196 



MANUAL OF THE NIL\GIRI DISTRICT. 



CHAP. IX, 

 PART I. 



Ethnology. 



Rites and 

 ceremonie 

 —Birth. 



— Marriage. 



2, Kinezh, at the Tirieri mand, near Sh61tir. 



3, called TarzMva, at the Tirieri mand on the Kundas. 



4, called Mutterzhva, near Brikapatti. 



There was formerly a fifth called Katedva near Mukarte, bnt it is 

 now in ruins. 



The second kind of temple is called a Pd/fchi. It resembles an 

 ordinary house, but is larger. There are two varieties, one is merely 

 a dairy house, such as every mand possesses, the other is some- 

 thing more, and its importance appears to depend upon the relics 

 it contains. These are called Kurpus^ and the Pdltchi in which 

 they are kept is looked upon as a shrine. Mauds where they are 

 found are called Etad, or great mands, in contradistinction to 

 Buri, or common mands. 



The Boa temples do not seem properly to belong to the T6das, 

 but to some earlier race. They are not attended by priests of the 

 highest, but of the second grade. The particulars regarding them, 

 however, are more appropriate to the following chapter. 



Soon after a child is born a young buffalo-calf is brought. 

 The father takes three bamboo measui-es and pours water from 

 the third measure into the other two, holding them close to the 

 hind quarters of the calf on its right side. The meaning of this 

 singular rite is not clear, but it probably has reference to the 

 future supply of milk for the infantas sustenance. The following 

 custom is also noteworthy, but also inexplicable. The Toda throws 

 no light on the subject. He, like most other Hindus, is content 

 to say and know that " it is mdmul " or custom.' 



The father and mother of a new-born child take each a leaf in 

 their hands ; water is poured over the leaf held by the father, and 

 from it to the one in the mother^s hand ; she drinks and puts a 

 drop into the child's mouth three times. After this mother and 

 child are removed to a separate hut and remain there until the next 

 new moon. No ceremony is used when girls are named, but boys 

 are taken by the father to the door of the Pdltchi. The father 

 prostrates himself, and a name is then given to the infant, gene- 

 rally a few months old, by its maternal grandfather. 



Early betrothals are common among the Todas and an 

 interchange of buffaloes ratifies the agreement. Later, when the 

 marriage is consummated, another exchange of buffaloes takes 

 place. There is no ceremony, except that the woman bows down 

 before her husband who places his foot upon her • head. She 

 then performs some simple household duty, such as drawing water 

 and cooking food, and is thus installed. In the case of two or 

 more brothers marrying one wife, the ceremony is performed by 

 the eldest only. 



