wife is barren, or suffers from some incurable disease, such as leprosy. The girls are married in infancy, and the binding portion of the ceremony is called dhāre (see Bant). Widow marriage is not permitted, and divorce is only allowed in the case of an adulterous wife. They follow the ordinary Hindu law of inheritance. The dead are cremated. The srādha (memorial) ceremony is in use, and the Mahālaya ceremony for the propitiation of ancestors in general is performed annually. Female ancestors are also worshipped every year at a ceremony called vaddap, when meals are given to married women. They eat fish but not meat, and the use of alcohol is not permitted."
In the Mysore Census Report, 1891, the Patvēgārs are described as "silk weavers who speak a corrupt Marāthi conglomerate of Guzarāti and Hindi. They worship all the Hindu deities, especially the female energy under the name of Sākti, to which a goat is sacrificed on the night of the Dasara festival, a Musalman slaughtering the animal. After the sacrifice, the family of the Patvēgār partake of the flesh. Many of their females are naturally fair and handsome, but lose their beauty from early marriage and precocity." A few Pattēgāras, who speak a corrupt form of Marāthi, are to be found in the Anantapur district.
Pavalamkatti (wearers of corals). — A sub-division of Konga Vellāla.
Pavini.——See Vayani.
Payyampāti.— Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.
Pedakanti. — Pedakanti or Pedaganti is the name of a sub-division of Kāpu. It is said by some to be derived from a place called Pedagallu. By others it is derived from peda, turned aside, and kamma, eye,
