nature's fount and cow's milk. It is then, before the sixth month is
over, given boiled rice for the first time. The ceremony takes place
either in the middle room of its father's house, or at a temple. The
child's grandfather, or the eldest male member of the family, sits
on a mat, and takes the child in his lap. With a gold ring he applies
honey three times to its mouth, and then gives it a little rice three
times. Female relations who are present follow his example, giving
the child first honey, and then rice. Several women, with the lighted
lamp and other articles, carry the child into the yard, to show it
the sky. They go round a cocoanut tree, and stand before the front
door, facing west. An elder among the women of the house stands at
the front door, calls out the name of the child three times, and asks
it to come inside. The relations give little presents of ornaments,
and there is a feast.
It will be observed that even a child's life is not entirely free from
ceremonial. When it has grown up, it undergoes more of it, and, when it
has lived its course on earth, is the subject of still more ceremonial
long after it is dead. All these affairs involve some expenditure, but
the one which literally runs away with money is marriage. The others
are not extravagances, nor are they as costly as might be implied from
the continual feasting of a large number of people. We must not think
of these feasts as of a banquet at the Carlton, but as simple affairs,
at which simple people are content with simple though pleasing fare.
When a child is provided by nature with teeth, it is the subject
of a little ceremony, during which it is expected to disclose its
natural propensities. The usual mat and other articles are arranged,
and there are in addition a large flat bell-metal plate containing
a rice cake, a knife, a palmyra leaf grantham (book), a cocoanut,
and a gold ornament. The child is let loose, and allowed to pick out
anything from the plate. If it takes the cake, it will be greedy; if
the knife, brave; if the book, learned; if the cocoanut, a landlord;
and, if the gold ornament, rich.
A child's head is shaved in the third or fifth year. The barber, who
performs the operation, is allowed to take away the rice which, with
the lamp, is at hand. He also receives a fanam and a new cloth. The
people of the child's mother bring rice cakes.
The last day of the Dasara festival in the fifth year of a child's
life is that on which instruction in the alphabet begins. A teacher,
who has been selected with care, or a lucky person holds the child's
right hand, and makes it trace the fifty-one letters of the Malayalam
alphabet on raw rice spread on a plate. The fore-finger, which is the
one used in offering water to the souls of the dead and in other parts
of the death ceremonies, must not be used for tracing the letters,
but is placed above the middle finger, merely to steady it. For
the same reason, a doctor, when making up a pill, will not use the
fore-finger. When, later on, the child goes to the village school,
the fifty-one letters are written one by one on its tongue with a
gold style, if one is available. As each letter is formed, the child
has to repeat the sound of it.
The lobes of both a child's ears are bored with a golden pin or a
thorn. The helix of the ear is not bored for the purpose of inserting
ornaments in it, but is sometimes bored as a remedy for disease,
e.g., hernia. Everywhere else in Southern India, it is common for
people of almost every class to have the helix of the left ear bored.
The tali-tying ceremony must be performed before a girl attains
puberty. The Tiyan tali is usually of gold, and worth about
half-a-crown. It is not the one which is worn in every day life, but
the one which is used in the ceremony about to be described. Throughout
Southern India, the tali is the ordinary symbol of marriage among
Hindus, and it is even worn by Syrian Christians. In Malabar, and the
Native States of Cochin and Travancore, it is a symbol of marriage,
with which a girl is ceremoniously adorned, as a rule before she is
affianced. The ceremony occupies three days, on the last of which the
tali is tied. On the first day, a shed or pandal is erected in the
front yard. Within it a similar structure is prepared with the leaves
of an areca palm, which has been cut down at an auspicious moment, and
with the formal sanction of the Tandan of the tara. This inner pandal
is tastefully decorated with pictures and flowers. It is important
to note that this little pandal must not be begun until the first
day of the ceremony. On this day, the carpenter of the tara brings
a low wooden seat, rather long and narrow, made from the pala tree
(Alstonia scholaris), which must be cut at an auspicious moment, for
which he receives one fanam. This seat is called mana. [25] A grass mat
is spread in the middle room of the house, with a white cloth over it,
on which the mana is placed. A lamp, vessel of water, and the usual
paraphernalia are arranged on the ground to the south close by. When
these preliminaries have been completed, the girl is brought by the
uncle's wife to the pandal, and seated on a stool. In front of her,
a lamp, and other things which are a feature in all ceremonials, and
a measure of paddy are placed on the ground, a gold fanam is put on
her head, and over it gingelly oil is poured. As the coin falls from
the forehead, it is caught in a cup. It is important which side falls
uppermost. The girl is then taken to a pool for bathing, and returns
to the pandal. She is conducted to the middle room of the house in
procession, with a silk canopy over her head and women carrying lamps,
etc. She is confined in this room, which is decorated in the manner
described when speaking of the menstruation ceremony, until the third
day. She sleeps on a mat, surrounded by a little ridge of rice and
paddy, cocoanut and areca palm flowers, and near her head is a copper
pot marked with vertical daubs of white. The blacksmith of the tara
brings a little stick, called charathkot, with an iron blade at one
end, which is supposed to represent an arrow of Kama. This the girl
keeps constantly at her side, and carries in her hand when compelled
by nature to leave the room. While confined in the room, she is not
allowed to eat fish, flesh, or salt, or see any animals, especially
a cat, dog, or crow. On the third day, the tali is prepared on the
spot by the village goldsmith. The girl's uncle gives him the gold,
which he melts, and works at in the pandal at an auspicious moment. The
paddy and rice, which, with the lamp and vessel of water, have been
in evidence during the operations, are given to the goldsmith, with a
fanam for his labour. A weaver brings two new cloths, of a particular
kind called mantra-kodi, for which the girl's uncle pays. One is worn
by the girl, and the mana is covered with the other. The girl is taken
to bathe, and, after the bath, is richly dressed and ornamented, and
brought in procession, with a canopy over her head, to the house,
where she is conducted to the inner room. The mana is then placed,
with the cloth near it, on a grass mat in the inner pandal. The
uncle's wife sits on the mat, and the uncle lifts the girl, carries her
three times round the pandal, and deposits her in his wife's lap. The
astrologer, who is present, indicates the moment when the tali should
be tied. The girl's father gives him a fanam, and receives from him a
little rice, called muhurtham (auspicious time). When the psychological
moment has arrived he sprinkles the rice on the girl's head, saying
"It is time." The tali is then tied round the girl's neck by the
uncle's wife. At the upper end of the tali is a ring, through which
the thread passes. The thread which is used for the purpose is drawn
from the cloth with which the mana has been covered. [It is odd that
there are some families of Nayars, who are not allowed to use a tali
with a ring to receive the string, and are therefore obliged to make
a hole in the tali itself.] As soon as the tali has been tied on the
girl's neck, a number of boys burst into song, praising Ganapathi
(the elephant god), and descriptive of the marriage of King Nala
and Damayanti, or of Sri Krishna and Rukmani. Every one joins in,
and the song ends with shouts and hurrahs. A mock feeding ceremony
is then carried out. Three plantain leaves are spread in front of
the girl in the pandal, and rice, plantains, and pappadams are spread
thereon. The uncle's wife offers some of each to the girl three times,
but does not allow her to touch it with her lips. The girl is then
taken to a temple, to invoke the God's blessing.
The description which has just been given is that of the ceremony which
is performed, if the girl has not been affianced. If a husband has been
arranged for her, it is he who ties the tali, and his sister takes
the place of the uncle's wife. Otherwise the ceremony is the same,
with this difference, however, that, when the husband ties the tali,
there can be no divorce, and the girl cannot remarry in the event of
his death.
In North, as in South Malabar, the tali-tying ceremony is always
performed before puberty, and occupies four days. This is the orthodox
procedure. The girl wears a cloth provided by the washerwoman. She is
taken from the middle room of the house to the yard, and there seated
on a plank of pala wood. Placed in front of her are a small measure
of rice and paddy, a washed white cloth, and a small bell-metal vessel
(kindi) on a bell-metal plate. The barber pours cocoanut water on her
head, on which a silver and copper coin have been placed. One of her
relations then pours water from a vessel containing some raw rice
over her head, using two halves of a cocoanut as a spout. The girl
is then taken back to the middle room, where she remains for three
days. There is a feast in the evening. On the fourth day, a pandal is
erected in the front yard, and decorated. The girl is taken to bathe
at a neighbouring pool, preceded by women carrying a lamp, a kindi of
water, and other things which have been already described. During her
absence, the barber performs puja to Ganapathi in the pandal. After
bathing, she cuts a cocoanut in half, and returns in procession,
with a silk canopy over her head, amid music and singing, and enters
the middle room of the house. The barber woman ties a gold ornament
(netti pattam) on her forehead, which she marks with sandal paste,
and blackens her eyes with eye-salve. The uncle's wife, preceded by
women bearing a lamp and other articles, carries the mana, covered with
cloth, from the middle room to the pandal. She walks three times round
the pandal, and places the mana on a grass mat, over which has been
spread some paddy and some rice where the girl will put her foot. The
women who have carried the lamp, etc., return to the room, and escort
the girl to the pandal. She walks thrice round it, and takes her seat
on the mana. The barber hands her a little rice, which she throws on
the lighted lamp, and articles which have been used in the puja to
Ganapathi, and on the post supporting the south-west corner of the
pandal. This post should be of pala wood, or have a twig of that tree
tied to it. More rice is handed to the girl, and she throws it to
the cardinal points of the compass, to the earth, and to the sky. A
small earthen pot containing rice, a cocoanut, betel, and areca nuts,
is placed near the girl. Into this a variety of articles, each tied
up separately in a piece of plantain leaf, are placed. These consist
of a gold coin, a silver coin, salt, rice, paddy, turmeric, charcoal,
and pieces of an old cadjan leaf from the thatch of the house. The
mouth of the pot is then covered over with a plantain leaf tied with
string. The girl sprinkles rice three times over the pot, makes a hole
in the leaf, and picks out one of the articles, which is examined
as an augur of her destiny. Betel leaves and areca nuts are then
passed twice round her head, and thrown away. She next twists off a
cocoanut from a bunch hanging at a corner of the pandal. Then follows
the presentation of cloths called mantra-kodi. These must be new,
and of a particular kind. Each of her relations throws one of these
cloths over the girl's head. Half of them (perhaps ten or twelve)
go to the barber, who, at this point, pours cocoanut water from the
leaf of a banyan tree on her head, on which a silver and copper coin
have been placed. The astrologer is then asked whether it is time
to tie the tali, and replies three times in the affirmative. The
barber woman hands the tali strung on a thread to the girl's uncle's
wife, who ties it round the girl's neck. The barber woman then pours
water on the girl's hands. Three times the water is flung upwards,
and then to the east, west, south, and north. A cotton wick, steeped
in oil, is then twisted round a piece of bamboo, and stuck on a young
cocoanut. The girl is asked if she sees the sun, looks at the lighted
wick, and says that she does. She is then taken to a cocoanut tree,
preceded by the lamp, etc. She walks three times round the tree,
and pours water over the root. The ceremony is now concluded, and
the girl is marched back to the middle room.
A variation of the tali-tying ceremony, as performed in Chavakad
on the coast between Calicut and Cochin, may be briefly described,
because it possesses some interesting features. It is always done
by the intended husband, or some one representing him. Seven days
prior to the beginning of the ceremony, the carpenter of the tara,
with the permission of the Tandan (here called Avakasi), cuts down an
areca palm, and fixes part of it as the south-east post of the booth,
at which the tali will be tied. On the sixth day, the girl is formally
installed in the middle room of the house. The carpenter brings a mana
of pala wood, the cost of which is paid by the father, and does puja
to it. The bridegroom's party arrive. A lamp is lighted in the booth,
which is at this time partly, but not entirely, made ready. Near the
lamp are placed a measure of paddy, half a measure (nazhi) of rice,
a looking-glass, a kindi of water, and a wooden cheppu (a rude vessel
with a sliding cover). The wives of the Tandan and uncle, together
with some other women, bring the girl, and seat her on the mana. The
uncle's wife parts her hair, and places a gold fanam on her crown. The
Tandan's wife then pours a little oil on it over a leaf of the jak
tree three times. The other women do the same. The girl is then taken
to a pool, and bathed. Before her return, the mana should be placed
ready for her in the middle room of the house. In the evening there
is a feast. On the day but one following, the tali is tied. The last
post of the booth is put up, and it is completed and decorated on the
tali-tying day. A lamp, looking-glass, and other things are put in
it. A grass mat is spread on the floor, and a kambli (blanket) and a
whitewashed cloth are placed over it. On either side of it is placed
a pillow. The bridegroom and his party wait in an adjoining house,
for they must not appear on the scene until the psychological moment
arrives. The Tandan of the bridegroom's tara, with a few friends,
comes first, and hands over two cloths and ten rupees eight annas to
the bride's Tandan. The girl is dressed in one of these cloths, and
led to the booth, the bridegroom's sister holding her by the hand. She
sits on the mana, which has been brought, and placed on the cloth,
by her uncle. The bridegroom comes in procession, carried on his
uncle's shoulders. The girl is still a child, and he is only a few
years her senior. His uncle puts him down on the right side of the
girl, after walking thrice round the booth. The girl's uncle's wife
sits close to her, on the other side, on the mana. Her father asks the
astrologer three times if it is the proper time to tie the tali, and is
answered thrice in the affirmative. Then the boy bridegroom ties the
tali on the girl's neck. The boy and girl sing out a chorus in praise
of Ganapathi, and end up with three loud shouts and hurrahs. Then
the boy seats himself on the ground, outside the pillow. The girl is
taken inside the house, and, after a general feast, is brought back,
and seated on the mana, and rice and flowers are sprinkled. No money
is paid to the uncle's son, as at Calicut. The boy bridegroom pays
eight annas to his sister for leading the bride by the hand. When the
marriage has been done by proxy, the boy bridegroom is selected from a
tarwad into which the girl might marry. He stays at the girl's house
for three days, and, on the fourth day, the boy and girl are taken
to a temple. A formal divorce is effected, and the boy is taken away.
It will not be worth while to attempt a description of the marriage
ceremony of the Tiyans of North Malabar, because there is none, or
next to none. There the Tiyans and all classes, including even the
Muhammadan Mappillas, follow the rule of marumakkatayam, or inheritance
through females from uncle to nephew. The children have no right to
their father's property. Either party may annul the marital union
at will, without awarding any compensation; and, as its infraction
is easy and simple, so is its institution. Nor is there any rigid
inquiry as to the antecedents of either party. It is an affair of
mutual arrangement, attended with little formality. Proceeding to the
girl's house, accompanied by a few friends, the intending husband
takes with him a couple of cloths, one for the girl, and the other
for her mother. In parts of North Malabar, the Tiyan women wear an
ornament called chittu (ring) in a hole bored in the top of the helix
of each ear. The holes are bored in childhood, but the chittu is not
worn until the girl forms a marital union with a man. The chittus
are made on the spot at the time, in the marriage pandal erected for
the occasion, the girl's uncle providing the gold. They are never
removed during life, except in cases of dire distress. "To sell
chittu" is equivalent to having become a pauper. It is supposed that,
in olden days, the marriage ceremonies lasted over seven days, and
were subsequently reduced to seven meals, or three and a half days,
and then to one day. Now the bridegroom remains the first night at
the bride's house, and then takes her to his home. Before they leave,
a cocoanut, the outer husk of which has been removed, is placed on
a stool of pala wood, and one of the bridegroom's party must smash
it with his fist. Some of the more orthodox in North Malabar observe
the formality of examining horoscopes, and a ceremony equivalent to
the conjee-drinking ceremony which has been described, called achara
kaliana, and the payment of kanam in the shape of forty-one fanams,
instead of forty-two as in South Malabar. In connection with fanams it
may be noted that the old gold fanam is reckoned as worth four annas,
whereas five silver or velli fanams make a rupee. Everywhere in rural
Malabar, calculations are made in terms of velli fanams thus:--
10 pice (1/12 of an anna) = 1 velli.
5 vellis = 1 rupee.
Bazaar men, and those who sell their small stock at the weekly markets
all about the country, arrange their prices in vellis.