back with suitable gifts (the rice, etc.) to her husband. A common form of religious vow among Mālas is to promise to send a cloth and a cow with the goddess on the last day of the rite, the gifts being afterwards presented to a married daughter." It is noted by Mr. Hemingway that both Mālas and Mādigas hold a feast in honour of their ancestors at Pongal — an uncommon rite.
In the Godāvari district scarcity of rain is dealt with in various ways. "It is considered very efficacious if the Brāhmans take in procession round the village an image of Varuna (the god of rain) made of mud from the tank of a river or tank. Another method is to pour 1,000 pots of water over the lingam in the Siva temple. Mālas tie a live frog to a mortar, and put on the top of the latter a mud figure representing Gontiyālamma. They then take these objects in procession, singing ' Mother frog, playing in water, pour rain by pots full.' The villagers of other castes then come and pour water over the Mālas."*[1] Mr. Nicholson writes that, to produce rain in the Telugu country, " two boys capture a frog, and put it into a basket with some nīm (Melia Azadirachta) leaves. They tie the basket to the middle of a stick, which they support on their shoulders. In this manner they make a circuit of the village, visiting every house, singing the praises of the god of rain. The greater the noise the captive animal makes, the better the omen, and the more gain for the boys, for, at every house, they receive something in recognition of their endeavour to bring rain upon the village fields."
Mala Arayan. — The Mala Arayans are described, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as "a class of
- ↑ * Gazetteer of the Godāvari district.
