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populous districts where Vaishnavites are in numerical 
strength the scene at each of the Guru’s halting places is 
intense with interest. Thousands of his disciples gather 
round eager to be branded. Brahmans are there in 
force, but men of many other castes and even Paraiyans 
are there. The ceremonies begin by the making ofa 
fire in a mud pot (soma kunda), accompanied by the 
chant of hymns and the offering of prayer to Vishnu. 
As Brahmans present themselves for the rite the Guru 
lifts the copper brands which have been heating mean- 
while in the fire and applies them to the shoulders of 
the people, the chakra on the right, the chank on the 
lefts As each ‘stamp is made the Guru's assistant, 
usually a Dasari or Vaishnavite mendicant, smears the 
burnt spots with a paste of xamakkattz, the same white 
clay used by Vaishnavites when painting the xamam 
or sect mark (improperly called caste mark) on their 
forehead. 
Paraiyans and low caste disciples may not be 
branded directly by the Guru ; in their case he heats the 
instruments and hands them to the Dasari, his assistant, 
who performs the actual operation. 
With regard to the branding customs of Madhva 
Vaishnavites, who believe that to carry a_ lasting 
outward and visible sign of their deity on their body 
helps them to obtain salvation through him, Thurston 
(I, 371-373) supplies an interesting account :— 
‘““Madhvas have four mutts to which they repair 
for the branding ceremony, viz., Vayasaraya, Suma- 
thendra, and Mulabagal in Mysore, and Uttaraja 
in South Canara. The followers of the Uttaraja mutt 
are branded in five places in the case of adult males, and 
boys after the thread investiture. The situations and 
emblems selected are the chakra on the right upper 
arm, right side of the chest, and above the navel; the 
chank on the left shoulder and left side of the chest. 
Women, and girls after marriage, are branded with the 
chakra on the right forearm, and the chank on the left. 
In the case of widows, the marks are impressed on the 
shoulders as in the case of males. The disciples of the 
three other mutts are generally branded with the chakra 
on the right upper arm, and chank on the left. As the 
branding is supposed to remove sins committed during the 
