Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/501

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443
MALLE

right hand, and the bridegroom places his thereon. On it some rice and myrabolam fruit are laid, and tied up with rolls of cotton thread by the Dēsāri. On the third day, the couple repair to a stream, and bathe. They then bury the magutas. After a feast, the bride accompanies the bridegroom to his village, but, if she has not reached puberty, returns to her parents.

Widow remarriage is permitted, and a younger brother usually marries the widow of his elder brother.

The dead are burnt, and death pollution lasts for ten days, during which those who are polluted refrain from their usual employment. On the ninth day, a hole is dug in the house of the deceased, and a lamp placed in it. The son, or some other close relative, eats a meal by the side of the hole, and, when it is finished, places the platter and the remains of the food in the hole, and buries them with the lamp. On the tenth day, an Oriya Brāhman purifies the house by raising the sacred fire (hōmam). He is, in return for his services, presented with the utensils of the deceased, half a rupee, rice, and other things.

Māli further occurs as the name of an exogamous sept of Holeya. (See also Rāvulo.)

Maliah (hill). — A sub-division of Savaras who inhabit the hill-country.

Malighai Chetti. — A synonym of Acharapākam Chettis. In the city of Madras, the Malighai Chettis cannot, like other Bēri Chettis, vote or receive votes at elections or meetings of the Kandasāmi temple.

Mālik.— A sect of Muhammadans, who are the followers of the Imām Abu 'Abdi 'llāh Mālik ibn Anas, the founder of one of the four orthodox sects of Sunnis, who was born at Madināh, A.H. 94 (A.D. 716).

Malle. — Malle, Malli, Mallela, or Mallige, meaning jasmine, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of