The Billavas, like the Bants, have a number of exogamous septs (balis) running in the female line. There is a popular belief that these are sub-divisions of the twenty balis which ought to exist according to the Aliya Santana system (inheritance in the female line).
The caste has a headman called Gurikara, whose office is hereditary, and passes to the aliya (sister's son). Affairs which affect the community as a whole are discussed at a meeting held at the bhutasthana or garidi.
At the betrothal ceremony, the bride-price (sirdachi), varying from ten to twenty rupees, is fixed. A few days before the wedding, the maternal uncle of the bride, or the Gurikara, ties a jewel on her neck, and a pandal (booth) is erected, and decorated by the caste barber (parel maddiyali) with cloths of different colours. If the bridegroom is an adult, the bride has to undergo a purificatory ceremony a day or two before the marriage (dhare) day. A few women, usually near relations of the girl, go to a tank (pond) or well near a Bhutasthana or garidi, and bring water thence in earthenware pots. The water is poured over the head of the girl, and she bathes. On the wedding day, the bride and bridegroom are seated on two planks placed on the dais. The barber arranges the various articles, such as lights, rice, flowers, betel leaves and areca nuts, and a vessel filled with water, which are required for the ceremonial. He joins the hands of the contracting couple, and their parents, or the headman, place the nose-screw of the bridesmaid on their hands, and pour the dhare water over them. This is the binding part of the ceremony, which is called kai (hand) dhare. Widow remarriage is called bidu dhare, and the pouring of water is omitted. The bride and bridegroom stand facing each other, and a cloth is stretched between them. The headman unites their hands beneath the screen.
If a man has intercourse with a woman, and she becomes pregnant, he has to marry her according to the bidu dhare rite. Before the marriage ceremony is performed, he has to grasp a plantain tree with his right hand, and the tree is then cut down.
At the first menstrual period, a girl is under pollution for ten or twelve days. On the first day, she is seated within a square (muggu), and five or seven cocoanuts are tied together so as to form a seat. A new earthenware pot is placed at each corner of the square. Four girls from the Gurikara's house sit at the corners close to the pots. Betel leaves, areca nuts, and turmeric paste are distributed among the assembled females, and the girls pour water from the pots over the head of the girl. Again, on the eleventh or the thirteenth day, the girl sits within the square, and water is poured over her as before. She then bathes.