30 OKHAMANDAL MARINE ZOOLOGY PART II 



the house, lie must pass over it, usually touching it, and this will prevent misfortune 

 happening to him. 



(i>) MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 



The chank has important but variable fxmctions to perform at weddings among 

 all Hindu non-Brahman castes in the districts of the south of India, where this shell 

 is blown by the barber (ambattan) particularly at or immediately after the tying of 

 the tali or marriage badge around the bride's neck ; the bridal couple usually occupy a 

 raised platform, and round and round this the barber walks while blowing his chank. In 

 Bengal this custom of chank-blowirig during weddings is even more general ; a common 

 formula which runs 



" Gauga ka pani samundra ki sank 

 Bar kanya jag jag anand." 



(" May Ganges water and sea-chank betide 

 Enduring bliss to bridegroom and bride.") 



is usually recited during the marriage (Risley, II, p. 116) with reference to the blasts 

 on the conch which accompany the ceremonies the equivalent of the marriage bells 

 in Christian ritual. 



In Telugu districts the chank is not used by any caste, non-Brahman as well as 

 Brahman, during weddings, as this is considered inauspicious because chank-blowing 

 is specially associated with funeral ceremonies. 



Usually a man of a special caste is engaged to blow the chank at the customary times ; 

 in the Tamil country the caste barbers (ambattans) perform this duty ; among the 

 Telugus the chank blower is usually a Dasari, among the Uriyas, a Ravulo. 



Sometimes, however, women of the family or of the caste perform the chank-blowing 

 duty. Among Bengal Brahmans, for instance, one section of the elaborate and lengthy 

 marriage ceremonies consists of a procession of seven married ladies headed by the bride's 

 mother going round the bridegroom seven times, some sprinkling libations of water 

 and vociferating the hymeneal cry of ulu-ulu. One of the seven carries a conch and blows 

 it as she goes (Risley, I, p. 150). A custom somewhat akin to the above prevails among 

 the Kalian caste of Tanjore, Madura, Trichinopoly and Tinnevelly. On the wedding 

 day the sister of the bridegroom goes to the house of the bride, accompanied by 

 women, some of whom carry flowers, coconuts, paddy, turmeric, milk, ghee, etc. On 

 the way two of these women blow chank shells. (Thurston, III, p. 80.) 



In passing it is interesting to note that a section of this caste, the Puramalai nildu 

 Kalians, practise the rite of circumcision probably as a survival of a forgotten forcible 

 conversion to Muhammadanism. The rite is carried out in a grove or plain outside the 

 village and en route to the place, and throughout the ceremony a chank is blown at fre- 

 quent intervals. (Thurston, III, p. 74.) 



It is noteworthy that Brahmaus in the Tamil and Telugu districts do not employ the 



