The piercing is done with a piece of a small ring, so fine that it is like a needle. The ring used in this way may be of silver or gold, the latter only being used by the richer members of the community.
Each boy then salutes (kalmelpudithti) all those present older than himself, both male and female. Each man as he raises his foot to the head of the boy says:—
Tânenmâ, May it be well, târmâmâ, may it be well, pathk mâ, may he prosper, peda mâ, may he prosper, îr buffaloes anûr 100 òl mâ, may he rule, âr mokh pai mâ. six sons may he have. [[335]]
Each man also gives four annas to the boy and each chief Toda may give one rupee.
The salutation of their elders seems to be conditional on this gift of money. One of the most recent cases in which the ceremony has been performed was when the ears of six of the sons of Tikievan of Kuudr and his brothers (56) were pierced. On this occasion Tikievan refused to take any money from those present, and the boys only saluted those men who had celebrated the occasion by giving buffaloes to their father.
As the kalmelpudithti salutation was omitted, the words given above as usually said by each person were on this occasion said collectively by all present while the six boys bowed down their heads to the ground. The ears of these boys were pierced by Teikudr (63), the first cousin of Sulnir, the mother of the boys, but regarded according to the Toda system as elder brother of the mother.
The representative of the Tartharol who pierced the other ear was Pidrvan (9), probably chosen because he was one of the oldest and most influential of the Todas who lived at Pakhalkudr, not far from Peivòrs, the home of the boys.
After the ceremony all those present receive two balls of the food called ashkkartpimi, even a young child receiving his two balls of food. Each person then makes a hole in his food, into which ghi is poured, and all eat, washing their hands afterwards in water brought from the ars nipa.
Only the ears of boys are pierced, and a boy may not enter upon the more sacred offices of the dairy till this ceremony has been performed. Among the Teivaliol, he cannot become palol, wursol, or kaltmokh, but he may be palikartmokh. Among the Tartharol, a boy cannot become palikartmokh at any kind of dairy till the ear-piercing ceremony has taken place.
In the case of the ceremony for the sons of Tikievan I inquired into the actual expenses of the day. These were as follows:—