For the following note I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. The Bhumias have septs, e.g., bhag (tiger) and naga (cobra). A man can claim his paternal aunt's daughter in marriage. The marriage ceremonial is much the same as among the Bottadas. The jholla tonk (presents) consist of liquor, rice, a sheep or fowl, and cloths for the parents of the bride. A pandal (booth), made of poles of the sorghi tree, is erected in front of the bridegroom's house, and a Desari officiates. The remarriage of widows is permitted and a younger brother usually marries his elder brother's widow. If a man divorces his wife, it is customary for him to give her a rupee and a new cloth in compensation. The dead are burned, and pollution lasts for nine days. On the tenth day a ceremonial bath is taken, and a feast, with copious supplies of liquor, is held. In parts of the Central Provinces the dead are buried, and two or three flat stones are set up over the grave. [143]
Bijam (seed).--An exogamous sept of Boya.
Bilpathri (bael: Ægle Marmelos).--An exogamous sept of Boya.
Bindhani (workman).--A title of Oriya Badhoyis, and sometimes used as the name of the caste.
Bingi.--The Bingivandlu are described, in the Kurnool Manual, as a class of mendicants, who play dramas. Some of them have shrotiyam villages, as Lingineni Doddi in Pattikonda. "Shrotiyam" has been defined [144] as "lands, or a village, held at a favourable rate, properly an assignment of land or revenue to a Brahman learned in the Vedas, but latterly applied generally to similar assignments to native servants of the government, civil or military, and both Hindus and Muhammadans, as a reward for past services."
Bhutiannaya (ashes).--An exogamous sept of Bant.
Bidaru (wanderers).--A sub-division of Odde.
Bilimagga.--The Bilimagga weavers of South Canara, who speak a very corrupt form of Tamil, must not be confused with the Bilimaggas of Mysore, whose mother-tongue is Canarese. In some places the Bilimaggas of South Canara call themselves Padma Sales, but they have no connection with the Padma Sale caste. There is a tradition that they emigrated from Pandiya Maduradesa in the Tamil country. The caste name Bilimagga (white loom) is derived from the fact that they weave only white cloths. In some places, for the same reason, Devangas call themselves Bilimaggas, but the Devangas also make coloured cloths. White cloths are required for certain gods and bhuthas (devils) on occasions of festivals, and these are usually obtained from Bilimaggas.