Note 52 — K

A ceremony is generally celebrated in the seventh month of pregnancy, for which the husband’s sister prepares pongal (cooked rice). The pregnant woman sits on a plank, and the rice is waved before her. She then stands up, and bends down while her sister-in-law pours milk from a betel or pīpal (Ficus religiosa) leaf on her back. A feast brings the ceremony to a close. Among the Vellūr-nādu Kallans patterns are said52 to be drawn on the back of the pregnant woman with rice-flour, and milk is poured over them. The husband’s sister decorates a grindstone in the same way, invokes a blessing on the woman, and expresses a hope that she may have a male child as strong as a stone.