Among the Konga Vellalas of the Salem district, it is the Ambattan who officiates at the marriage rites, and ties the tali, after formally proclaiming to those present that he is about to do so. Brahmans are invited to the wedding, and are treated with due respect, and presented with money, rice, and betel. It would appear that, in this case, the Brahman has been ousted, in recent times, from his priestly functions by the Ambattan. The barber, when he ties the tali, mutters something about Brahman and Vedas in a respectful manner. The story goes that, during the days of the Chera, Chola, and Pandya Kings, a Brahman and an Ambattan were both invited to a marriage feast. But the Brahman, on his arrival, died, and the folk, believing his death to be an evil omen, ruled that, as the Brahman was missing, they would have an Ambattan; and it has ever since been the custom for the Ambattan to officiate at weddings.
A girl, when she reaches puberty, has to observe pollution for eleven days, during which she bathes daily, and is presented with a new cloth, and adorned by a girl who is said to have "touched" her. This girl has to bathe before she can take her meals, or touch others. Every morning, a dose of pure gingelly (Sesamum indicum) oil, mixed with white of egg, is administered. The dietary must be strictly vegetarian. On the twelfth day, the girl who has been through the ceremonial has a final bath, and enters the house after it has been purified (punyavachanam).
The rule, once a widow always a widow, is as true of Ambattans as of high-class Brahmans. And, if asked whether the remarriage of widows is permitted, they promptly reply that they are not washermen.
The dead are cremated, with the exception of young children, who are buried. The death ceremonies are conducted by a Brahman priest, who is remunerated for his services with money and a cloth. Gifts of money and cloths are also made to other Brahmans, when the days of pollution are over. Annual memorial ceremonies (sradh) are performed, as by Brahmans. It is a privilege (they consider it as such) of the Ambattans to cremate the bodies of village paupers other than Brahmans. And, on ordinary occasions of death, they lead the son or person who is entitled to light the funeral pyre, with a brass pot in their hands, round the corpse, and indicate with a burning cinder the place to which the light must be applied.