wedding, are placed outside the house, so that they may be exposed to it. Members of the Ekopothiriya sept are regarded as low in the social scale, and the following legend is narrated to account for this. A Dandāsi went, with his relations and friends, to the house of a Dandāsi of the Ekopothiriya sept, to arrange a marriage. The guests were hospitably received, and the prospective bride asked her father what kind of curry was going to be served to them. He replied that barikolora (backyard Momordica) *[1] was to be cooked. This aroused the curiosity of some of the guests, who went to the backyard, where, instead of Momordica, they saw several blood-suckers (lizards) running about. They jumped to the conclusion that these were what the host referred to as barikolora, and all the guests took their departure. Ekopothiriyas will not partake of food from the same plate as their grown-up children, even if a married daughter comes on a visit to them.
The Dandāsis worship various Tākurānis (village deities), e.g., Sankaithuni, Kulladankuni, Kombēsari and Kālimuki. The gods are either represented temporarily by brass vessels, or permanently by three masses of clay, into each of which a small bit of gold is thrust. When Bassia (mahuā) buds or mangoes are first eaten in their season, a sacrifice is made, and a goat and fowl are killed before the produce of the harvest is first partaken of.
The Dandāsis have a headman, called Bēhara, who exercises authority over several groups of villages, and each group is under a Nāyako, who is assisted by a Dondia. For every village there is a Bholloboya, and,in some places, there is an officer, called Boda Mundi,
- ↑ * The fruits of several species of Momordica are eaten by Natives.
