sambandham (alliance). The Brāhmanis, however, have not given up the practice of divorce. Nambiyassans, Puppallis, Pattar Unnis, and Brāhmanis follow the marumakkattāyam system of inheritance (through the female line), while the Pushpakas and Tīyattunnis are makkattāyis, and follow the law of inheritance from father to son. The offspring of a Brāhmani by a Pushpaka woman are regarded as issue in a makkattāyam family. As is the custom among the Nambūtiris, only the eldest son marries, the other sons remaining as snātakas, and contracting alliances with Nāyar women. The Illam Nāyars, however, do not give their daughters to the Unnis.
The jatakarma, though not strictly proper, is observed in modern days. The namakarana takes place, along with the annaprasana, in the sixth month after birth. The chaula is performed in the third year, though, among the Nattu Pattars, it is a preliminary ceremony before upanayana. The proper time for the performance of the upanayana is between the eighth and sixteenth year. Samāvartana takes place on the fourteenth day after upanayana. Pollution lasts for only ten days among the Tīyattunnis, whereas the Brāhmanis observe twelve, and the Nattu Pattars thirteen days' pollution. Ten gayatris (hymns) are allowed to be recited thrice daily.
The Pushpakas are the highest of the thread-wearing sections of the Ambalavāsis, according to their traditional origin as well as their religious and social practices. The Pattar Unnis are the lowest, and are only a step higher than the Kurukkals. Consecrated water and flowers are not given to them directly by the temple priest, but they may stand on the right side of the stone steps leading to the inner shrine. This is the
