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for there the numbers of chank-bangle wearers greatly 

 exceed those found in any other district. The Collector 

 reports eleven castes and sub-divisions as following this 

 custom, viz. : — 



(i) Pala Vellalas. 



(2) Puluvans (so-called Puluva Vellalas). 



(3) Konga and GoUa Idaiyans. 



(4) Konga Shanans. 



(5) Konga Vannans. 



(6) Thotti Chukkiliyans. 



(7) Sangu, Konga, Sangudu or Sanguvalai Para'yans. 



(8) Thottiya Naiks. 



(9) Okkilians (not universal). 



(10) Kurumbars. 



(11) Lambadis in parts of Kollegal and Gobichettipalaiyam 



divisions. 



The custom is associated particularly with those 

 caste sub-divisions whose territorial cognomen indicates 

 a long settled residence in the Kongu country (Coimba- 

 tore and Salem). The Konga sub*divisions of the 

 Idaiyar, Paraiyar, Vannar and Shanar castes have this 

 custom in common and as several other castes in Coimba- 

 tore also adhere to it, we may infer that at one time the 

 custom was general in the Kongu country among at 

 least the generality of the lower castes. 



Another caste sub-division where the women wear 

 chank bangles is that of the Sangukatti Idaiyans. 

 Among them the marriage ceremony requires, as in 

 Bengal, the placing of a chank bangle on one of the 

 bride's wrists. 



Among Coimbatore castes the chank banole is 

 worn always upon the left wrist, usually singly but occa- 

 sionally a pair in certain cases, e.g., among the Konga 

 Paraiyans. 



The wearing of these bangles is considered as a 

 symbol of the permanence of the marriage tie, a belief 

 probably derived from the custom of breaking the bangle 

 after the death of the husband. The Collector of 

 Coimbatore states that a widow discards her bangle one 

 month after her husband's death. He adds that if a 

 woman accidentally breaks her bangle, she thinks it 

 unlucky and regards it as an omen that her husband will 

 chance on some evil ; when the husband is sick the wife 

 prays that it may be her good fortune to wear the bangle 

 during her whole life. A woman considers it improper 

 to appear before her husband or in public without the 



