VIZAGAPATAM
a ball of thread. Marriage is of the usual type, follows ménarikam and occurs before puberty; neither widow remarriage nor divorce is recognized. The Vaishnavites of the caste burn their dead and the Saivites bury them sitting.
The Sálápus are a small weaving- caste and are practically confined to this district. They only make very coarse fabrics. They neither marry nor dine with the Sáles, but resemble them in claiming descent from Márkandéya rishi and in calling their headman Sénápati. Bráhmans officiate at their weddings, but they allow widow remarriage and divorce.
The Sílávantulu are another small weaving community.They make fabrics of superior kinds. They seem (though they do not admit it) to be an offshoot of the Pattu Sáles, and to have become a distinct caste owing to their embracing the Lingáyat faith and adopting the unusual custom (síla means a religious custom) of investing children with the iingam as soon as they are quick in their mothers' wombs. This lingam is tied to the string which carries the mother's, and is eventually hung round the child's neck when he or she has been weaned. Before the child can be married it has to be replaced by another lingam affixed with much ceremony by the family guru. The other social practices of the Sílávantulu are not peculiar; they have the usual inti pérulu, follow ménarikam, copy Bráhman wedding ceremonies, disallow divorce and widow remarriage, are vegetarians and abstainers and, of course, bury their dead in a sitting posture. The deceased's lingam is buried with him and to different parts of his body are affixed six little copper tablets on each of which is engraved one of the syllables of the holy invocation ' Om! Namasiváya!'
The Yátas, the toddy-drawer caste, number nearly 49,000. or more than in any other district. Their name is supposed to be a corruption of íta, the date-palm. They do not carry the same pollution as toddy-drawers in the south. Marriage is of the usual type, occurs after puberty and follows ménarikam. Divorce and widow remarriage are allowed. The dead are usually burnt and a Sátáni officiates at the chinna rózu.
The Mangalas, the barbers of the Telugu country, are more numerous here than in any other district and muster 33,000 souls. They have two endogamous subdivisions, called Kápu and Telaga, who are supposed to be descended from two half-brothers and therefore do not intermarry but will dine together. Unlike the barbers of the south, they carry no pollution when not actually engaged in their profession. They teach their boys to
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