A further account of the jallikat or jellicut is given in the Gazetteer of the Madura district. “The word jallikattu literally means tying of ornaments. On a day fixed and advertised by beat of drums at the adjacent weekly markets, a number of cattle, to the horns of which cloths and handkerchiefs have been tied, are loosed one after the other, in quick succession, from a large pen or other enclosure, amid a furious tom-tomming and loud shouts from the crowd of assembled spectators. The animals have first to run the gauntlet down a long lane formed of country carts, and then gallop off wildly in every direction. The game consists in endeavouring to capture the cloths tied to their horns. To do this requires fleetness of foot and considerable pluck, and those who are successful are the heroes of the hour. Cuts and bruises are the reward of those who are less skilful, and now and again some of the excited cattle charge into the on-lookers, and send a few of them flying. The sport has been prohibited on more than one occasion. But, seeing that no one need run any risks unless he chooses, existing official opinion inclines to the view that it is a pity to discourage a manly amusement which is not really more dangerous than football, steeple-chasing, or fox-hunting. The keenness of the more virile sections of the community, especially the Kallans (q.v.), in this game is extraordinary, and, in many villages, cattle are bred and reared specially for it. The best jallikats are to be seen in the Kallan country in Tirumangalam, and next come those in Mēlur and Madura taluks.”
“Boomerangs,” Dr. G. Oppert writes,[32] “are used by the Maravans and Kallans when hunting deer. The Madras Museum collection contains three (two ivory, one wooden) from the Tanjore armoury. In the arsenal of the Pudukōttai Rāja a stock of wooden boomerangs is always kept. Their name in Tamil is valai tade (bent stick).” To Mr. R. Bruce Foote, I am indebted for the following note on the use of the boomerang in the Madura district. “A very favourite weapon of the Madura country is a kind of curved throwing-stick, having a general likeness to the boomerang of the Australian aborigines. I have in my collection two of these Maravar weapons obtained from near Sivaganga. The larger measures 24⅛″ along the outer curve, and the chord of the arc 17⅝″. At the handle end is a rather ovate knob 2¼″ long and 1¼″ in its maximum thickness. The thinnest and smallest part of the weapon is just beyond the knob, and measures 11/16″ in diameter by 1⅛″ in width. From that point onwards its width increases very gradually to the distal end, where it measures 2⅜″ across and is squarely truncated. The lateral diameter is greatest three or four inches before the truncated end, where it measures 1″. My second specimen is a little smaller than the above, and is also rather less curved. Both are made of hard heavy wood, dark reddish brown in colour as seen through the varnish covering the surface. The wood is said to be tamarind root. The workmanship is rather rude. I had an opportunity of seeing these boomerangs in use near Sivaganga in March, 1883. In the morning I came across many parties, small and large, of men and big boys who were out hare-hunting with a few dogs. The parties straggled over the ground, which was sparsely covered with low scrub jungle. And, whenever an unlucky hare started out near to the hunters, it was greeted with a volley of the boomerangs, so strongly and dexterously thrown that poor puss had little chance of escape. I saw several knocked out of time. On making enquiries as to these hunting parties, I was told that they were in observance of a semi-religious duty, in which every Maravar male, not unfitted by age or ill-health, is bound to participate on a particular day in the year. Whether a dexterous Maravar thrower could make his weapon return to him I could not find out. Certainly in none of the throws observed by me was any tendency to a return perceptible. But for simple straight shots these boomerangs answer admirably.”
The Maravans bear Saivite sectarian marks, but also worship various minor deities, among whom are included Kāli, Karuppan, Muthu Karuppan, Periya Karuppan, Mathurai Vīran, Aiyanar, and Mūnuswāmi.
The lobes of the ears of Marava females are very elongated as the result of boring and gradual dilatation during childhood. Mr. (now Sir) F. A. Nicholson, who was some years ago stationed at Ramnād, tells me that the young Maravan princesses used to come and play in his garden, and, as they ran races, hung on to their ears, lest the heavy ornaments should rend asunder the filamentous ear lobes.
It was recorded, in 1902, that a young Maravan, who was a member of the family of the Zemindar of Chokampatti, was the first non-Christian Maravan to pass the B.A. degree examination at the Madras University.
The general title of the Maravans is Tēvan (god), but some style themselves Talaivan (chief), Sērvaikkāran (captain), Karaiyālan (ruler of the coast), or Rāyarvamsam (Rāja’s clan).
Mārayan.—A synonym of Mārān.
Māri.—Māri or Mārimanisaru is a sub-division of Holeya.
Māriyan.—Said to be a sub-division of Kōlayān.
Markandēya.—A gōtra of Padma Sālē and Sēniyan (Dēvānga), named after the rishi or sage Markandēya, who was remarkable for his austerities and great age, and is also known as Dīrghāyus (the long-lived). Some Dēvāngas and the Sālāpus claim him as their ancestor.