The betel-leaf is considered sacred; a silver ornament is made in its shape and it is often invoked in spells and magic.

The original vine is held to have grown from a finger-joint of Basuki, the Queen of the Serpents, and the cobra is worshipped as the tutelary deity of the _pan_-garden, which this snake is accustomed to frequent, attracted by the moist coolness and darkness.

The position of the Barai is the same as that of the Mali; his is really a low caste, sometimes coupled with the contemned Telis or oil-pressers, but he is considered ceremonially pure because the betel-leaf, offered to gods and eaten by Brahmans and all Hindus, is taken from him.

The Barai or Tamboli was formerly a village menial in the Maratha villages.
29.

Other village traders and menials.
The castes following other village trades mainly fall into this group, though they may not now be village menials.