“The Kondayamkottai Maravars,” Mr. F. Fawcett writes,[27] “are divided into six sub-tribes, or, as they call them, trees. Each tree, or kothu, is divided into three khilais or branches. These I call septs. Those of the khilais belonging to the same tree or kothu are never allowed to intermarry. A man or woman must marry with one of a khilai belonging to another tree than his own, his or her own being that of his or her mother, and not of the father. But marriage is not permissible between those of any two trees or kothus: there are some restrictions. For instance, a branch of betel vine or leaves may marry with a branch of cocoanut, but not with areca nuts or dates. I am not positive what all the restrictions are, but restrictions of some kind, by which marriage between persons of all trees may not be made indiscriminately, certainly exist. The names of the trees or kothus and of the khilais or branches, as given to me from the Maraver Pādel, a book considered to be authoritative, are these—
| Tree. | Kothu. | Khilai. | |
| Milaku | Pepper vine |  | Viramudithanginan. |
| Sedhar. | |||
| Semanda. | |||
| Vettile | Betel vine | | Agastyar. |
| Maruvidu. | |||
| Alakhiya Pandiyan. | |||
| Thennang | Cocoanut | | Vaniyan. |
| Vettuvan. | |||
| Nataivendar. | |||
| Komukham | Areca nut | | Kelnambhi. |
| Anbutran. | |||
| Gautaman. | |||
| Ichang | Dates | | Sadachi. |
| Sangaran. | |||
| Pichipillai. | |||
| Panang | Palmyra | | Akhili. |
| Lokhamurti | |||
| Jambhuvar. |
“Unfortunately I am unable to trace out the meanings of all these khilais. Agastya and Gautamar are, of course, sages of old. Viramudithanginan seems to mean a king’s crown-bearer. Alakhiya Pandiyan seems to be one of the old Pandiyan kings of Madura (alakhiya means beautiful). Akhili is perhaps intended to mean the wife of Gautama, Lokamurti, the one being of the world, and Jambhuvar, a monkey king with a bear’s face, who lived long, long ago. The common rule regulating marriages among Brāhmans, and indeed people of almost every caste in Southern India, is that the proper husband for the girl is her mother’s brother or his son. But this is not so among the Kondayamkottai Maravars. A girl can never marry her mother’s brother, because they are of the same khilai. On the other hand, the children of a brother and sister may marry, and should do so, if this can be arranged, as, though the brother and sister are of the same khilai, their children are not, because the children of the brother belong perforce to that of their mother, who is of a different khilai. It very often happens that a man marries into his father’s khilai; indeed there seems to be some idea that he should do so if possible. The children of brothers may not marry with each other, although they are of different khilais, for two brothers may not marry into the same khilai. One of the first things to be done in connection with a marriage is that the female relations of the bridegroom must go and examine the intended bride, to test her physical suitability. She should not, as it was explained to me, have a flat foot; the calf of her leg should be slender, not so thick as the thigh; the skin on the throat should not form more than two wrinkles; the hair over the temple should grow crossways. The last is very important.” A curl on the forehead resembling the head of a snake is of evil omen.
In one form of the marriage rites as carried out by the Maravans, the bridegroom’s party proceed, on an auspicious day which has been fixed beforehand, to the home of the bride, taking with them five cocoanuts, five bunches of plantains, five pieces of turmeric, betel, and flowers, and the tāli strung on a thread dyed with turmeric. At the auspicious hour, the bride is seated within the house on a plank, facing east. The bridegroom’s sister removes the string of black beads from her neck, and ties the tāli thereon. While this is being done, the conch-shell is blown, and women indulge in what Mr. Fawcett describes as a shrill kind of keening (kulavi idal). The bride is taken to the house of the bridegroom, where they sit side by side on a plank, and the ceremony of warding off the evil eye is performed. Further, milk is poured by people with crossed hands over the heads of the couple. A feast is held, in which meat takes a prominent part. A Maravan, who was asked to describe the marriage ceremony, replied that it consists in killing a sheep or fowl, and the bringing of the bride by the bridegroom’s sister to her brother’s house after the tāli has been tied. The Kondaikatti Maravans, in some places, substitute for the usual golden tāli a token representing “the head of Indra fastened to a bunch of human hair, or silken strings representing his hair.”[28]
In another form of the marriage ceremony, the father of the bridegroom goes to the bride’s house, accompanied by his relations, with the following articles in a box made of plaited palmyra leaves:—
| 5 bundles of betel. 21 measures of rice. 7 cocoanuts. 70 plantains. | 7 lumps of jaggery (crude sugar). 21 pieces of turmeric. Flowers, sandal paste, etc. |
- 5 bundles of betel.
- 21 measures of rice.
- 7 cocoanuts.
- 70 plantains.
- 7 lumps of jaggery (crude sugar).
- 21 pieces of turmeric.
- Flowers, sandal paste, etc.
At the bride’s house, these presents are touched by those assembled there, and the box is handed over to the bride’s father. On the wedding day (which is four days afterwards), pongal (cooked rice) is offered to the house god early in the morning. Later in the day, the bridegroom is taken in a palanquin to the house of the bride. Betel is presented to him by her father or brother. The bride generally remains within the house till the time for tying the tāli has arrived. The maternal uncle then blindfolds her with his hand, lifts her up, and carries her to the bridegroom, Four women stand round the contracting couple, and pass round a dish containing a broken cocoanut and a cake three times. The bride and bridegroom then spit into the dish, and the females set up their shrill keening. The maternal uncles join their hands together, and, on receiving the assent of those present, the bridegroom’s sister ties the tāli on the bride’s neck. The tāli consists of a ring attached to a black silk thread. After marriage, the “silk tāli” is, for every day purposes, replaced by golden beads strung on a string, and the tāli used at the wedding is often borrowed for the occasion. The tāli having been tied, the pair are blessed, and, in some places, their knees, shoulders, heads, and backs are touched with a betel leaf dipped in milk, and blessed with the words “May the pair be prosperous, giving rise to leaves like a banyan tree, roots like the thurvi (Cynodon Dactylon) grass, and like the bamboo.” Of the thurvi grass it is said in the Atharwana Vēda “May this grass, which rose from the water of life, which has a hundred roots and a hundred stems, efface a hundred of my sins, and prolong my existence on earth for a hundred years.”