recent introductions, but are eschewed by the orthodox as

unnational. It is noted by Mr. Logan that 'the women clothe themselves

in a single white cloth of fine texture, reaching from the waist to the

knees, and occasionally, when abroad, they throw over the shoulder and

bosom another similar cloth. But by custom the Nayar women go uncovered

from the waist. Upper garments indicate lower caste, or sometimes,

by a strange reversal of Western notions, immodesty.' Edward Ives,

who came to Anjengo about 1740, observes that 'the groves on each bank

of the river are chiefly planted with cocoanut trees, and have been

inhabited by men and women in almost a pure state of nature, for they

go with their breasts and bellies entirely naked. This custom prevails

universally throughout every caste from the poorest planter of rice

to the daughter or consort of the king upon the throne.'" (According

to ancient custom, Nayar women in Travancore used to remove their

body-cloth in the presence of the Royal Family. But, since 1856,

this custom has been abolished, by a proclamation during the reign

of H. H. Vanchi Bala Rama Varma Kulasakhara Perumal Bhagiodya Rama

Varma. In a critique on the Indian Census Report, 1901. Mr. J. D. Rees

observes [162] that "if the Census Commissioner had enjoyed the

privilege of living among the Nayars, he would not have accused

them of an 'excess of females.' The most beautiful women in India,

if numerous, could never be excessive." Concerning Nayar females,

Pierre Loti writes [163] that "les femmes ont presque toutes les

traits d'une finesse particulière. Elles se font des bandeaux a la

Vierge, et, avec le reste de leurs cheveux, très noirs et très lisses,

composent une espèce de galette ronde qui se porte au sommet de la

tête, en avant et de côté, retombant un peu vers le front comme une

petite toque cavalièrement posée, en contraste sur l'ensemble de leur

personne qui demeure toujours grave et hiératique."] The Nayars are

particularly cleanly. Buchanan writes that "the higher ranks of the

people of Malayala use very little clothing, but are remarkably

clean in their persons. Cutaneous disorders are never observed

except among slaves and the lowest orders, and the Nayar women are

remarkably careful, repeatedly washing with various saponaceous plants

to keep their hair and skins from every impurity." The washerman is

constantly in requisition. No dirty cloths are ever worn. When going

for temple worship, the Nayar women dress themselves in the tattu form

by drawing the right corner of the hind fold of the cloth between the

thighs, and fastening it at the back. The cloth is about ten cubits

long and three broad, and worn in two folds. The oldest ornament

of the Nayar women is the necklace called nagapatam, the pendants

of which resemble a cobra's hood. The Nayar women wear no ornament

on the head, but decorate the hair with flowers. The nagapatam, and

several other forms of neck ornament, such as kazhultila, nalupanti,

puttali, chelakkamotiram, amatali, arumpumani, and kumilatali are

fast vanishing. The kuttu-minnu is worn on the neck for the first

time by a girl when her tali-kettu is celebrated. This ornament is

also called gnali. Prior to the tali-kettu ceremony, the girls wear a

kasu or sovereign. The inseparable neck ornament of a Nayar woman in

modern days is the addiyal, to which a patakkam is attached. The only

ornament for the ears is the takka or toda. After the lobes have been

dilated at the karnavedha ceremony, and dilated, a big leaden ring

is inserted in them. The nose ornament of women is called mukkuthi,

from which is suspended a gold wire called gnattu. No ornament is

worn in the right nostril. The wearing of gold bangles on the wrists

has been long the fashion among South Indian Hindu females of almost

all high castes. Round the waist Nayar women wear chains of gold

and silver, and, by the wealthy, gold belts called kachchapuram are

worn. Anklets were not worn in former times, but at the present day

the kolusu and padasaram of the Tamilians have been adopted. So,

too, the time-honoured toda is sometimes set aside in favour of the

Tamil kammal, an ornament of much smaller size. Canter Visscher (who

was Chaplain at Cochin in the eighteenth century) must have been

much struck by the expenditure of the Nayar women on their dress,

for he wrote [164] 'there is not one of any fortune who does not own

as many as twenty or thirty chests full of robes made of silver and

other valuable materials, for it would be a disgrace in their case

to wear the same dress two or three days in succession'."

It is noted by Mr. Fawcett that "the Venetian sequin, which probably

first found its way to Malabar in the days of Vasco da Gama and

Albuquerque, is one of those coins which, having found favour with

a people, is used persistently in ornamentation long after it has

passed out of currency. So fond are the Malayalis of the sequin that

to this day there is quite a large trade in imitations of the coin for

purposes of ornament. Such is the persistence of its use that the trade

extends to brass and even copper imitation of the sequins. The former

are often seen to bear the legend 'Made in Austria.' The Nayars wear

none but the gold sequins. The brass imitations are worn by the women

of the inferior races. If one asks the ordinary Malayali, say a Nayar,

what persons are represented on the sequin, one gets for answer that

they are Rama and Sita; between them a cocoanut tree."

In connection with the wearing of charms by Nayars Mr. Fawcett

writes as follows. "One individual (a Kiriattil Nayar) wore two

rings made of an amalgamation of gold and copper, called tambak,

on the ring finger of the right hand for good luck. Tambak rings

are lucky rings. It is a good thing to wash the face with the hand,

on which is a tambak ring. Another wore two rings of the pattern

called triloham (lit. metals) on the ring finger of each hand. Each

of these was made during an eclipse. Yet another wore a silver ring

as a vow, which was to be given up at the next festival at Kottiur,

a famous festival in North Malabar. The right nostril of a Sudra

Nayar was slit vertically as if for the insertion of a jewel. His

mother miscarried in her first pregnancy, so, according to custom,

he, the child of her second pregnancy, had his nose slit. Another

wore a silver bangle. He had a wound in his arm which was long in

healing, so he made a vow to the god at Tirupati (in the North Arcot

district), that, if his arm was healed, he would give up the bangle

at the Tirupati temple. He intended to send the bangle there by a

messenger. An Akattu Charna Nayar wore an amulet to keep off the

spirit of a Brahman who died by drowning. Another had a silver ring,

on which a piece of a bristle from an elephant's tail was arranged."

Tattooing is said by Mr. Subramani Aiyar not to be favoured by North

Travancore Nayars, and to be only practiced by Nayar women living

to the south of Quilon. Certain accounts trace it to the invasion

of Travancore by a Moghul Sirdar in 1680 A.D. In modern times it has

become rare. The operation is performed by women of the Odda or Kurava

caste before a girl reaches the twelfth year.

Concerning the religious worship of the Nayars, Mr. Subramani Aiyar

writes that "Buchanan notes that the proper deity of the Nayars is

Vishnu, though they wear the mark of Siva on their foreheads. By

this is merely meant that they pay equal reverence to both Siva and

Vishnu, being Smartas converted to the tenets of Sankaracharya. Besides

worshipping the higher Hindu deities, the Nayars also manifest their

adoration for several minor ones, such as Matan, Utayam, Yakshi,

Chattan, Chantakarnan, Murti, Maruta, and Arukula. Most of these have

granite representations, or at least such emblems as a sword or a cane,

and are provided with a local habitation. Besides these, persons who

have met with accidental death, and girls who have died before their

tali-tying ceremony, are specially worshipped under the designations

of Kazhichchavu and Kannichchavu. Magicians are held in some fear,

and talismanic amulets are attached to the waist by members of both

sexes. Kuttichattan, the mischievous imp of Malabar, is supposed to

cause much misery. Various spirits are worshipped on the Tiruvonam

day in the month of Avani (August-September), on the Uchcharam or

28th day of Makarom (January-February), and on some Tuesdays and

Fridays. Kolam-tullal, Velan-pravarti, Ayiramaniyam-tullel, Chavuttu,

Tila-homam, and a host of other ceremonies are performed with a view

to propitiate spirits, and the assistance of the Kaniyans and Velans

is largely sought. Serpents, too, whose images are located on the

north-western side of most gardens in Central and North Travancore,

receive a large share of adoration. The sun is an object of universal

worship. Though the Gayatri cannot be studied, or the Sandhyavandanam

of the Brahmans performed, an offering of water to the sun after

a bath, to the accompaniment of some hymn, is made by almost every

pious Nayar. The Panchakshara is learnt from an Ilayatu, and repeated

daily. A large portion of the time of an old Nayar is spent in reading

the Ramayana, Bhagavata and Mahabharata, rendered into Malayalam by

Tunchattu Ezhuttachhan, the greatest poet of the Malabar coast. Many

places in Travancore are pointed out as the scene of memorable

incidents in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. There are many temples,

tanks, and mountains connected with Rama's march to the capital of

Ravana. Equally important are the singular feats said to have been

performed by the five Pandavas during the time of their wanderings

in the jungles before the battle of Kurukshetra. Bhima especially

has built temples, raised up huge mountains, and performed many

other gigantic tasks in the country. There are some village temples

owned exclusively by the Nayars, where all the karakkars (villagers)

assemble on special occasions. A very peculiar socio-religious ceremony

performed here is the kuttam. This is a village council, held at the

beginning of every month for the administration of the communal affairs

of the caste, though, at the present day, a sumptuous feast at the

cost of each villager in rotation, and partaken of by all assembled,

and a small offering to the temple, are all that remains to commemorate

it. Astrology is believed in, and some of its votaries are spoken of

as Trikalagnas, or those who know the past, present, and future. It

is due to a curse of Siva on the science of his son, who made bold by

its means to predict even the future of his father, that occasional

mistakes are said to occur in astrological calculations. Sorcery

and witchcraft are believed to be potent powers for evil. To make a

person imbecile, to paralyse his limbs, to cause him to lavish all

his wealth upon another, to make him deaf and dumb, and, if need be,

even to make an end of him, are not supposed to be beyond the powers

of the ordinary wizard. Next to wizardry and astrology, palmistry,

omens, and the lizard science are generally believed in. In the

category of good omens are placed the elephant, a pot full of water,

sweetmeats, fruit, fish and flesh, images of gods, kings, a cow with

its calf, married women, tied bullocks, gold lamps, ghee, milk, and

so on. Under the head of bad omens come the donkey, a broom, buffalo,

untied bullock, barber, widow, patient, cat, washerman, etc. The worst

of all omens is beyond question to allow a cat to cross one's path. An

odd number of Nayars, and an even number of Brahmans, are good omens,

the reverse being particularly bad. On the Vinayaka-chaturthi day in

the month of Avani, no man is permitted to look at the rising moon

under penalty of incurring unmerited obloquy.

"The chief religious festival of the Nayars is Onam, which takes

place in the last week of August, or first week of September. It is

a time of rejoicing and merriment. Father Paulinus, writing in the

latter half of the eighteenth century, observes that about the tenth

September the rain ceases in Malabar. All nature seems then as if

renovated; the flowers again shoot up, and the trees bloom. In a word,

this season is the same as that which Europeans call spring. The Onam

festival is said, therefore, to have been instituted for the purpose

of soliciting from the gods a happy and fruitful year. It continues

for eight days, and during that time the Indians are accustomed to

adorn their houses with flowers, and to daub them over with cow-dung,

because the cow is a sacred animal, dedicated to the Goddess Lakshmi,

the Ceres of India. On this occasion they also put on new clothes,

throw away all their old earthenware and replace it by new. Onam is,

according to some, the annual celebration of the Malabar new year,

which first began with Cheraman Perumal's departure for Mecca. But,

with the majority of orthodox Hindus, it is the day of the annual visit

of Mahabali to his country, which he used to govern so wisely and well

before his overthrow. There is also a belief that it is Maha-Vishnu

who, on Onam day, pays a visit to this mundane universe, for the just

and proper maintenance of which he is specially responsible. In some

North Malabar title-deeds and horoscopes, Mr. Logan says, the year is

taken as ending with the day previous to Onam. This fact, he notes, is

quite reconcilable with the other explanation, which alleges that the

commencement of the era coincides with Perumal's departure for Arabia,

if it is assumed, as is not improbable, that the day on which he sailed

was Thiruvonam day, on which acknowledgment of fealty should have

been made. Onam, it may be observed, is a contraction of Thiruvonam

which is the asterism of the second day of the festival. Throughout

the festival, boys from five to fifteen years of age go out early

in the morning to gather flowers, of which the kadali is the most

important. On their return, they sit in front of the tulasi (sacred

basil) mandapam, make a carpet-like bed of the blossoms which they have

collected, and place a clay image of Ganapati in the centre. A writer

in the Calcutta Review [165] describes how having set out at dawn to

gather blossoms, the children return with their beautiful spoils by 9

or 10 A.M., and then the daily decoration begins. The chief decoration

consists of a carpet made out of the gathered blossoms, the smaller

ones being used in their entirety, while the large flowers, and one

or two varieties of foliage of different tints, are pinched up into

little pieces to serve the decorator's purpose. This flower carpet is

invariably in the centre of the clean strip of yard in front of the

neat house. Often it is a beautiful work of art, accomplished with a

delicate touch and a highly artistic sense of tone and blending. The

carpet completed, a miniature pandal (booth), hung with little

festoons, is erected over it, and at all hours of the day neighbours

look in, to admire and criticise the beautiful handiwork."

"Various field sports, of which foot-ball is the chief, are indulged

in during the Onam festival. To quote Paulinus once more, the men,

particularly those who are young, form themselves into parties,

and shoot at each other with arrows. These arrows are blunted,

but exceedingly strong, and are discharged with such force that a

considerable number are generally wounded on both sides. These games

have a great likeness to the Ceralia and Juvenalia of the ancient

Greeks and Romans."

In connection with bows and arrows, Mr. Fawcett writes that "I once

witnessed a very interesting game called eitu (eiththu), played by

the Nayars in the southern portion of Kurumbranad during the ten days

preceding Onam. There is a semi-circular stop-butt, about two feet

in the highest part, the centre, and sloping to the ground at each

side. The players stand 25 to 30 yards before the concave side of it,

one side of the players to the right, the other to the left. There

is no restriction of numbers as to sides. Each player is armed with

a little bow made of bamboo, about 18 inches in length, and arrows,

or what answer for arrows, these being no more than pieces of the

midrib of the cocoanut palm leaf, roughly broken off, leaving a little

bit of the end to take the place of the feather. In the centre of

the stop-butt, on the ground, is placed the target, a piece of the

heart of the plantain tree, about 3 inches in diameter, pointed at

the top, in which is stuck a small stick convenient for lifting the

cheppu, as the mark which is the immediate objective of the players

is called. They shoot indiscriminately at the mark, and he who hits

it (the little arrows shoot straight, and stick in readily) carries

off all the arrows lying on the ground. Each side strives to secure

all the arrows, and to deprive the other side of theirs--a sort of

'beggar my neighbour.' He who hits the mark last takes all the arrows;

that is, he who hits it, and runs and touches the mark before any one

else hits it. As I stood watching, it happened several times that as

many as four arrows hit the mark, while the youth who had hit first

was running the 25 yards to touch the cheppu. Before he could touch it,

as many as four other arrows had struck it, and, of course, he who hit

it last and touched the mark secured all the arrows for his side. The

game is accompanied by much shouting, gesticulation and laughter. Those

returning, after securing a large number of arrows, turned somersaults,

and expressed their joy in saltatory motions." In a note on this game

with bows and arrows in Kurumbranad, Mr. E. F. Thomas writes that

"the players themselves into two sides, which shoot alternately at the

mark. Beside the mark stand representatives of the two sides. When

the mark is hit by a member of either side, on his representative

shouting 'Run, man,' he runs up the lists. His object is to seize

the mark before it is hit by any one belonging to the other side. If

he can do this, his side takes all the arrows which have been shot,

and are sticking in the stop-butt. If, on the other hand, the mark

is hit by the other side before he reaches it, he may not seize the

mark. A member of the other side runs up in his turn to seize the

mark if possible before it is hit again by the first side. If he can

do this, he takes out, not all the arrows, but only the two which are

sticking in the mark. If, while number two is running, the mark is hit

a third time, a member of the first side runs up, to seize the mark

if possible. The rule is that one or three hits take all the arrows in

the stop-butt, two or four only the arrows sticking in the mark. Great

excitement is shown by all who take part in the game, which attracts

a number of spectators. The game is played every fortnight by Nayars,

Tiyans, Mappillas, and others. I am told that it is a very old one,

and is dying out. I saw it at Naduvanur."