The caste are said to have 77 exogamous groups descended from the 77
followers or spearsmen who attended Raja Rudra Pratap of Bastar when
he was ousted from Warangal. These section names are eponymous,
territorial and totemistic, instances of the last kind being
Cherukunula from _cheruku_, sugarcane, and Pasapunula from _pasapu_,
turmeric, and _nula_, thread. Marriage within the section or _gotra_
is prohibited, but first cousins may intermarry. Marriage is usually
adult, and the binding portion of the ceremony consists in the tying
of the _mangal-sutram_ or happy thread by the bridegroom round the
bride's neck. At the end of the marriage the _kankans_ or bracelets
of the bridegroom and bride are taken off in signification that all
obstacles to complete freedom of intercourse and mutual confidence
between the married pair have been removed. In past years, when the
Guna Velamas had a marriage, they were bound to pay the marriage
expenses of a couple of the Palli or fisherman caste, in memory of
the fact that on one occasion when the Guna Velamas were in danger of
being exterminated by their enemies, the Pallis rescued them in their
boats and carried them to a place of safety. But now it is considered
sufficient to hang up a fishing-net in the house when a marriage
ceremony of the Guna Velamas is being celebrated. [715] The caste do
not permit the marriage of widows, and divorce is confined to cases
in which a wife is guilty of adultery. The Velamas usually employ
Vaishnava Brahmans as their priests. They burn the bodies of those
who die after marriage, and bury those dying before it. Children are
named on the twenty-first day after birth, the child being placed in
a swing, and the name selected by the parents being called out three
times by the oldest woman present. On this day the mother is taken
to a well and made to draw a bucket of water by way of declaration
that she is fit to do household work.