hooks. The hook is fastened to a species of fibre called thumboo,
said to be derived from a seaweed, but more probably from one of the
species of palms. The lines are either hemp, cotton, or the fibre of
the talipot palm (Caryota urens), which is obtained by maceration. In
Europe they are called Indian gut.

"Trolling from the shore at the river's mouth is only carried on
of a morning or evening, during the winter months of the year, when
the sea is smooth. The line is from 80 to 100 yards in length, and
held wound round the left hand; the hook is fastened to the line by a
brass wire, and the bait is a live fish. The fisherman, after giving
the line an impetus by twirling it round and round his head, throws
it with great precision from 50 to 60 yards. A man is always close by
with a cast net, catching baits, which he sells for one quarter of an
anna each. This mode of fishing is very exciting sport, but is very
uncertain in its results, and therefore usually carried on by coolies
either before their day's work has commenced, or after its termination.

"Fishing with a bait continues all day long in Cochin during the
monsoon months, when work is almost at a standstill, and five or
six persons may be perceived at each jetty, busily engaged in this
occupation. The Bagrus tribe is then plentiful, and, as it bites
readily, large numbers are captured.

"Fishing in small boats appears at times to be a dangerous occupation;
the small canoe only steadied by the paddle of one man seated in
it looks as if it must every minute be swamped. Very large fish are
sometimes caught in this way. Should one be hooked too large for the
fisherman to manage, the man in the next boat comes to his assistance,
and receives a quarter of the fish for his trouble. This is carried
on all through the year, and the size of some of the Bagri is enormous.

"Fish are shot in various ways, by a Chittagong bamboo, which is a
hollow tube, down which the arrow is propelled by the marksman's
mouth. This mode is sometimes very remunerative, and is followed
by persons who quietly sneak along the shores, either of sluggish
streams or of the backwater. Sometimes they climb up into trees,
and there await a good shot. Or, during the monsoon, the sportsman
quietly seats himself near some narrow channel that passes from one
wide piece of water into another, and watches for his prey. Other
fishermen shoot with bows and arrows, and again others with cross-bows,
the iron arrow or bolt of which is attached by a line to the bow, to
prevent its being lost. But netting fish, catching them with hooks,
or shooting them with arrows, are not the only means employed for
their capture. Bamboo labyrinths, bamboo baskets, and even men's
hands alone, are called into use.

"Persons fish for crabs in shallow brackish water, provided with
baskets like those employed in Europe for catching eels, but open at
both ends. The fishermen walk about in the mud, and, when they feel a
fish move, endeavour to cover it with the larger end of the basket,
which is forced down some distance into the mud, and the hand is
then passed downward through the upper extremity, and the fish taken
out. Another plan of catching them by the hand is by having two lines
to which white cocoanut leaves are attached tied to the fisherman's
two great toes, from which they diverge; the other end of each being
held by another man a good way off, and some distance apart. On these
lines being shaken, the fish become frightened, and, strange as it may
appear, cluster for protection around the man's feet, who is able to
stoop down, and catch them with his hands, by watching his opportunity.

"Bamboo labyrinths are common all along the backwater, in which a good
many fish, especially eels and crabs, are captured. These labyrinths
are formed of a screen of split bamboos, passing perpendicularly out
of the water, and leading into a larger baited chamber. A dead cat is
often employed as a bait for crabs. A string is attached to its body,
and, after it has been in the water some days, it is pulled up with
these crustacea adherent to it. Persons are often surprised at crabs
being considered unwholesome, but their astonishment would cease,
if they were aware what extremely unclean feeders they are.

"Fish are obtained from the inland rivers by poisoning them, but
this can only be done when the water is low. A dam is thrown across
a certain portion, and the poison placed within it. It generally
consists of Cocculus indicus (berries) pounded with rice; croton oil
seeds, etc."

Valangai.--Valangai, Valangan, Valangamattan, or Balagai, meaning those
who belong to the right-hand faction, has, at times of census, been
returned as a sub-division, synonym or title of Deva-dasis, Holeyas,
Nokkans, Panisavans, Paraiyans, and Saliyans. Some Deva-dasis have
returned themselves as belonging to the left-hand (idangai) faction.

Valayakara Chetti.--A Tamil synonym of Gazula Balijas who sell glass
bangles. The equivalent Vala Chetti is also recorded.

Valekara.--A Badaga form of Billekara or belted peon. The word
frequently occurs in Badaga ballads. Taluk peons on the Nilgiris are
called Valekaras.

Vali Sugriva.--A synonym of the Lambadis, who claim descent from Vali
and Sugriva, the two monkey chiefs of the Ramayana.

Valinchiyan.--See Velakkattalavan.

Valiyatan (valiya, great, tan, a title of dignity).--Recorded, in
the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a title of Nayar.

Vallabarayan.--A title of Occhan.

Vallamban.--The Vallambans are a small Tamil cultivating class
living in the Tanjore, Trichinopoly, and Madura districts. They are
said [100] to be "the offspring of a Vellalan and a Valaiya woman,
now a small and insignificant caste of cultivators. Some of them
assert that their ancestors were the lords of the soil, for whose
sole benefit the Vellalans used to carry on cultivation. Tradition
makes the Vellambans to have joined the Kallans in attacking and
driving away the Vellalans. It is customary among the Vallambans, when
demising land, to refer to the fact of their being descendants of the
Vallambans who lost Vallam, i.e., the Vallama nadu in Tanjore, their
proper country." Some Vallambans claim to be flesh-eating Vellalas,
or to be superior to Kallans and Maravans by reason of their Vellala
ancestry. They call themselves Vallamtotta Vellalas, or the Vellalas
who lost Vallam, and say that they were Vellalas of Vallam in the
Tanjore district, who left their native place in a time of famine.

Portions of the Madura and Tanjore districts are divided into areas
known as nadus, in each of which a certain caste, called the Nattar,
is the predominant factor. For example, the Vallambans and Kallans
are called the Nattars of the Palaya nadu in the Sivaganga zemindari
of the Madura district. In dealing with the tribal affairs of the
various castes inhabiting a particular nadu, the lead is taken by the
Nattars, by whom certain privileges are enjoyed, as for example in the
distribution to them, after the Brahman and zamindar, of the flowers
and sacred ashes used in temple worship. For the purposes of caste
council meetings the Vallambans collect together representatives from
fourteen nadus, as they consider that the council should be composed
of delegates from a head village and its branches, generally thirteen
in number.

It is noted by Mr. F. R. Hemingway that the Vallambans "speak of
five sub-divisions, namely, Chenjinadu, Amaravatinadu, Palayanadu,
Melnadu, and Kilnadu. The Mel and Kilnadu people intermarry, but
are distinguishable by the fact that the former have moustaches,
and the latter have not. The women dress like the Nattukottai
Chettis. Tattooing is not allowed, and those who practice it are
expelled from the caste. The men generally have no title, but some who
enjoy State service inams call themselves Ambalakaran. The Melnadu
people have no exogamous divisions, though they observe the rule
about Kovil Pangolis. The Kilnadus have exogamous kilais, karais,
and pattams." As examples of exogamous septs, the following may be
cited:--Solangal (Chola), Pandiangal (Pandyan), Nariangal (jackal),
and Piliyangal (tiger).

The headman of the Vallambans is referred to generally as the
Servaikaran. The headman of a group of nadus is entitled Nattuservai,
while the headman of a village is known as Ur Servai, or simply Servai.

Marriage is celebrated between adults, and the remarriage of widows
is not objected to. It is stated [101] that "the maternal uncle's
or paternal aunt's daughter is claimed as a matter of right by a
boy, so that a boy of ten may be wedded to a mature woman of twenty
or twenty-five years, if she happens to be unmarried and without
issue. Any elderly male member of the boy's family--his elder
brother, uncle, or even his father--will have intercourse with her,
and beget children, which the boy, when he comes of age, will accept
as his own, and legitimatise." This system of marriage, in which
there is a marked disparity in the ages of the contracting couple,
is referred to in the proverb: "The tali should be tied at least by
a log of wood." The marriage rites are as a rule non-Brahmanical,
but in some well-to-do families the services of a Brahman purohit
are enlisted. The presence of the Umbalakaran or caste headman at a
marriage is essential. On the wedding day the contracting couple offer,
at their homes, manaipongal (boiled rice), and the alangu ceremony is
performed by waving coloured rice round them, or touching the knees,
shoulders, and head with cakes, and throwing them over the head. The
wrist-threads, consisting of a piece of old cloth dyed with turmeric,
are tied on by the maternal uncle. Cooked rice and vegetables are
placed in front of the marriage dais, and offered to the gods. Four
betel leaves are given to the bridegroom, who goes round the dais,
and salutes the four cardinal points of the compass by pouring water
from a leaf. He then sits down on a plank on the dais, and hands the
tali (marriage badge) to his sister. Taking the tali, she proceeds
to the bride's house, where the bride, after performing the alangu
ceremony, is awaiting her arrival. On reaching the house, she asks
for the bride's presents, and one of her brothers replies that such
a piece of land, naming one, is given as a dowry. The bridegroom's
sister then removes the string of black and gold beads, such as is
worn before marriage, from the bride's neck, and replaces it by the
tali. The conch shell should be blown by women or children during
the performance of manaipongal, and when the tali is tied. The bride
is conveyed to the house of the bridegroom, and sits with him on the
dais while the relations make presents to them.

The messenger who conveys the news of a death in the community is
a Paraiyan. The corpse is placed within a pandal (booth) supported
on four posts, which is erected in front of the house. Some paddy
(unhusked rice) is poured from a winnow on to the ground, and rice
is thrown over the face of the corpse. On the second day rice,
and other articles of food, are carried by a barber to the spot
where the corpse has been buried or burnt. If the latter course
has been adopted, the barber picks out some of the remains of the
bones, and hands them to the son of the deceased. On the third day,
the widow goes round the pandal three times, and, entering within
it, removes her tali string, and new clothes are thrown over her
neck. On the sixteenth day the final death ceremonies (karmandhiram)
are performed. A feast is given, and new cloths are tied on the heads
of those under pollution. Pollution lasts for thirty days.

The Vallambans profess to be Saivaites, but they consider Periya
Nayaki of Velangkudi as their tribal goddess, and each nadu has its own
special deity, such as Vembu Aiyanar, Nelliyandi Aiyanar, etc. In some
places the tribal deity is worshipped on a Tuesday at a festival called
Sevvai (Tuesday). On this day pots containing fermented rice liquor,
which must have been made by the caste people and not purchased,
are taken to the place of worship. On a Friday, those families which
are to take part in the festival allow a quantity of paddy (rice) to
germinate by soaking it in water, and on the following Tuesday flower
spikes of the palmyra palm are added to the malted rice liquor in the
pots. The pots of ordinary families may be placed in their houses,
but those of the Umbalakarans and Servaikarans must be taken to the
temple as representing the deity. Into these pots the flower spikes
should be placed by some respected elder of the community. A week
later, a small quantity of rice liquor is poured into other pots,
which are carried by women to the temple car, round which they go
three times. They then throw the liquor into a tank or pond. The pots
of the Umbalakaran and Servaikaran must be carried by young virgins,
or grown-up women who are not under menstrual pollution. One of the
women who carries these pots usually becomes possessed by the village
deity. At the time of the festival, cradles, horses, human figures,
elephants, etc., made by the potter, are brought to the temple as
votive offerings to the god.

Valli Ammai Kuttam.--A synonym of the Koravas, meaning followers of
Valli Ammai, the wife of the God Subrahmanya, whom they claim to have
been a Korava woman.

Vallodi.--The name denotes a settlement in the Valluvanad taluk of
Malabar, and has been returned as a sub-division of Nayar and Samantan,
to which the Raja of Valluvanad belongs.

Valluvan.--The Valluvans are summed up by Mr. H. A. Stuart [102]
as being "the priests of the Paraiyans and Pallans. Tiruvalluvar,
the famous Tamil poet, author of the Kural, belonged to this caste,
which is usually regarded as a sub-division of Paraiyans. It appears
that the Valluvans were priests to the Pallava kings before the
introduction of the Brahmans, and even for some time after it. [103]
In an unpublished Vatteluttu inscription, believed to be of the ninth
century, the following sentence occurs 'Sri Velluvam Puvanavan, the
Uvac'chan (Oc'chan) of this temple, will employ daily six men for
doing the temple service.' Again, the Valluvans must have formerly
held a position at least equal to that of the Vellalas, if the story
that Tiruvalluva Nayanar married a Vellala girl is true. [104] He
is said to have "refused to acknowledge the distinctions of caste,
and succeeded in obtaining a Vellala woman as his wife, from whom a
section of the Valluvans say it has its descent. As their ancestor
amused himself in the intervals between his studies by weaving,
they employ themselves in mending torn linen, but chiefly live by
astrology, and by acting as priests of Paraiyans, and officiating at
their funerals and marriages, though some refuse to take part in the
former inauspicious ceremony, and leave the duty to those whom they
consider impure Valluvans called Paraiya Tadas. Another section of the
Valluvans is called Alvar Dasari or Tavadadhari (those who wear the
necklace of tulsi beads). Both Saivites and Vaishnavites eat together,
but do not intermarry. Unlike Paraiyans, they forbid remarriage of
widows and even polygamy, and all males above twelve wear the sacred
thread." According to one account, the Valluvans are the descendants of
an alliance between a Brahman sage and a Paraiyan woman, whose children
complained to their father of their lowly position. He blessed them,
and told them that they would become very clever astrologers, and,
in consequence, much respected. At the Travancore census, 1901, the
Valluvans were defined as a sub-division of the Pulayas, for whom
they perform priestly functions.

"Both men and women are employed as astrologers and doctors, and are
often consulted by all classes of people. In many villages they have
the privilege of receiving from each ryot a handful of grain during
the harvest time." [105] Of three Valluvans, whom I interviewed at
Coimbatore, one, with a flowing white beard, had a lingam wrapped up
in a pink cloth round the neck, and a charm tied in a pink cloth round
the right upper arm. Another, with a black beard, had a salmon-coloured
turban. The third was wearing a discarded British soldier's tunic. All
wore necklaces of rudraksha (Elæocarpus Ganitrus) beads, and their
foreheads were smeared with oblong patches of sandal paste. Each of
them had a collection of panchangams, or calendars for determining
auspicious dates, and a bundle of palm leaf strips (ulla mudyan)
inscribed with slokas for astrological purposes. Their professional
duties included writing charms for sick people, preparing horoscopes,
and making forecasts of good or evil by means of cabalistic squares
marked on the ground. Some Valluvans would have us believe that
those who officiate as priests are not true Valluvans, and that the
true Valluvan, who carries out the duties of an astrologer, will not
perform priestly functions for the Paraiyans.

The most important sub-divisions of the Valluvans, returned at times of
census, are Paraiyan, Tavidadari, and Tiruvalluvan. From information
supplied to me, I gather that there are two main divisions, called
Arupathu Katchi (sixty house section) and Narpathu Katchi (forty house
section). The former are supposed to be descendants of Nandi Gurukkal,
and take his name as their gotra. The gotra of the latter is Sidambara
Sayichya Ayyamgar. Sidambara, or Chidambaram, is the site of one of
the most sacred Siva temples. The sub-division Alvar claims descent
from Tiruppan Alvar, one of the twelve Vaishnava saints. In the
Tanjore district, the Valluvans have exogamous septs or pattaperu,
named after persons, e.g., Marulipichan, Govindazhvan, etc.

The Valluvans include in their ranks both Vaishnavites and
Saivites. The majority of the latter, both males and females, wear the
lingam. The affairs of the community are adjusted by a caste council
and there are, in most places, two hereditary officers called Kolkaran
and Kanakkan.

At the betrothal ceremony the bride's money (pariyam), betel, jewels,
flowers, and fruit, are placed in the future bride's lap. The money
ranges from seven to ten rupees if the bridegroom's village is on the
same side of a river as the bride's, and from ten to twenty rupees if
it is on the other side. A small sum of money, called uramurai kattu
(money paid to relations) and panda varisai (money paid in the pandal),
is also paid by the bridegroom's party for a feast of toddy to the
relations. This is the proper time for settling caste disputes by the
village council. On the wedding day, the milk-post, consisting of a
green bamboo pole, is set up, and a number of pots, brought from the
potter's house, are placed near it. On the dais are set four lamps,
viz., an ordinary brass lamp, kudavilakku (pot light), alankara vilakku
(ornamental light), and paligai vilakku (seedling light). The bride and
bridegroom bring some sand, spread it on the floor near the dais, and
place seven leaves on it. Cotton threads, dyed with turmeric, are tied
to the pots and the milk-post. On the leaves are set cakes and rice,
and the contracting couple worship the pots and the family gods. The
Valluvan priest repeats a jumble of corrupt Sanskrit, and ties the
kankanams (threads) on their wrists. They are then led into the house,
and garlanded with jasmine or Nerium flowers. The pots are arranged on
the dais, and the sand is spread thereon close to the milk-post. Into
one of the pots the female relations put grain seedlings, and
four other pots are filled with water by the bridegroom's party. A
small quantity of the seedlings is usually wrapped up in a cloth,
and placed over the seedling pot. Next morning the bundle is untied,
and examined, to see if the seedlings are in good condition. If they
are so, the bride is considered a worthy one; if not, the bride is
either bad, or will die prematurely. The usual nalagu ceremony is next
performed, bride and bridegroom being anointed with oil, and smeared
with Phaseolus Mungo paste. This is followed by the offering of food
on eleven leaves to the ancestors and house gods. Towards evening, the
dais is got ready for its occupation by the bridal couple, two planks
being placed on it, and covered with cloths lent by a washerman. The
couple, sitting on the planks, exchange betel and paddy nine or twelve
times, and rice twenty-seven times. The priest kindles the sacred fire
(homam), and pours some ghi (clarified butter) into it from a mango
leaf. The bridegroom is asked whether he sees Arundati (the pole-star)
thrice, and replies in the affirmative. The tali is shown the sky,
smoked over burning camphor, and placed on a tray together with a
rupee. After being blessed by those present, it is tied round the
neck of the bride by the bridegroom, who has his right leg on her
lap. On the second day there is a procession through the village,
and, on the following day, the wrist-threads are removed.

In some places, the Valluvans, at their marriages, like the Pallis
and some other castes, use the pandamutti, or pile of pots reaching
to the top of the pandal.

The Saivite lingam wearers bury their dead in a sitting posture in
a niche excavated in the side of the grave. After death has set in,
a cocoanut is broken, and camphor burnt. The corpse is washed by
relations, who bring nine pots of water for the purpose. The lingam
is tied on to the head, and a cloth bundle, containing a rupee, seven
bilva (Ægle Marmelos) leaves, nine twigs of the tulsi (Ocimum sanctum),
and nine Leucas aspera flowers, to the right arm. The corpse is carried
to the grave on a car surmounted by five brass vessels. The grave is
purified by the sprinkling of cow's urine and cow-dung water before the
corpse is lowered into it. On the way to the burial-ground, the priest
keeps on chanting various songs, such as "This is Kailasa. This is
Kailasa thillai (Chidambaram). Our request is this. Nallia Mutthan
of the Nandidarma gotra died on Thursday in the month Thai in
the year Subakruthu. He must enter the fourth stage (sayichyam),
passing through Salokam, Samipa, and Sarupa. He crosses the rivers
of stones, of thorns, of fire, and of snakes, holding the tail of
the bull Nandi. To enable him to reach heaven safely, we pound rice,
and put lights of rice." The priest receives a fee for his services,
which he places before an image made on the grave after it has been
filled in. The money is usually spent in making a sacred bull, lingam,
or stone slab, to place on the grave. On the third day after death,
the female relatives of the deceased pour milk within the house into
a vessel, which is taken by the male relatives to the burial-ground,
and offered at the grave, which is cleaned. A small platform, made
of mud, and composed of several tiers, decreasing in size from below
upwards, is erected thereon, and surmounted by a lingam. At the north
and south corners of this platform, a bull and paradesi (mendicant)
made of mud are placed, and at each corner leaves are laid, on which
the offerings in the form of rice, fruits, vegetables, etc., are
laid. The final death ceremonies are celebrated on the seventeenth
day. A pandal (booth) is set up, and closed in with cloths. Within
it are placed a pot and five pestles and mortars, to which threads
are tied. Five married women, taking hold of the pestles, pound some
rice contained in the pot, and with the flour make a lamp, which is
placed on a tray. The eldest son of the deceased goes, with the lamp
on his head, to an enclosure having an entrance at the four cardinal
points. The enclosure is either a permanent one with mud walls, or
temporary one made out of mats. Within the enclosure, five pots are
set up in the centre, and four at each side. The pots are cleansed
by washing them with the urine of cows of five different colours,
red, white, black, grey, and spotted. Near the pots the articles
required for puja (worship) are placed, and the officiating priest
sits near them. The enclosure is supposed to represent heaven, and the
entrances are the gates leading thereto, before which food is placed on
leaves. The eldest son, with the lamp, stands at the eastern entrance,
while Siva is worshipped. The priest then repeats certain stanzas,
of which the following is the substance. "You who come like Siddars
(attendants in the abode of Siva) at midnight, muttering Siva's name,
why do you come near Sivapadam? I will pierce you with my trident. Get
away. Let these be taken to yamapuri, or hell." Then Siva and Parvati,
hearing the noise, ask "Oh! sons, who are you that keep on saying Hara,
Hara? Give out truly your names and nativity." To which the reply is
given "Oh! Lord, I am a devotee of that Being who graced Markandeya,
and am a Virasaiva by faith. I have come to enter heaven. We have
all led pure lives, and have performed acts of charity. So it is not
just that we should be prevented from entering. Men who ill-treat
their parents, or superiors, those addicted to all kinds of vice,
blasphemers, murderers, perverts from their own faith and priests,
and other such people, are driven to hell by the southern gate." At
this stage, a thread is passed round the enclosure. The son, still
bearing the lamp, goes from the eastern entrance past the south and
western entrances, and, breaking the thread, goes into the enclosure
through the northern entrance. The Nandikol (hereditary village
official) then ties a cloth first round the head of the eldest son,
and afterwards round the heads of the other sons and agnates.

The Valluvans abstain from eating beef. Though they mix freely with
the Paraiyans, they will not eat with them, and never live in the
Paraiyan quarter.

The Valluvans are sometimes called Pandaram or Valluva Pandaram. In
some places, the priests of the Valluvans are Vellala Pandarams.

Valluvan.--A small inferior caste of fishermen and boatmen in
Malabar. [106]

Valmika.--Valmika or Valmiki is a name assumed by the Boyas and Paidis,
who claim to be descended from Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana, who
did penance for so long in one spot that a white-ant hill (valmikam)
grew up round him. In a note before me, Valmiki is referred to as
the Spenser of India. In the North Arcot Manual, Valmikulu, as a
synonym of the Vedans, is made to mean those who live on the products
of ant-hills.

Val Nambi.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as "a
synonym for Mussad. Nambi is a title of Brahmans, and val means a
sword. The tradition is that the name arose from the ancestors of
the caste having lost some of the privileges of the Vedic Brahmans
owing to their having served as soldiers when Malabar was ruled by
the Brahmans prior to the days of the Perumals."

Valuvadi.--The Valuvadis are returned, in the Madras Census Report,
1901, as cultivators in the Pudukottai State. I am informed that the
Valuvadis are a section of the Valaiyan caste, to which the Zamindar
of Nagaram belongs. The name Valuvadi was originally a title of
respect, appended to the name of the Nagaram Zamindars. The name
of the present Zamindar is Balasubramanya Valuvadiar. Thirty years
ago there is said to have been no Valuvadi caste. Some Valaiyans
in prosperous circumstances, and others who became relatives of the
Nagaram Zamindar by marriage, have changed their caste name, to show
that they are superior in social status to the rest of the community.

Vamme.--A gotra of Janappans, the members of which abstain from eating
the fish called bombadai, because, when some of their ancestors went
to fetch water in the marriage pot, they found a number of this fish
in the water contained in the pot.

Vana Palli.--A name, meaning forest Palli, assumed by some Irulas in
South Arcot.

Vandikkaran.--An occupational name for Nayars who work as cartmen
(vandi, cart) for carrying fuel.

Vandula or Vandi Raja.--A sub-division of Bhatrazu, named after one
Vandi, who is said to have been a herald at the marriage of Siva.

Vangu (cave).--A sub-division of Irula.

Vani.--"The Vanis or Bandekars," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [107] "have
been wrongly classified in the census returns (1891) as oil-pressers;
they are in reality traders. They are said to have come from Goa,
and they speak Konkani. Their spiritual guru is the head of the
Kumbakonam math." In the Census Report, 1901, it is noted that Vani,
meaning literally a trader, is a Konkani-speaking trading caste, of
which Bandekara is a synonym. "They ape the Brahmanical customs, and
call themselves by the curious hybrid name of Vaisya Brahmans." Hari
Chetti has been returned as a further synonym.

Vaniyan.--The Vaniyans are, Mr. Francis writes, [108] "oil-pressers
among the Tamils, corresponding to the Telugu Gandlas, Canarese
Ganigas, Malabar Chakkans, and Oriya Tellis. For some obscure reason,
Manu classed oil-pressing as a base occupation, and all followers
of the calling are held in small esteem, and, in Tinnevelly, they
are not allowed to enter the temples. In consequence, however, of
their services in lighting the temples (in token of which all of them,
except the Malabar Vaniyans and Chakkans, wear the sacred thread), they
are earning a high position, and some of them use the sonorous title
of Joti Nagarattar (dwellers in the city of light) and Tiru-vilakku
Nagarattar (dwellers in the city of holy lamps). They employ Brahmans
as priests, practice infant marriage, and prohibit widow marriage,
usually burn their dead, and decline to eat in the houses of any
caste below Brahmans. However, even the washermen decline to eat with
them. Like the Gandlas they have two sub-divisions, Ottai-sekkan and
Irattai-sekkan, who use respectively one bullock and two bullocks in
their mills. Oddly enough, the former belong to the right-hand faction,
and the latter to the left. Their usual title is Chetti. The name
Vanuvan has been assumed by Vaniyans, who have left their traditional
occupation, and taken to the grain and other trades."

"The word Vanijyam," Mr. H. A. Stuart informs us, [109] "signifies
trade, and trade in oil, as well as its manufacture, is the usual
employment of this caste, who assert that they are Vaisyas, and
claim the Vaisya-Apuranam as their holy book. They are said to have
assumed the thread only within the last fifty or sixty years, and are
reputed to be the result of a yagam (sacrifice by fire) performed by a
saint called Vakkuna Maharishi. The caste contains four sub-divisions
called Kamakshiamma, Visalakshiamma, Ac'chu-tali, and Toppa-tali, the
two first referring to the goddesses principally worshipped by each,
and the two last to the peculiar kinds of talis, or marriage tokens,
worn by their women. They have the same customs as the Beri Chettis,
but are not particular in observing the rule which forbids the eating
of flesh. A bastard branch of the Vaniyas is called the Pillai Kuttam,
which is said to have sprung from the concubine of a Vaniyan, who
lived many years ago. The members of this class are never found except
where Vaniyans live, and are supposed to have a right to be fed and
clothed by them. Should this be refused, they utter the most terrible
curse, and, in this manner, eventually intimidate the uncharitable
into giving them alms." In the Census Report, 1891, Mr. Stuart writes
further that the Vaniyans "were formerly called Sekkan (oil-mill man),
and it is curious that the oil-mongers alone came to be called Vaniyan
or trader. They have returned 126 sub-divisions, of which only one,
Ilai Vaniyan, is numerically important. One sub-division is Iranderudu,
or two bullocks, which refers to the use of two bullocks in working
the mill. This separation of those who use two bullocks from those
who employ only one is found in nearly every oil-pressing caste in
India. The Vaniyans of Malabar resemble the Nayars in their customs
and habits, and neither wear the sacred thread, nor employ Brahmans
as priests. In North Malabar, Nayars are polluted by their touch, but
in the south, where they are called Vattakadans, they have succeeded
in forcing themselves into the ranks of the Nayar community. A large
number of them returned Nayar as their main caste." In this connection,
Mr. Francis states [110] that followers of the calling of oil-pressers
(Chakkans) are "known as Vattakadans in South Malabar, and as Vaniyans
in North Malabar; but the former are the higher in social status, the
Nayars being polluted by the touch of the Vaniyans and Chakkans but
not by that of the Vattakadans. Chakkans and Vaniyans may not enter
Brahman temples. Their customs and manners are similar to those of
the Nayars, who will not, however, marry their women."

Of the Vaniyans of Cochin, it is stated in the Cochin Census Report,
1901, that "they are Vaisyas, and wear the sacred thread. In regard
to marriage, inheritance, ceremonies, dress, ornaments, etc., there
is practically no difference between them and the Konkanis. But, as
they do not altogether abstain from meat and spirituous liquors, they
are not allowed free access to the houses of Konkanis, nor are they
permitted to touch their tanks and wells. They are Saivites. They
have their own priests, who are called Panditars. They observe
birth and death pollution for ten days, and are like Brahmans in
this respect. They are mostly petty merchants and shop-keepers. Some
can read and write Malayalam, but they are very backward in English
education."

The oils expressed by the Vaniyans are said to be "gingelly (Sesamum
indicum), cocoanut, iluppei (Bassia longifolia), pinnei (Calophyllum
inophyllum), and ground-nut (Arachis hypogæa). According to the
sastras the crushing of gingelly seeds, and the sale of gingelly oil,
are sinful acts, and no one, who does not belong to the Vaniyan class,
will either express or sell gingelly oil." [111]

When a Vaniyan dies a bachelor, a post-mortem mock ceremony is
performed as by the Ganigas, and the corpse is married to the arka
plant (Calotropis gigantea), and decorated with a wreath made of the
flowers thereof.

Vankayala (brinjal or egg plant: Solanum Melongena).--An exogamous sept
of Golla. The fruit is eaten by Natives, and, stuffed with minced meat,
is a common article of Anglo-Indian dietary.

Vanki (armlet).--A gotra of Kurni.

Vannan.--The Vannans are washermen in the Tamil and Malayalam
countries. The name Vannan is, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [112]
"derived from vannam, beauty. There is a tradition that they are
descendants of the mythological hero Virabadra, who was ordered
by Siva to wash the clothes of all men, as an expiation of the sin
of putting many people to death in Daksha's Yaga. Hence the Tamil
washermen are frequently called Virabadran. Having to purify all
the filthy linen of the villagers, they are naturally regarded as
a low, unclean class of Sudras, and are always poor. They add to
their income by hiring out the clothes of their customers to funeral
parties, who lay them on the ground before the pall-bearers, so that
these may not step upon the ground, and by letting them out on the
sly to persons wishing to use them without having to purchase for
themselves. In social standing the Vannans are placed next below the
barbers. They profess to be Saivites in the southern districts, and
Vaishnavites in the north. The marriage of girls generally takes place
after puberty. Widow remarriage is permitted among some, if not all,
sub-divisions. Divorce may be obtained by either party at pleasure on
payment of double the bride-price, which is usually Rs. 10-8-0. They
are flesh-eaters, and drink liquor. The dead are either burned or
buried. The Pothara (or Podora) Vannans are of inferior status, because
they wash only for Paraiyans, Pallans, and other inferior castes."

It is noted, in the Madura Manual, that those who have seen the
abominable substances, which it is the lot of the Vannans to make
clean, cannot feel any surprise at the contempt with which their
occupation is regarded. In the Tanjore Manual, it is recorded that,
in the rural parts of the district, the Vannans are not allowed to
enter the house of a Brahman or a Vellala; clothes washed by them
not being worn or mixed up with other clothes in the house until they
have undergone another wash by a caste man.

It is on record that, on one occasion, a party of Europeans, when out
shooting, met a funeral procession on its way to the burial-ground. The
bier was draped in many folds of clean cloth, which one of the party
recognised by the initials as one of his bed-sheets. Another identified
as his sheet the cloth on which the corpse was lying. He cut off the
corner with the initials, and a few days later the sheet was returned
by the washerman, who pretended ignorance of the mutilation, and gave
as an explanation that it must have been done, in his absence, by one
of his assistants. On another occasion, a European met an Eurasian,
in a village not far from his bungalow, wearing a suit of clothes
exactly similar to his own, and, on close examination, found they
were his. They had been newly washed and dressed.

The most important divisions numerically returned by Vannans at times
of census are Pandiyan, Peru (big), Tamil, and Vaduga (northerner). It
is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Madura district, that Vannan "is
rather an occupational term than a caste title, and, besides the Pandya
Vannans or Vannans proper, includes the Vaduga Vannans or Tsakalas
of the Telugu country, and the Palla, Pudara, and Tulukka Vannans,
who wash for the Pallans, Paraiyans, and Musalmans respectively. The
Pandya Vannans have a headman called the Periya Manishan (big man). A
man can claim the hand of his paternal aunt's daughter. At weddings,
the bridegroom's sister ties the tali (marriage badge). Nambis
officiate. Divorce is freely allowed to either party on payment
of twice the bride-price, and divorcées may marry again. The caste
god is Gurunathan, in whose temples the pujari (priest) is usually
a Vannan. The dead are generally burnt, and, on the sixteenth day,
the house is purified from pollution by a Nambi."

Some Vannans have assumed the name Irkuli Vellala, and Rajakan
and Kattavaraya vamsam have also been recorded as synonyms of the
caste name.

The Vannans of Malabar are also called Mannan or Bannan. They are,
Mr. Francis writes, [113] "a low class of Malabar washermen, who wash
only for the polluting castes, and for the higher castes when they
are under pollution following births, deaths, etc. It is believed
by the higher castes that such pollution can only be removed by
wearing clothes washed by Mannans, though at other times these cause
pollution to them. The washing is generally done by the women, and the
men are exorcists, devil-dancers and physicians, even to the higher
castes. Their women are midwives, like those of the Velakkatalavan
and Velan castes. This caste should not be confused with the Mannan
hill tribe of Travancore."

It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that "the Mannans,
a makkattayam caste of South Malabar, apparently identical with the
marumakkattayam Vannans of the north, are a caste of washermen; and
their services are indispensable to the higher castes in certain
purificatory ceremonies when they have to present clean cloths
(mattu). They are also devil-dancers and tailors. They practice
fraternal polyandry in the south. Mannans are divided into two
endogamous classes, Peru-mannans (peru, great), and Tinda-mannans
(tinda, pollution); and, in Walavanad, into four endogamous classes
called Choppan, Peru-mannan, Punnekadan, and Puliyakkodam. The
Tinda-mannan and Puliyakkodam divisions perform the purificatory
sprinklings for the others."

The services of the Mannan, Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar writes, [114]
"are in requisition at the Nayar Thirandukalianam ceremonies on the
attainment of puberty by a girl, when they sing ballads, and have
to bring, for the girl's use, the mattu or sacred dress. Then,
on occasions of death pollution, they have a similar duty to
perform. Among the Nayars, on the fourth, or rarely the third day
after the menses, the woman has to use, during her bath, clothes
supplied by Mannan females. The same duty they have to perform
during the confinement of Nayar females. All the dirty cloths and
bed sheets used, these Mannan females have to wash." Mr. S. Appadorai
Iyer informs us that those Mannans who are employed by the Kammalan,
or artisan class, as barbers, are not admitted into the Mannan caste,
which follows the more honourable profession of washing clothes. The
Mannans perform certain ceremonies in connection with Mundian,
the deity who is responsible for the weal or woe of cattle; and,
at Puram festivals, carry the vengida koda or prosperity umbrella,
composed of many tiers of red, green, orange, black and white cloth,
supported on a long bamboo pole, before the goddess.

It is recorded by Bishop Whitehead [115] that, in various places in
Malabar, there are temples in honour of Bhagavati, at which the pujaris
(priests) are of the Vannan caste. "There is an annual feast called
gurusi tarpanam (giving to the guru) about March, when the hot weather
begins, and the people are at leisure. Its object is to appease the
wrath of the goddess. During the festival, the pujari sits in the
courtyard outside the temple, thickly garlanded with red flowers,
and with red kunkuma marks on his forehead. Goats and fowls are then
brought to him by the devotees, and he kills them with one blow of
the large sacrificial sword or chopper. It is thought auspicious for
the head to be severed at one blow, and, apparently, pujaris who are
skilful in decapitation are much in request. When the head is cut
off, the pujari takes the carcase, and holds it over a large copper
vessel partly filled with water, turmeric, kunkuma, and a little rice,
and lets the blood flow into it. When all the animals are killed, the
pujari bails out the blood and water on the ground, uttering mantrams
(sacred lines or verses) the while. The people stand a little way
off. When the vessel is nearly empty, the pujari turns it upside
down as a sign that the ceremony is ended. During these proceedings,
a number of Vannans, dressed in fantastic costumes, dance three times
round the temple. During the festival, processions are held round the
various houses, and special swords with a curved hook at the end,
called palli val (great or honourable sword), are carried by the
worshippers. These swords are worshipped during the Dusserah festival
in October, and, in some shrines, they form the only emblem of the
deity. The Tiyans have small shrines in their own gardens sacred
to the family deity, which may be Bhagavati, or some demon, or the
spirit of an ancestor. Once a year, Vannans come dressed in fancy
costume, with crowns on their heads, and dance round the courtyard
to the sound of music and tom-toms, while a Tiyan priest presents the
family offerings, uncooked rice and young cocoanuts, with camphor and
incense, and then rice fried with sugar and ghi (clarified butter)."

In an account of the Tiyans, Mr. Logan writes [116] that "this
caste is much given to devil-charming, or devil-driving as it is
often called. The washermen (Vannan) are the high priests of this
superstition, and with chants, ringing cymbals, magic figures, and
waving lights, they drive out evil spirits from their votaries of
this caste at certain epochs in their married lives. One ceremony
in particular, called teyyattam--a corrupt form of Deva and attam,
that is, playing at gods--takes place occasionally in the fifth month
of pregnancy. A leafy arbour is constructed, and in front of it is
placed a terrible figure of Chamundi, the queen of the demons, made
of rice flour, turmeric powder, and charcoal powder. A party of not
less than eighteen washermen is organized to represent the demons and
furies--Kuttichattan (a mischievous imp), and many others. On being
invoked, these demons bound on to the stage in pairs, dance, caper,
jump, roar, fight, and drench each other with saffron (turmeric)
water. Their capers and exertions gradually work up their excitement,
until they are veritably possessed of the devil. At this juncture,
fowls and animals are sometimes thrown to them, to appease their
fury. These they attack with their teeth, and kill and tear as
a tiger does his prey. After about twenty minutes the convulsions
cease, the demon or spirit declares its pleasure, and, much fatigued,
retires to give place to others; and thus the whole night is spent,
with much tom-tomming and noise and shouting, making it impossible,
for Europeans at least, to sleep within earshot of the din."

Vannattan.--A synonym of Veluttedan, the caste of washermen, who wash
for Nayars and higher castes.

Vanni Kula Kshatriya.--A synonym of the Pallis, who claim to belong
to the fire race of Kshatriyas.

Vanniyan.--A synonym of Palli. The name further occurs as a
sub-division of Ambalakaran and Valaiyan. Some Maravans also are
known as Vanniyan or Vannikutti. Ten (honey) Vanniyan is the name
adopted by some Irulas in the South Arcot district.

Vantari.--See Telaga.

Vanuvan.--A name assumed by Vaniyans who have abandoned their
hereditary occupation of oil-pressing, and taken to trade in grain
and other articles.

Varakurup.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a title
of Malayalam Paravans.

Varige (millet).--An exogamous sept of Kapu.

Variyar.--For the following note on the Variyar section of the
Ambalavasis, I am indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar. The name is
believed to be derived from Parasava, which, according to Yajnavalkya
and other law-givers, is the name given to the son of a Brahman
begotten on a Sudra woman, and suggests the fact that the Variyar
is no Brahman, though the blood of the latter may course through
his veins, and though such marriages were regarded as sacraments
in early days. This is the derivation given by Pachumuttalu in
his Keralaviseshamahatmya, who adds that the chief occupation
of the Variyars is to sweep the floor of the temples. In some of
the Asauchavidhis (works on pollution) of Kerala, the commentator
explains the word Parasava as Variya. Many Variyars add the title
Parasava to their name, when writing in Sanskrit. Some derive the
word from varija or one born of water, in accordance with a tradition
that Parasurama created from water a class of persons for special
service in temples, and to take the place of Sudras, who, being
meat-eaters, were ineligible for the same. Others again, like the
late Professor Sundaram Pillay, would take Variyar as being derived
from varuka, to sweep. Recently, some ingenuity has been displayed
in splitting the word into two words, giving it a meaning equivalent
to pseudo-Aryan. The title Asan, or teacher, is possessed by certain
families, whose members have held the hereditary position of tutors in
noblemen's houses. In mediæval times, many Variyar families received
royal edicts, conferring upon them the privileges of being tutors
and astrologers. These special rights are even now possessed by them.

The following legend is narrated concerning the origin of the
Variyars. A Sudra woman removed a bone from within a temple
in obedience to the wish of certain Brahman priests, and was
excommunicated from her caste. The priests, on hearing this, were
anxious to better her condition, and made her the progenitor of a
class of Ambalavasis or temple servants, who were afterwards known
as Variyars. According to another legend, the corpse of a Maran,
which was found inside a Nambutiri's house, was promptly removed by
certain Nayars, who on that account were raised in the social scale,
and organised into a separate caste called Variyar. There is a still
further tradition that, in the Treta Yuga, a Sudra woman had five
sons, the first of whom became the progenitor of the Tiyatunnis,
and the second that of Variyars. A fourth account is given in the
Keralamahatmya. A young Brahman girl was married to an aged man. Not
confident in unaided human effort, under circumstances such as hers,
she devoted a portion of her time daily to preparing flower garlands
for the deity of the nearest temple, and conceived. But the Brahman
welcomed the little stranger by getting the mother thrown out of
caste. Her garlands could no longer be accepted, but, nothing daunted,
she worked as usual, and made a mental offering of the garlands she
prepared, which, through an unseen agency, became visible on the person
of the deity. Though the people were struck with shame at their unkind
treatment of the innocent girl, they were not prepared to take her
back. The Variyan caste was accordingly constituted, and her child
was brought up by the Azhancheri Tambrakkal, and accommodated in the
padippura or out-house at the entrance gate. In the Pasupata Tantra,
the Variyars are called Kailasavasins, or those who live in Kailas,
as they are supposed to be specially devoted to the worship of
Siva. Kailasa is the abode of Siva, whither the blessed go after death.

The Variyars of Travancore are divided into four groups,
called Onattukara, Venattukara, Ilayetattunad (or Ilayathu), and
Tekkumkur. The Venattukaras have the privilege of interdining with the
Onattukaras, and having their ceremonies performed by priests from that
group. But the ceremonies of the Onattukaras appear to be performed
without the Venattukaras being admitted into their midst. The third
and fourth groups take food in the houses of the first and second,
though the reverse seldom happens. The Variyars in British Malabar
are divided into several other groups.

The Variyars are generally well-read, especially in Sanskrit, make
excellent astrologers, and are also medical practitioners. A Variyar's
house is called variyam, as the Pisharati's is known as pisharam.

Married women have the hair-knot on the left side of the head,
like Nayar ladies. They cover the breast with a folded cloth, and
never wear a bodice or other innovations in the matter of dress. The
marriage ornament is called matra, and is in the shape of a maddalam
or drum. Other neck ornaments are called entram and kuzhal. The todu,
or ornament of Nayar women, is worn in the ear-lobes. Women mark
their foreheads, like Nambutiri ladies, with sandal paste.

The Variyars, Pushpakans, and Pisharatis, are said to constitute
the three original garland-making castes of Malabar, appointed by
Parasurama. At the present day, in all the important temples, except
in South Travancore, where Kurukkals perform that function, garlands
can only be prepared by one of these castes. The technical occupation
of a Variyar in a temple is called kazhakam, which is probably derived
from the Dravidian root kazhaku, to cleanse. Kazhakam is of two kinds,
viz., malakkazhakam or garland-making service, and talikkazhakam
or sweeping service, of which the former is more dignified than the
latter. Under the generic term kazhakar are included making flower
garlands for the temple, preparing materials for the offering of food,
sweeping the beli offering, carrying lights and holding umbrellas when
the god is carried in procession, having the custody of the temple
jewels, etc. The Variyar is at the beck and call of the temple priest,
and has to do sundry little services from morning till evening. He is
remunerated with some of the cooked food, after it has been offered to
the deity. The Variyars are to Saivite temples what the Pisharatis are
to Vaishnavite temples. Their prayers are prominently addressed only
to Siva, but they also worship Vishnu, Subramanya, Sasta, Ganesa, and
Bhadrakali. Their chief amusement is the farce called Kuttappathakam,
the hero of which is one Vankala Nikkan, and the heroine Naityar. An
Ilayatu is the stage-manager, and a Pisharati the actor. Parangotan
is the buffoon, and Mappa his wife. In the eighteenth century, a
grand festival lasting over twenty-eight days, called mamangam, was
celebrated in British Malabar. The above characters are represented
as proceeding to this festival, which came off once in twelve years
on the Magha asterism in the month of Magha, and is hence popularly
called Mahamagha.

The Variyar caste is governed in all matters by the Nambutiri Brahmans,
but they have their own priests. The Ilayatus believe that they were
the preceptors of all the Ambalavasi castes in former times, but
were dislodged from that position owing to most of them employing
priests from among their own caste men. Even at the present day,
Ilayatus are known to express their displeasure when they are asked
to drink water from a Variyar's well. As, however, consecrated water
from the Nambutiris is taken to a Variyar for its purification, they
entertain no scruples about cooking their food there, provided they
carry with them the aupasana fire.

Inheritance among the Variyars of Cochin and British Malabar is in
the female line (marumakkathayam). Among the Variyars of Travancore,
chiefly these belonging to the Onattukara section, a kind of qualified
makkathayam prevails, in accordance with which both sons and daughters
have an equal right to inherit ancestral property. The eldest male
member is entitled to the management of the estate in all undivided
families. Partition, however, is largely followed in practice.

The tali-kettu ceremony of the Variyars generally takes place before
a girl reaches puberty, and, in the case of boys, after the ceremony
of Sivadiksha has been performed, that is between the twelfth and
sixteenth years. If the marriage is in the kudi-vaippu form, or,
in other words, if there is an intention on the part of both parties
to treat the marital alliance as permanent, no separate sambandham
need be celebrated afterwards; and, in all cases where marriages are
celebrated between members of the same section, the kudi-vaippu form
is in vogue. If a girl is unmarried when she reaches puberty, she is
not permitted to take part in any religious ceremonies, or enter any
temple until she is married. The first item of a Variyar's marriage is
ayani-unu, when the bridegroom, decked in new clothes and ornaments,
dines sumptuously with his relations. He then goes in procession
to the bride's house, and, after bathing, puts on clothes touched
by the bride. After this some prayers are recited, and a sacrifice
is offered. The bride is then brought to the marriage hall, and, all
the Brahmanical rites are strictly observed. After sunset, some grass
and a leopard's skin are placed on the floor on which white cloth is
spread. The bridegroom, who is seated on the northern side, worships
Ganapati, after which the couple take their seats on the cloth bed
spread on the floor. Lights are then waved in front of them. This
ceremony is known as dikshavirikkuka. In the kudi-vaippu form of
marriage, the bride is taken to the house of the bridegroom, where
the dikshavirippu is observed. Otherwise the marital rite becomes
a mere tali-kattu ceremony, and the girl, when she comes of age,
may receive clothes in token of conjugal connection with another
person. When the first husband dies, clothes may be received from
another Variyar, or a Brahman, whose wife the woman becomes.

Most of the ceremonies observed by Malayali Brahmans are also performed
by the Variyars, the vratas and upanayana being among those which
are omitted. Sivadiksha, as already indicated, is observed between
the twelfth and sixteenth years. The festival lasts for four days,
though the religious rites are over on the first day. At an auspicious
hour, the priest and the Variyar youth put on the tattu dress, or
dress worn for ceremonial purposes, and worship a pot full of water
with incense and flowers, the contents of which are then poured by the
priest over the youth. The priest and a Maran then perform the tonsure,
and the youth bathes. Some Nambutiris are then engaged to perform the
purificatory rite, after which the Variyar wears the tattu as well as
an upper cloth, marks his forehead with ashes and sandal paste, and
decorates himself with jewels, rudraksha (Elæocarpus Ganitrus) beads,
and flowers. Alms are received by the young Variyar from his mother,
and he takes seven steps in a northerly direction which symbolise his
pilgrimage to Benares. It is only after the performance of this rite
that the Variyar is believed to become a grihastha (married person,
as opposed to a bachelor). The funeral rites of the caste have been
elaborated in many places. Death pollution lasts for twelve days,
and the sanchayana (milk ceremony) is observed on the seventh or
ninth day. Anniversary ceremonies are celebrated in memory of close
relations, and others are propitiated by the performance of sradh,
and the feeding of a Variyar on a new-moon day.

In an account of a royal wedding in Travancore in 1906, I read that
"a number of Variyars left the thevarathu koikal, or palace where
worship is performed, for a compound (garden) close by to bring
an areca palm. It is supposed that they do this task under divine
inspiration and guidance. One man is given a small rod by the Potti or
priest in the palace, and, after receiving this, he dances forward,
followed by his comrades, and all wend their way to a compound about
a furlong away. On reaching the spot, they uproot a big areca palm
without the use of any implement of iron, and take it away to the
thevarathu koikal without its touching the ground, to the accompaniment
of music. They then plant it in front of the portico, and do some puja
(worship) after the manner of Brahmans. The function is comparable to
the dhwajarohanam, or hoisting of the flag during temple utsavams. The
Variyars dance round the tree, singing songs, and performing puja. A
piece of white cloth is tied to the top of the tree, to serve as a
flag, and a lamp is lighted, and placed at the foot of the tree."

The Variyars are described, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, as "a caste
whose traditional duty is to sweep the temple precincts (varuga). At
the present day, some members of the caste are important land-owners or
petty chieftains, occupying a very high social position. They generally
follow the marumakkatayam principle, but they have also a form of
marriage called Kudivekkal similar to the Brahman Sarvasvadhanam,
by which the wife is adopted as a member of the family into which
she marries, and her children also belong to it. The Variyar's names
and ceremonies indicate Sivaite proclivities, just as those of the
Pisharodi are tinged with Vishnavism. The Variyar's house is called
a Variyam, and his woman-folk Varassiars. This class is perhaps the
most progressive among the Ambalavasis, some of its members having
received a Western education and entered the learned professions."

Varugu Bhatta.--A mendicant class, which begs from Perikes.

Varuna.--Some Pattanavan fishermen have adopted the name of Varunakula
Vellala or Varunakula Mudali after Varuna the god of the waters.

Vasa (new).--A sub-division of Kurubas, who are said to weave only
white blankets.

Vasishta.--A Brahmanical gotra adopted by Khatris and
Toreyas. Vasishta, one of the seven great Rishis, was the son of
Mitra and Varuna, whose quarrels with Viswamitra are narrated in
the Ramayana.

Vastra.--One division of the Koragas is called Vastra, meaning
cloths such as are used as a shroud for a corpse, which were given to
them as an act of charity, the wearing of new cloths by them being
prohibited. Vastrala (cloth) further occurs as an exogamous sept of
the Karna Sale and Devanga weavers.

Vattakadan.--Recorded as a sub-division of Nayar, the occupation of
which is expressing oil, chiefly for use in temples. Mr. F. Fawcett
writes [117] that, in North Malabar, he has frequently been told by
Nayars of the superior classes that they do not admit the Vattakadans
to be Nayars. According to them, the Vattakadans have adopted the
honorary affix Nayar to their names quite recently. In the Madras
Census Report, 1891, Vattakadan is stated to be a synonym of Vaniyan;
and in the report, 1901, this name is said to mean a Native of
Vattakad, and to be given to the Chakkans.

Vatte (camel).--A gotra of Kurni.

Vatti.--Vatti or Vattikurup has been recorded at times of census as a
sub-division of Nayar, and a synonym of Kavutiyan and Tolkollan. Vatti
is said to mean one who prays for happiness.

Vayani.--The Vayanis, Vayinis, Vaguniyans, or Pavinis, are a section of
Madigas, the members of which play on a single-stringed mandoline, and
go about from village to village, singing the praises of the village
goddesses. Each Vayani has his recognised beat. He plays a prominent
part in the celebration of the annual festival of the village goddess,
and receives a sacred thread (kappu), which is usually tied to his
mandoline, before the commencement of the festival. He regards himself
as superior in social position to ordinary Madigas, with whom he will
not marry. The name Vayani is said to be a corruption of varnane,
meaning to describe. In some localities, e.g., the Chingleput district,
the Vayani enjoys mirasi rights in connection with land.

Vedan.--The Vedans are described by Mr. H. A. Stuart, in the
North Arcot Manual, as having been "formerly hunters and soldiers,
and it is this caste which furnished a considerable and valuable
contingent to the early Hindu kings, and later to the armies of
Hyder and Tippoo. They are supposed by some to be the remnants of the
earliest inhabitants of the peninsula, and identical with the Veddahs
of Ceylon. They are also called Valmikulu, which means those who live
on the products of ant-hills (valmikum)." It is noted, in the Census
Report, 1891, that the two castes Bedar (or Boya) and Vedan were,
"through a misapprehension of instructions, treated as identical in
the tabulation papers. The two words are, no doubt, etymologically
identical, the one being Canarese and the other Tamil, but the
castes are quite distinct." It may be noted that the name Valmika
or Valmiki is assumed by the Boyas, who claim descent from Valmiki,
the author of the Ramayana, who did penance for so long in one spot
that a white-ant hill grew up round him.

In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Vedans are described as "a
Tamil-speaking labouring and hunting caste, the members of which
were formerly soldiers, and subsequently dacoits. The name means a
hunter, and is loosely applied to the Irulas in some places (e.g.,
Chingleput). There is some connection between the Vedans and Tamil
Vettuvans, but its precise nature is not clear. The Vettuvans now
consider themselves superior to the Vedans, and are even taking to
calling themselves Vettuva Vellalas. Marriage (among the Vedans)
is either infant or adult. Widows may marry their late husband's
brother or agnates. Some employ Brahmans as priests. They either burn
or bury their dead. They claim descent from Kannappa Nayanar, one of
the sixty-three Saivite saints. Ambalakarans also claim to be descended
from Kannappa Nayanar. In Tanjore, the Valaiyans declare themselves to
have a similar origin. The title of the Vedans is Nayakkan." In the
Madura Manual, the Vedans are described as a very low caste, who get
their living in the jungles. They are not numerous now. They appear
to have been naked savages not very long ago, and their civilisation
is far from complete. They are held in the greatest contempt by
men of all classes. They are described further, in the Coimbatore
Manual, as "a very degraded, poor tribe, living by basket-making,
snaring small game, and so on. They speak a low Canarese, and are
as simple as savage. The delight of a party at the gift of a rupee
is something curious." In the Salem district some Vedans are said
[118] to be "known by the caste name Tiruvalar, who are distinguished
as the Kattukudugirajati, a name derived from a custom among them,
which authorises temporary matrimonial arrangements."

The following story in connection with bears and Vedans is worthy of
being placed on record. The bears are said to collect ripe wood-apples
(Feronia elephantum) during the season, and store them in the
forest. After a small quantity has been collected, they remove the rind
of the fruits, and heap together all the pulp. They then bring honey
and petals of sweet-smelling flowers, put them on the heap of pulp,
and thresh them with their feet and with sticks in their hands. When
the whole has become a consistent mass, they feed on it. The Vedan, who
knows the season, is said to drive off the bears by shooting at them,
and rob them of their feast, which is sold as karadi panchamritham,
or bear delicacy made of five ingredients.

The Vedars of Travancore are summed up by the Rev. S. Mateer [119]
as "living in jungle clearings or working in the rice fields, and
formerly sold and bought as slaves. They have to wander about in
seasons of scarcity in search of wild yams, which they boil and eat
on the spot, and are thorough gluttons, eating all they can get at
any time, then suffering want for days. Polygamy is common, as men
are not required to provide for the support of their wives. Some,
who have been converted to Christianity, show wonderful and rapid
improvement in moral character, civilisation and diligence."

For the following note on the Mala (hill) Vedans of Travancore, I
am indebted to Mrs. J. W. Evans. [120] "They live in wretched huts
amid the rice-flats at the foot of the hills, and are employed by
farmers to guard the crops from the ravages of wild beasts. The upper
incisor teeth of both men and women are filed to a sharp point, like
crocodile's fangs. One ugly old man, Tiruvatiran by name (the name of
a star), had the four teeth very slightly filed. On being pressed for
the reason why he had not conformed to Mala Vedar fashion, he grinned,
and said 'What beauty I was born with is enough for me.' Probably
the operation had been more painful than he could bear, or, may be,
he could not afford to pay the five betel leaves and areca nuts,
which are the customary fee of the filer. Any man may perform the
operation. A curved bill-hook, with serrated edge, is the instrument
used. On being asked whether they had any tradition about the custom
of tooth-filing, they replied that it was to distinguish their caste,
and the god Chattan would be angry if they neglected the custom. It
may be noted that tooth-filing is also practiced by the jungle Kadirs
(q.v.). Both males and females wore a cotton loin-cloth, mellowed by
wear and weather to a subtle greenish hue. Red and blue necklaces,
interstrung with sections of the chank shell (Turbinella rapa) adorned
the necks and chests. One woman was of special interest. Her neck
and breasts were literally concealed by a medley of beads, shells,
brass bells, and two common iron keys--these last, she said, for
ornament. Around her hips, over her cloth, hung several rows of
small bones of pig and sambar (Cervus unicolor). The Mala Vedans
find these bones in the jungle. An aged priest said that he used
to perform devil-dancing, but was now too stiff to dance, and had
to labour like the younger men. The Mala Vedans apparently possess
no temples or shrines, but Hindus permit them to offer money at the
Hindu shrines from a distance, at times of sudden sickness or during
other seasons of panic. Their god Chattan, or Sattan, has no fixed
abode, but, where the Mala Vedans are, there is he in the midst of
them. They bury their dead in a recumbent posture, near the hut of the
deceased. The Mala Vedans practice the primitive method of kindling
fire by the friction of wood (also practiced by the Kanakars), and,
like the Kanakars, they eat the black monkey. Their implements are
bill-hooks, and bows and arrows. They weave grass baskets, which are
slung to their girdles, and contain betel, etc."

The more important measurements of twenty-five Mala Vedans examined
by myself were--

                                Max.    Min.    Average.

               Stature (cm.)    163.8   140.8      154.2
               Cephalic index    80.9    68.8       73.4
               Nasal index      102.6    71.1       85.0

The figures show that, like other primitive jungle tribes in Southern
India, the Mala Vedans are short of stature, dolichocephalic,
and platyrhine.

The following menstrual ceremony has been described [121] as occurring
among the Vedans of Travancore. "The wife at menstruation is secluded
for five days in a hut a quarter of a mile from her home, which is
also used by her at childbirth. The next five days are passed in a
second hut, half way between the first and her house. On the ninth
day her husband holds a feast, sprinkles his floor with wine, and
invites his friends to a spread of rice and palm wine. Until this
evening, he has not dared to eat anything but roots, for fear of
being killed by the devil. On the tenth day he must leave his house,
to which he may not return until the women, his and her sister have
bathed his wife, escorted her home, and eaten rice together. For four
days after his return, however, he may not eat rice in his own house,
or have connection with his wife."

Vedunollu.--A gotra of Ganigas, members of which may not cut Nyctanthes
Arbor-tristis. The flowers thereof are much used in Hindu worship,
as the plant is supposed to have been brought from heaven by Krishna
for his wife Satyabhama.

Veginadu.--A sub-division of Komatis, who belong to the Vegi or Vengi
country, the former name of part of the modern Kistna district. The
Vegina Komatis are said to have entered the fire-pits with the caste
goddess Kanyakamma.

Vekkali Puli (cruel-legged tiger).--An exogamous section of Kallan.

Vel (lance).--A sub-division of Malayalam Paraiyans, and an exogamous
sept or sub-division of Kanikars in Travancore. Velanmar (spearmen)
occurs as a name for the hill tribes of Travancore.

Velakkattalavan.--Velakkattalavan or Vilakkattalavan is stated in the
Travancore Census Report, 1901, to indicate chieftains among barbers,
and to be the name for members of families, from which persons
are selected to shave kings or nobles. In the Madras Census Report,
1891, Velakkattalavan is said to be "the name in South Malabar of the
caste that shaves Nayars and higher castes. The same man is called
in North Malabar Valinchiyan, Navidan, or Nasiyan. In dress and
habits the caste resembles Nayars, and they call themselves Nayars in
the south. Many returned their main caste as Nayar. The females of
this caste frequently act as midwives to Nayars. In North Malabar,
the Valinchiyan and Nasiyan follow the Nayar system of inheritance,
whereas the Navidan has inheritance in the male line; but, even amongst
the latter, tali-kettu and sambandham are performed separately by
different bridegrooms. In South Malabar the caste generally follows
descent in the male line, but in some places the other system is also
found." Sudra Kavutiyan is recorded, in the Madras Census Report,
1901, as a synonym of Velakkatalavan.

Velama.--The Velamas, or, as they are sometimes called, Yelamas,
are a caste of agriculturists, who dwell in the Telugu country and
Ganjam. Concerning them Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows. [122]
"Who the Velamas were it seems difficult to decide. Some say they form
a sub-division of the Balijas, but this they themselves most vehemently
deny, and the Balijas derisively call them Guna Sakala (or Tsakala)
vandlu (hunch-backed washermen). The pride and jealousy of Hindu
castes was amusingly illustrated by the Velamas of Kalahasti. The
Deputy Tahsildar of that town was desired to ascertain the origin of
the name Guni Sakalavandlu, but, as soon as he asked the question, a
member of the caste lodged a complaint of defamation against him before
the District Magistrate. The nickname appears to have been applied
to them, because, in the northern districts, some print chintzes,
and, carrying their goods in a bundle on their backs, walk stooping
like a laden washerman. This derivation is more than doubtful, for,
in the Godavari district, the name is Guna Sakalavandlu, guna being
the big pot in which they dye the chintzes. Some Velamas say that
they belong to the Kammas, but divided from them in consequence of
a difference of opinion on the subject of gosha, most Velama females
being now kept in seclusion. [In the Kurnool Manual it is noted that
the Velama women are supposed to be gosha, but, owing to poverty, the
rule is not strictly observed.] Both Kammas and Velamas, before they
divided, are said to have adopted gosha from the Muhammadans, but,
finding that they were thus handicapped in their competition with
other cultivating castes, it was proposed that the original custom
of their ancestors should be reverted to. Those who agreed signed a
bond, which, being upon palm leaf, was called kamma, and from it they
took this name. The dissentients retained gosha, and were therefore
called outsiders or Velamas. This does not, however, explain what
the original name of the caste was, and the truth of the story is
doubtful. Since this dispute, the Velamas have themselves had a split
on the subject of gosha, those who have thrown it off being called Adi
or original Velamas, and the others Padma Velamas. The Velamas seem
to have come south with the Vijayanagara kings, and to have been made
Menkavalgars, from which position some rose to be Poligars. Now they
are chiefly the hangers-on of poligars or cultivators. To distinguish
them from the Vellalas in the southern taluks, they call themselves
Telugu Vellalas, but it seems very improbable that the Velamas and
Vellalas ever had any connection with one another. They are styled
Naidus." [The Velamas style themselves Telugu Vellalas, not because
of any connection between the two castes, but because they are at the
top of the Telugu castes as the Vellalas are of the Tamil castes. For
the same reason, Vellalas are sometimes called Arava (Tamil) Velamalu.]

The most important sub-divisions returned by the Velamas at the
census, 1891, were Kapu, Koppala, Padma, Ponneti, and Yanadi. "It
is," the Census Superintendent writes, "curious to find the Yanadi
sub-division so strongly represented, for there is at the present
day a wide gulf between Velamas and Yanadis" (a Telugu forest
tribe). In the Vizagapatam Manual, a class of cultivators called
Yanadulu is referred to; and, in the Madras Census Report, 1901,
it is recorded that entries under the name Yanati "were clubbed with
Yanadi; but it has since been reported that, in Bissam-Acuttack taluk
of the Vizagapatam Agency, there is a separate caste called Yanati
or Yeneti Dora which is distinct from Yanadi." It would appear that,
as in the south, the Velamas call themselves Telugu Vellalas, so in
the north they call themselves Yanatis.

Concerning the Guna Velamas, the Rev. J. Cain writes [123] that "in
years gone by, members of this class, who were desirous of getting
married, had to arrange and pay the expenses of two of the Palli
(fisherman) caste, but now it is regarded as sufficient to hang up a
net in the house during the time of the marriage ceremony." The custom
had its origin in a legend that, generations ago, when all the members
of the caste were in danger of being swept off the face of the earth
by some of their enemies, the Pallis came to the rescue with their
boats, and carried all the Guna Velamas to a place of safety. The
Guna Velamas, Mr. Cain continues, were "formerly regarded as quite
an inferior caste, but, as many members of it have been educated in
Anglo-Vernacular schools, they have found their way into almost every
department and risen in the social scale. Their caste occupation is
that of dyeing cloth, which they dip into large pots (gunas). The term
Guna Tsakala is one of reproach, and they much prefer being called
Velamalu to the great disgust of the Raca (Raja) Velamalu." To the
Raca Velama section belong, among other wealthy land-owners, the
Rajas of Bobbili, Venkatagiri, Pittapur, and Nuzvid. At the annual
Samasthanam meeting, in 1906, the Maharaja of Bobbili announced that
"none of the Velamavaru were working in any of the offices at the time
when I first came to Bobbili. There were then a small number acting
as mere supervisors without clerical work. Only from the commencement
of my administration these people have been gradually taken into the
office, and induced to read at the High School."

For the following note on the Velamas who have settled in the
Vizagapatam district, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. The
following sub-divisions of the caste may be noted:--

(1) Pedda or Padma found chiefly in the Bobbili taluk. Those composing
it are said to be the descendants of the military followers and
dependents of Pedda Rajudu, the founder of the Bobbili family, who
received a territorial grant in 1652 from Sher Muhammad Khan, the
Moghul Fauzdar of Chicacole. It is to this sub-division that Orme
refers, when he says [124] that they "esteem themselves the highest
blood of Native Indians, next to the Brahmans, equal to the Rajpoots,
and support their pre-eminence by the haughtiest observances, insomuch
that the breath of a different religion, and even of the meaner
Indians, requires ablution; their women never transfer themselves to a
second, but burn with the husband of their virginity." The remarriage
of widows is forbidden, and women remain gosha (in seclusion),
and wear gold or silver bangles on both wrists, unlike those of the
Koppala section. The title of members of this sub-division is Dora.

(2) Kamma Velama found chiefly in the Kistna district, from which
some families are said to have emigrated in company with the early
Rajas of Vizianagram. They are met with almost solely in the town of
Vizianagram. The remarriage of widows is permitted, but females are
gosha. The title is Nayudu.

(3) Koppala, or Toththala, who do not shave their heads, but tie
the hair in a knot (koppu) on the top of the head. They are divided
into sections, e.g., Naga (cobra), Sankha (chank shell, Turbinella
rapa), Tulasi (Ocimum sanctum), and Tabelu (tortoise). These
have no significance so far as marriage is concerned. They are
further divided into exogamous septs, or intiperulu, of which the
following are examples:--Nalla (black), Doddi (court-yard, cattle-pen
or sheep-fold), Reddi (synonym of Kapu). The custom of menarikam,
by which a man marries his maternal uncle's daughter, is observed. A
Brahman officiates at marriages. Widows are permitted to remarry seven
times, and, by an unusual custom, an elder brother is allowed to marry
the widow of his younger brother. Women wear on the right wrist a
solid silver bangle called ghatti kadiyam, and on the left wrist two
bangles called sandelu, between which are black glass bangles, which
are broken when a woman becomes a widow. The titles of members of this
sub-division are Anna, Ayya, and, when they become prosperous, Nayudu.

In a note on the Velamas of the Godavari district, Mr. F. R. Hemingway
writes that they "admit that they always arrange for a Mala couple
to marry, before they have a marriage in their own houses, and that
they provide the necessary funds for the Mala marriage. They explain
the custom by a story to the effect that a Mala once allowed a Velama
to sacrifice him in order to obtain a hidden treasure, and they say
that this custom is observed out of gratitude for the discovery of
the treasure which resulted. The Rev. J. Cain gives [125] a similar
custom among the Velamas of Bhadrachalam in the Godavari district,
only in this case it is a Palli (fisherman) who has to be married."

There is, a correspondent informs me, a regular gradation in the
social scale among the Velamas, Kammas, and Kapus, as follows:--

    Velama Dora = Velama Esquire.
    Kamma Varu = Mr. Kamma.
    Kapu.

A complaint was once made on the ground that, in a pattah (title-deed),
a man was called Kamma, and not Kamma Varu.

It is noted by Mr. H. G. Prendergast [126] that the custom of sending
a sword to represent an unavoidably absent bridegroom at a wedding
is not uncommon among the Telugu Razus and Velamas.

Velampan (rope-dancer).--Possibly a name for the Koravas of Malabar,
who perform feats on the tight-rope.

Velan.--As a diminutive form of Vellala, Velan occurs as a title
assumed by some Kusavans. Velan is also recorded as a title of
Paraiyans in Travancore. (See Panan.)

For the following note on the Velans of the Cochin State, I am indebted
to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer. [127]

The Velans, like the Panans, are a caste of devil-dancers, sorcerers
and quack doctors, and are, in the northern parts of the State, called
Perumannans or Mannans (washermen). My informant, a Perumannan at
Trichur, told me that their castemen south of the Karuvannur bridge,
about ten miles south of Trichur, are called Velans, and that they
neither interdine nor intermarry, because they give mattu (a washed
cloth) to carpenters to free them from pollution. The Mannans, who
give the mattu to Izhuvans, do not give it to Kammalans (artisan
classes), who are superior to them in social status. The Velans at
Ernakulam, Cochin, and other places, are said to belong to eight
illams. A similar division into illams exists among the Perumannans
of the Trichur taluk. The Perumannans of the Chittur taluk have no
knowledge of this illam division existing among them.

The following story was given regarding the origin of the Velans and
Mannans. Once upon a time, when Parameswara and his wife Parvati were
amusing themselves, the latter chanced to make an elephant with earth,
which was accidentally trodden on by the former, whence arose a man who
stood bowing before them. He was called the Mannan because he came out
of man (earth), and to him was assigned his present occupation. This
tradition is referred to in the songs which are sung on the fourth
day of a girl's first menses, when she takes a ceremonial bath to
free her from pollution.

The Velans are found all over the southern parts of the State, as
their brethren are in the northern parts. They live in thatched huts
in cocoanut gardens, while the Mannans occupy similar dwellings in
small compounds either of their own, or of some landlord whose tenant
they may be.

When a girl attains puberty, she is at once bathed, and located in a
room in the hut. Her period of seclusion is four days. On the morning
of the fourth day, she is seated in a pandal (booth) put up in front
of the hut, and made to hold in her hand a leafy vessel filled with
rice, a few annas and a lighted wick, when a few of the castemen
sing songs connected with puberty till so late as one or two o'clock,
when the girl is bathed. After this, the castemen and women who are
invited are feasted along with the girl, who is neatly dressed and
adorned in her best. Again the girl takes her seat in the pandal
and the tunes begin, and are continued till seven or eight o'clock
next morning, when the ceremony comes to an end. The songsters are
remunerated with three paras of paddy (unhusked rice), twenty-eight
cocoanuts, thirteen annas and four pies, and two pieces of cloth. The
songs are in some families postponed till the sixteenth day, or to
the day of the girl's marriage. Very poor people dispense with them
altogether. The following is a translation of one of the songs.

One day a girl and her friends were playing merrily on the banks of
a river, when one of them noticed some blood on her dress. They took
her home, and her parents believed it to have been caused by some
wound, but on enquiry knew that their daughter was in her menses. The
daughter asked her mother as to what she did with the cloth she wore
during her menses, when she was told that she bathed and came home,
leaving it on a branch of a mango tree. On further enquiry, she knew
that the goddess Ganga purified herself by a bath, leaving her cloth
in the river; that the goddess earth buried it in earth; and that
Panchali returned home after a bath, leaving her dress on a branch of
a banyan tree. Unwilling to lose her dress, the girl went to the god
Parameswara, and implored his aid to get somebody to have her cloth
washed. When muttering a mantram (prayer), he sprinkled some water,
a few drops of which went up and became stars, and from a few more,
which fell on the leaves of a banyan tree, there came out a man,
to whom was assigned the task of washing the cloths of the women in
their courses, wearing which alone the women are purified by a bath.

When a young man of the Velan caste has attained the marriageable
age, his father and maternal uncle select a suitable girl as a wife,
after a proper examination and agreement of their horoscopes. The
preliminaries are arranged in the hut of the girl, and a portion of
the bride's price, fifteen fanams, is paid. The auspicious day for the
wedding is fixed, and the number of guests that should attend it is
determined. The wedding is celebrated at the girl's hut, in front of
which a shed is put up. The ceremony generally takes place at night. A
few hours before it, the bridegroom and his party arrive at the bride's
hut, where they are welcomed, and seated on mats spread on the floor
in the pandal (shed). At the auspicious hour, when the relatives on
both sides and the castemen are assembled, the bridegroom's enangan
(relation by marriage) hands over a metal plate containing the wedding
suit, the bride's price, and a few packets of betel leaves and nuts
to the bride's enangan, who takes everything except the cloth to
be given to the bride's mother, and returns the plate to the same
man. The bridegroom's sister dresses the bride in the new cloth, and
takes her to the pandal, to seat her along with the bridegroom, and to
serve one or two spoonfuls of milk and a few pieces of plantain fruit,
when the bride is formally declared to be the wife of the young man and
a member of his family. The guests assembled are treated to a feast,
after which they are served with betel leaves, nuts, and tobacco. The
rest of the night is spent in merry songs and dancing. The songs refer
to the marriage of Sita, the wife of Rama, of Subhadra, wife of Arjuna,
and of Panchali, wife of the Pandavas. Next morning, the bride's party
is treated to rice kanji (gruel) at eight o'clock, and to a sumptuous
meal at twelve o'clock, after which they repair to the bridegroom's
hut, accompanied by the bride, her parents and relations, all of
whom receive a welcome. The formalities are gone through here also,
and the bride's party is feasted. On the fourth morning, the newly
married couple bathe and dress themselves neatly, to worship the deity
at the local temple. After dinner they go to the bride's hut, where
they spend a week or two, after which the bridegroom returns to his
hut with his wife. It is now that the bride receives a few ornaments,
a metal dish for taking meals, a lamp, and a few metal utensils, which
vary according to the circumstances of her parents. Henceforward, the
husband and wife live with the parents of the former in their family.

Among the Mannans of the northern parts of the State, the following
marriage customs are found to prevail. The bridegroom's father,
his maternal uncle, enangan, and the third or middle man, conjointly
select the girl after due examination and agreement of horoscopes. The
preliminaries are arranged as before, and the day for the wedding is
determined. At the auspicious moment on the wedding day, when the
relatives on both sides and the castemen are assembled at the shed
in front of the bride's hut, the bridegroom's father takes up a metal
plate containing the wedding dress, the bride's price (twelve fanams),
and a few bundles of betel leaves, nuts and tobacco, and repeats a
formula, of which the substance runs thus. "A lighted lamp is placed
in the shed. Four mats are spread round it in the direction of east,
west, north and south. A metal plate, containing rice, flowers and
betel leaves, is placed in front of the lamp, and the elderly members
of the caste and the relatives on both sides are assembled. According
to the traditional custom of the caste, the young man's father,
maternal uncle, enangan, and the middle man conjointly selected the
girl after satisfying themselves with due agreement of horoscopes,
and ascertaining the illams and kriyams on both sides. They have
negotiated for the girl, and settled the day on which the marriage is
to take place. In token of this, they have taken meals in the bride's
family. The claims of the girl for two pieces of cloth for the Onam
festival, two fanams or nine annas for Thiruwatira (a festival in
Dhanu, i.e., December-January), and Vishu, are satisfied, and she is
by the young man taken to the village festival. They have now come
for the celebration of the wedding. There have been times when he
has heard of 101 fanams as the price of the bride, and has seen 51
fanams as the price of the same, but it is now 21 fanams. It thus
varies, and may be increased or diminished according to the will,
pleasure, and means of the parties. With four fanams as the price
of the bride and eight fanams for ornaments, and with the bundles
of betel leaves, nuts, and the wedding dress in a metal plate, may
I, ye elderly members, give it to the girl's parents?" "Shall I,"
answers the girl's father, "accept it?" Receiving it, he gives it
to his brother-in-law, who gives it to the enangan, and he takes
everything in it except the wedding suit, which he hands over to the
bridegroom's enangan, who gives it to the bridegroom's sister, to have
the bride dressed in it. The other portions of the ceremony are the
same as those described above. In Palghat and the Chittur taluk, the
following declaration is made. "According to the customary traditions
of the caste, when a young man of one locality comes to tame a girl
of another locality, and takes her as his wife, ye elderly members
assembled here, may these four bundles of betel leaves, four measures
of rice, two pieces of cloth, and ten fanams be given to the bride's
parents?" "Shall these be accepted?" says the bride's enangan. When
the bride accompanies the bridegroom to his hut, the following formal
statement is made. "Thrash thou mayst, but not with a stick. Thou
mayst not accuse her of bad conduct. Thou mayst not cut off her ears,
breasts, nose and tufts of hair. Thou mayst not take her to a tank
(to bathe), or to a temple (for swearing). Thou mayst keep and protect
her as long as thou wantest. When thou dost not want her, give her
maintenance, and take back the children, for they are thine own."

Polygamy is not prohibited, but is rarely practiced by the Velans and
Mannans. They are very poor, and find it difficult to support their
wives and children born in a single married life. Want of children,
bodily defect or incurable disease, or want of additional hands for
work, may sometimes induce them to take more than one wife. Polyandry
does not prevail among the Velans, but is common among the Mannans
of the northern parts of the State. A Velan woman who loses her
husband may marry another of her caste, if she likes, a year after her
husband's death. The formalities of the wedding consist in the husband
giving two pieces of cloth to the woman who wishes to enter into
wedlock with him. After this she forfeits all claim on the property
of her former husband. Among the Mannans, a widow may marry any one of
her brothers-in-law. A woman committing adultery with a member of her
own caste is well thrashed. One who disposes of herself to a member of
a lower caste is sent out of caste. She may then become a Christian
or Muhammadan convert. If an unmarried young woman becomes pregnant,
and this is known to her castemen, they convene a meeting, and find
out the secret lover, whom they compel to take her as his wife. Very
often they are both fined, and the fine is spent on toddy. Both among
the Velans and Mannans, divorce is easy. A man who does not like his
wife has only to take her to her original home and give charge of
her to her parents, informing them of the circumstances which have
induced him to adopt such a course. A woman who does not like her
husband may relinquish him, and join her parents. In both cases,
the woman is at liberty to marry again.

When a woman is pregnant, the ceremony of pulikuti (drinking of
tamarind juice) is performed for her during the ninth month at the
hut of her husband. The juice is extracted from tamarind (Tamarindus
indica), kotapuli (Garcinia Cambogia), nerinjampuli (Hibiscus
surattensis) and the leaves of ambazhampuli (Spondias mangifera). A
large branch of ambazhampuli is stuck in the ground in the central
courtyard, near which the pregnant woman is seated. The husband gives
her three small spoonfuls, and then seven times with her cherutali
(neck ornament) dipped in the juice. Among the washermen, the woman's
brother gives it three times to her. Should her sister-in-law give it
in a small vessel, she has a claim to two pieces of cloth. After this,
a quarter measure of gingelly (Sesamum) oil is poured upon her head,
to be rubbed all over her body, and she bathes, using Acacia Intsia
as soap. Those of her relatives and the castemen who are invited
are sumptuously fed. Some of them crack jokes by asking the pregnant
woman to promise her baby son or daughter to theirs when grown up. All
bless her for a safe delivery and healthy child.

A woman who is about to become a mother is lodged in a separate room
for her delivery, attended by her mother and one or two grown-up women,
who act as midwives. The period of pollution is fifteen days. For
the first three days the woman is given a dose of dried ginger mixed
with palmyra (Borassus flabellifer) jaggery (crude sugar), and for
the next three days a mixture of garlic and jaggery. Her diet during
the first three days is rice kanji with scrapings of cocoanut, which
are believed to help the formation of the mother's milk. For the next
three days, the juice of kotapuli (Garcinia Cambogia), cumin seeds,
and kotal urikki (Achyranthes aspera), and of the leaves of muringa
(Moringa pterygosperma) is given, after which, for a few more days,
a dose of the flesh of fowl mixed with mustard, cumin seeds and uluva
(Trigonella foenum-græcum) boiled in gingelly oil is taken. She bathes
in water boiled with medicinal herbs on the fourth, seventh, ninth,
eleventh, and sixteenth days. On the morning of the sixteenth day,
her enangathi (enangan's wife) cleans her room with water mixed with
cow-dung, and sweeps the compound. Wearing a mattu (washed cloth)
brought by a washerman, she bathes to be freed from pollution. She
may now enter the hut, and mingle with the rest of the family.

Among Velans and Mannans, the sons inherit the property of their
fathers, but they are very poor, and have little or nothing to inherit.

Velans and Mannans practice magic and sorcery. All diseases that
flesh is heir to are, in the opinion of these people, caused by
malignant demons, and they profess to cure, with the aid of their
mantrams and amulets, people suffering from maladies. The muttering
of the following mantram, and throwing of bhasmam (holy ashes),
in propitiation of the small-pox demon is believed to effect a cure.

(1) Om, Oh! thou, Pallyamma, mother with tusk-like teeth, that in
demoniacal form appearest on the burning ground called omkara, with
burning piles flaming around, with one breast on one of thy shoulders,
and playing with the other as with a ball, with thy tongue stretched
out and wound round thy head, with grass, beans, and pepper in thy
left hand, with gingelly seeds and chama grains in thy right hand,
that scatterest and sowest broadcast the seeds of small-pox; Oh! let
the seeds that thou hast sown, and those that thou hast not sown,
dry up inside, and get charred outside. Be thou as if intoxicated
with joy! Protect thou, protect thou!

(2) Malign influence of birds on children.

Oh! thou round-eyed, short Karinkali with big ears, born from the
third incessantly burning eye of Siva, come, come and be in possession.

If this mantram be muttered sixteen times, and bhasmam thrown over
the body of a child, the operator breathing violently the while,
a cure will be effected. If the mantram be muttered in a vessel of
water the same number of times, and the child bathed in it, the cure
will be equally effective.

(3) To cure fits and fever.

Oh! thou swine-faced mother, thou catchest hold of my enemy, coming
charging me, by the neck with thy tusks thrust into his body; draggest
him on the ground, and standest slowly chewing and eating, thrusting
thy tusks, rubbing again, and wearing down his body, chewing once
more and again; thou, mother that controllest 41,448 demons presiding
over all kinds of maladies, seventy-two Bhiravans, eighteen kinds of
epileptic fits (korka), twelve kinds of muyalis and all other kinds
of illness, as also Kandakaranans (demons with bell-shaped ears),
be under my possession so long as I serve thee.

This mantram should be repeated sixteen times, with bhasmam thrown
on the body of the patient.

(4) Oh! Bhadrakali, thou hast drunk the full cup. Oh! thou that holdest
the sword of royalty in thy right hand, and that half sittest on a high
seat. Place under control, as I am piously uttering the mantrams to
serve thee, all demons, namely Yakshi, Gandharvan, Poomalagandharvan,
Chutali, Nirali, Nilankari, Chuzali, and many others who cause all
kinds of illness that flesh is heir to. Oh! holy mother, Bhadrakali,
I vow by my preceptor.

(5) For devil driving.

Oh! thou, Karinkutti (black dwarf) of Vedapuram in Vellanad, that
pluckest the fruits of the right hand branch of the strychnine tree
(Strychnos Nux-vomica), and keepest toddy in its shell, drinking the
blood of the black domestic fowl, drumming and keeping time on the
rind of the fruit, filling and blowing thy pipe or horn through the
nose. Oh! thou primeval black dwarf, so long as I utter the proper
mantrams, I beg thee to cause such demons as would not dance to dance,
and others to jump and drive them out. Oh! thou, Karinkutti, come,
come, and enable me to succeed in my attempts.

(6) Oh! thou goddess with face. Oh! thou with face like that of a bear,
and thou, a hunter. I utter thy mantrams and meditate upon thee, and
therefore request thee to tread upon my enemies, burst open their
bodies to drink their blood, and yawn to take complete rest; drive
out such demons as cause convulsions of the body both from within
and without, and all kinds of fever. Scatter them as dust. I swear
by thee and my preceptor. Swahah.

(7) For the evil eye.

Salutations to thee, Oh! God. Even as the moon wanes in its brightness
at the sight of the sun, even as the bird chakora (Eraya) disappears
at the sight of the moon; even as the great Vasuki (king of serpents)
vanishes at the sight of chakora; even as the poison vanishes from
his head; so may the potency of his evil eye with thy aid vanish.

(8) To cause delay in the occurrence of menses.

Salutation to thee, Oh! Mars (the son of the goddess Earth).

If this mantram is muttered on a thread dyed yellow with turmeric,
and if the thread be placed on both the palms joined together, and if
the number of days to which the occurrence of the menses should be
delayed be thought of, the postponement will be procured by wearing
it either round the neck or the loins. The thread with a ring attached
to it, and worn round the neck is equally effective.

(9) To prevent cows from giving milk.

Om, Koss, dry up the liquid, kindly present me with thy gracious
aspect. Oh! thou with the great sword in thy hands, the great
trident, dry up the cow's udder even as a tiger, I swear by thee and
my preceptor.

(10) To cause cows to give milk.

Even as the swelling on the holy feet of Mahadeva due to the bite
of a crocodile has subsided and gone down, so go down. I swear by
my preceptor.

(11) To remove a thorn from the sole of the foot.

When Parameswara and Parvathi started on their hunting expedition,
a thorn entered the foot of her lady-ship. It was doubted whether it
was the thorn of a bamboo, an ant, or a strychnine tree. Even so may
this poison cease to hurt, Oh! Lord. I swear by my preceptor.

(12) To effect metamorphosis.

Take the head of a dog and burn it, and plant on it vellakutti
plant. Burn camphor and frankincense, and adore it. Then pluck the
root. Mix it with the milk of a dog and the bones of a cat. A mark
made with the mixture on the forehead will enable any person to assume
the figure of any animal he thinks of.

(13) Before a stick of the Malankara plant, worship with a lighted
wick and incense. Then chant the Sakti mantram 101 times, and mutter
the mantram to give life at the bottom. Watch carefully which way
the stick inclines. Proceed to the south of the stick, and pluck the
whiskers of a live tiger, and make with them a ball of the veerali
silk, string it with silk, and enclose it within the ear. Stand on
the palms of the hand to attain the disguise of a tiger, and, with
the stick in hand, think of a cat, white bull, or other animal. Then
you will, in the eyes of others, appear as such.

(14) Take the nest of a crow from a margosa tree, and bury it at the
cremation ground. Then throw it into the house of your enemy. The
house will soon take fire.

(15) Take the ashes of the burial-ground on which an ass has been
rolling on a Saturday or Sunday, and put it in the house of your
enemy. The members of the family will soon quit the house, or a severe
illness will attack them.

The Velans and Mannans are animists, and worship demoniacal gods,
such as Chandan, Mundian, Kandakaranan, Karinkutti, and Chathan. All
of them are separately represented by stones located underneath a
tree in the corners of their compounds. Offerings of sheep, fowls,
plantain fruits, cocoanuts, parched rice and beaten rice, are made to
them on the tenth of Dhanu (last week in December), on a Tuesday in
Makaram (January-February), and on Kumbham Bharani (second asterism
in March-April). They also adore the goddess Bhagavathi and the
spirits of their departed ancestors, who are believed to exercise
their influence in their families for good or evil. Sometimes, when
they go to Cranganore to worship the goddess there, they visit the
senior male members of the local Nayar, Kammalan and Izhuvan families
to take leave of them, when they are given a few annas with which
they purchase fowls, etc., to be given as offerings to the local
goddess. Wooden or metal images, representing the spirits of their
ancestors, are located in a room of their huts, and worshipped with
offerings on New Moon and Sankranti nights.

The Velans and Mannans either burn or bury the dead. The son is the
chief mourner who performs the funeral rites, and the nephews and
brothers take part in them. Their priests are known as Kurup, and
they preside at the ceremonies. Death pollution lasts for sixteen
days, and on the morning of the sixteenth day the hut of the dead
person is well swept and cleansed by sprinkling water mixed with
cowdung. The members of the family, dressed in the mattu (a washed
cloth worn before bathing) brought by the washerman, bathe to be free
from pollution. The castemen, including their friends and relations,
are invited and feasted. A similar funeral feast is also held at the
end of the year.

The chief occupation of the Velans and Mannans is the giving of
mattu to Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Anthalarajatis, Nayars, Kammalans
and Izhuvans, for wearing before going to bathe on the day on which
they are freed from pollution. A girl or woman in her courses on
the morning of the fourth day, a woman in confinement on the fifth,
ninth, eleventh and sixteenth days, and all the members of a family
under death pollution on the sixteenth day, have to use it. They
bathe wearing the washed cloth, and return it as soon as the bath is
over. It may either belong to the washerman, or have been previously
given to him by the members of the family. He gets an anna or a
measure of paddy for his service to a woman in her menses, and a
para of paddy or six annas for birth and death pollutions. The Velans
give the mattu to all the castes above mentioned, while the Mannans
refuse to give it to the Kammalans, and thereby profess themselves to
be superior in status to them. They wash clothes to dress the idols
in some of the high caste temples. Their washing consists in first
plunging the dirty cloths in water mixed with cowdung, and beating
them on a stone by the side of a tank (pond), canal or river, and
again immersing them in water mixed with wood ashes or charamannu,
after which they are exposed to steam for a few hours, and again beaten
on the stone, slightly moistening in water now and then, until they
are quite clean. They are then dried in the sun, and again moistened
with a solution of starch and indigo, when they are exposed to the
air to dry. When dry, they are folded, and beaten with a heavy club,
so as to be like those ironed. The Velans of the Cranganore, Cochin,
and Kanayannur taluks, climb cocoanut trees to pluck cocoanuts,
and get about eight to ten annas for every hundred trees they go
up. They make umbrellas. Some among them practice magic and sorcery,
and some are quack doctors, who treat sickly children. Some are now
engaged in agricultural operations, while a few make beds, pillows,
and coats. There are also a few of them in every village who are
songsters, and whose services are availed of on certain ceremonial
occasions, namely, on the bathing day of a girl in her first menses,
on the wedding night, and when religious ceremonies are performed, and
sacrifices offered to their gods. Some are experts in drum-beating,
and are invited by low caste people of the rural parts. The Mannans
also follow the same occupations.

The Velans and Mannans eat at the hands of all castes above them,
namely, Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Nayars, and Izhuvans. The former take
food from Kammalans, while the latter abstain from so doing. They do
not eat the food prepared by Kaniyans, Panans, Vilkurups, or other
castes of equal or inferior status. They have to stand at a distance
of twenty-four feet from Brahmans. They have their own barbers, and
are their own washermen. They stand far away from the outer wall
of the temples of high castes. They are not allowed to take water
from the wells of high caste Sudras, nor are they allowed to live in
their midst.

The following note on the Velans of Travancore has been furnished by
Mr. N. Subramani Iyer.

The word Velan has been derived from vel a spear, and also from vela
work. The usual title of the Velans is Panikkan. They are believed
to be divided into four classes, viz., Bharata Velan, Vaha Velan,
Pana Velan, and Manna Velan. While the last of these sections, in
addition to their traditional occupation, are washermen and climbers
of areca palm trees, the Pana Velans take sawing as a supplementary
employment. Some of the members of the first and second classes are
also physicians. This classification is gradually going out of vogue.

The Velans are said traditionally to have been descended from Siva,
who, on one occasion, is believed to have removed the evil effects of
the sorcery of demons upon Vishnu by means of exorcism. As this kind
of injury began to increase among men, a man and woman were created
by this deity, to prevent its dire consequences. In the Keralolpatti,
this caste is mentioned as Velakkuruppu. But at present the Puranadis,
who are the barbers and priests of this class, are known by this
name. A Puranadi means one who stands outside, and is not admitted
as of equal rank with the Velans proper. The Puranadis are not
washermen. Commensal relations exist only between the male members
of the Velans and Puranitis (Puranadi females).

The Velans perform a number of useful services in the body politic of
Malabar. In the Keralolpatti their duty is said to be the nursing of
women in their confinement. In the Kerala-Visesha-Mahatmya, exorcism,
climbing of trees, and washing clothes, are mentioned as their
occupations. There are various kinds of exorcism, the chief being Velan
Tullal and Velan Pravarti. The former is a kind of masque performed by
the Velans for warding off the effects of the evil eye, and preventing
the injurious influences of demons and spirits. Atavi is a peculiar
female divinity worshipped by the caste, by whose help these feats are
believed to be performed in the main. She, and a host of minor gods and
goddesses, are represented by them, and a dance commences. After it is
over, all the characters receive presents. Velan Pravarti, or Otuka,
may either last for eleven days, or may be finished on a minor scale
within three days, and in emergent cases even in one day. A Puranadi
acts as buffoon, and serves the purpose of a domestic servant on
the occasion. This is called Pallipana when performed in temples,
Pallipperu when in palaces, and Velan Pravarti or Satru-eduppu in
the case of ordinary people. This is also done with a view to prevent
the effect of the evil eye. On the first day, a person representing
the enchanted man or woman is placed in a temporary shed built for
the purpose, and lights are waved before him. On the third day, a
pit is dug, and a cock sacrificed. On the fourth day, the Pattata
Bali, or human sacrifice, takes place. A person is thrown into a
pit which is covered with a plank of wood, upon which sacrifices are
offered. The buried person soon resuscitates himself, and, advancing
as if possessed, explains the cause of the disease or calamity. On
the eighth day, figures of snakes, in gold or silver, are enclosed
in small copper vessels, and milk and fruit are offered to them. On
the ninth day, the Velans worship the lords of the eight directions,
with Brahma or the creator in the midst of them. On the tenth day,
there is much festivity and amusement, and the Mahabharata is sung
in a condensed form. The chief of the Velans becomes possessed, and
prays that, as the Pandavas emerged safely from the sorcery of the
Kauravas, the person affected by the calamity may escape unhurt. On
the last day, animals are sacrificed at the four corners of the
compound surrounding the house. No special rite is performed on the
first day, but the Ituvanabali, Kuzhibali, Pattatabali, Kitangubali,
Patalabali, Sarakutabali, Pithabali, Azhibali, Digbali, and Kumpubali,
are respectively observed during the remaining ten days. The Pana,
of which rite the breaking of cocoanuts is the most important item,
completes this long ceremony. It was once supposed that the Bharata
Velans exorcised spirits in the homes of high caste Hindus, the same
work being done among the middle classes by the Vaha Velans, and
among the low by the Manna Velans. This rule does not hold good at
the present day. The Velans are also engaged in the event of bad crops.

Besides standing thirty-two feet apart from Hindu temples, and
worshipping the divinities therein, the Velans erect small sanctuaries
for Siva within their own compounds, called Kuriyala. They worship
this deity in preference to others, and offer tender cocoanuts, fried
rice, sugar, and plantain fruits to him on the Uttradam day in the
month of August.

Velanati (foreign).--A sub-division of Kapus, and other Telugu castes,
and of Telugu Brahmans.

Velanga (wood apple: Feronia elephantum).--An exogamous sept of
Muka Dora.

Velichchapad.--Of the Velichchapads, or oracles, of Malabar, the
following account is given by Mr. F. Fawcett. [128] "Far away in
rural Malabar, I witnessed the ceremony in which the Velichchapad
exhibited his quality. It was in the neighbourhood of a Nayar house,
to which thronged all the neighbours (Nayars), men and women, boys
and girls. The ceremony lasts about an hour. The Nayar said it was
the custom in his family to have it done once a year, but could give
no account of how the custom originated; most probably in a vow,
some ancestor having vowed that, if such or such benefit be received,
he would for ever after have an annual performance of this ceremony
in his house. It involved some expenditure, as the Velichchapad had
to be paid, and the neighbours had to be fed. Somewhere about the
middle of the little courtyard, always as clean as a dinner table,
the Velichchapad placed a lamp (of the Malabar pattern) having a
lighted wick, a kalasam (brass vessel), some flowers, camphor, saffron
(turmeric) and other paraphernalia. Bhagavati was the deity invoked,
and the business involved offering flowers, and waving a lighted wick
round the kalasam. The Velichchapad's movements became quicker, and,
suddenly seizing his sword (nandakam), he ran round the courtyard
(against the sun, as sailors say) shouting wildly. He is under the
influence of the deity who has been introduced into him, and he gives
oracular utterances to the deity's commands. What he said I know not,
and no one else seemed to know or care in the least, much interested
though they were in the performance. As he ran, every now and then
he cut his forehead with the sword, pressing it against the skin
and sawing vertically up and down. The blood streamed all over his
face. Presently he became wilder and wilder, and whizzed round the
lamp, bending forward towards the kalasam. Evidently some deity,
some spirit was present here, and spoke through the mouth of the
Velichchapad. This, I think, undoubtedly represents the belief of
all who were present. When he had done whizzing round the kalasam,
he soon became a normal being, and stood before my camera. The
fee for the self-inflicted laceration is one rupee, some rice,
etc. I saw the Velichchapad about three days afterwards, going to
perform elsewhere. The wound on his forehead had healed. The careful
observer can always identify a Velichchapad by the triangular patch
over the forehead, where the hair will not grow, and where the skin
is somewhat indurated."

Veliveyabadina Razu.--The name, denoting Razus who were thrown out,
of a class said to be descended from Razus who were excommunicated
from their caste. [129]

Veliyam.--Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a title
of Nayars. In the same report Veliyattu is described as synonymous
with Pulikkappanikkan, a sub-division of Nayar.

Vellaikaran (white man).--A Tamil name for European.

Vellala.--"The Vellalas," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [130] "are
the great farmer caste of the Tamil country, and they are strongly
represented in every Tamil district. The word Vellalan is derived from
vellanmai [vellam, water, anmai, management?] meaning cultivation,
tillage. Dr. Oppert [131] considers Vellalan to be etymologically
connected with Pallan, Palli, etc., the word meaning the lord of
the Vallas or Pallas. The story of their origin is as follows. Many
thousands of years ago, when the inhabitants of the world were rude
and ignorant of agriculture, a severe drought fell upon the land, and
the people prayed to Bhudevi, the goddess of the earth, for aid. She
pitied them, and produced from her body a man carrying a plough,
who showed them how to till the soil and support themselves. His
offsprings are the Vellalas, who aspire to belong to the Vaisya
caste, since that includes Govaisyas, Bhuvaisyas, and Dhanavaisyas
(shepherds, cultivators and merchants). A few, therefore, constantly
wear the sacred thread, but most put it on only during marriages or
funerals as a mark of the sacred nature of the ceremony."

The traditional story of the origin of the Vellalas is given as
follows in the Baramahal Records. [132] "In ancient days, when the
God Paramesvaradu and his consort the goddess Parvati Devi resided
on the top of Kailasa Parvata or mount of paradise, they one day
retired to amuse themselves in private, and by chance Visvakarma, the
architect of the Devatas or gods, intruded on their privacy, which
enraged them, and they said to him that, since he had the audacity
to intrude on their retirement, they would cause an enemy of his to
be born in the Bhuloka or earthly world, who should punish him for
his temerity. Visvakarma requested they would inform him in what
part of the Bhuloka or earthly world he would be born, and further
added that, if he knew the birth place, he would annihilate him with
a single blow. The divine pair replied that the person would spring
up into existence from the bowels of the earth on the banks of the
Ganga river. On this, Visvakarma took his sword, mounted his aerial
car, and flew through the regions of ether to the banks of the Ganga
river, where he anxiously waited the birth of his enemy. One day
Visvakarma observed the ground to crack near him, and a kiritam or
royal diadem appeared issuing out of the bowels of the earth, which
Visvakarma mistook for the head of his adversary, and made a cut at
it with his sword, but only struck off the kiritam. In the meantime,
the person came completely out of the earth, with a bald pate,
holding in his hand a golden ploughshare, and his neck encircled
with garlands of flowers. The angry Visvakarma instantly laid hold
on him, when the Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, and the supporters
of the eight corners of the universe, appeared in all their glory,
and interceded for the earth-born personage, and said to Visvakarma
thou didst vow that thou wouldst annihilate him with a single blow,
which vow thou hast not performed; therefore with what justice hast
thou a second time laid violent hands on him? Since thou didst not
succeed in thy first attempt, it is but equitable that thou shouldst
now spare him. At the intercession and remonstrance of the gods,
Visvakarma quitted his hold, and a peace was concluded between him and
his enemy on the following stipulation, viz., that the pancha jati,
or five castes of silversmiths, carpenters, ironsmiths, stone-cutters,
and braziers, who were the sons of Visvakarma, should be subservient to
the earth-born person. The deities bestowed on the person these three
names. First Bhumi Palakudu or saviour of the earth, because he was
produced by her. Second, Ganga kulam or descendant of the river Ganga,
by reason of having been brought forth on her banks. Third, Murdaka
Palakudu or protector of the plough, alluding to his being born with
a ploughshare in his hand, and they likewise ordained that, as he had
lost his diadem, he should not be eligible to sovereignty, but that he
and his descendants should till the ground with this privilege, that
a person of the caste should put the crown on the king's head at the
coronation. They next invested him with the yegnopavitam or string,
and, in order that he might propagate his caste, they gave him in
marriage the daughters of the gods Indra and Kubera. At this time,
the god Siva was mounted on a white bullock, and the god Dharmaraja
on a white buffalo, which they gave him to plough the ground, and from
which circumstance the caste became surnamed Vellal Warus or those who
plough with white bullocks. After the nuptials, the deities departed
to their celestial abodes. Murdaka Palakulu had fifty-four sons by the
daughter of the god Indra, and fifty-two by the daughter of the god
Kubera, whom he married to the one hundred and six daughters of Nala
Kubarudu, the son of Kubera, and his sons-in-law made the following
agreement with him, viz., that thirty-five of them should be called
Bhumi Palakulu, and should till the ground; thirty-five of them named
Vellal Shetti, and their occupation be traffic; and thirty-five of
them named Govu Shetlu, and their employment breeding and feeding
of cattle. They gave the remaining one the choice of three orders,
but he would not have any connexion with any of them, from whence
they surnamed him Agmurdi or the alien. The Agmurdi had born to him
two thousand five hundred children, and became a separate caste,
assuming the appellation of Agmurdi Vellal Waru. The other brothers
had twelve thousand children, who intermarried, and lived together
as one caste, though their occupations were different.... During the
reign of Krishna Rayalu, whose capital was the city of Vijayanagaram or
city of victory, a person of the Vellal caste, named Umbhi or Amultan
Mudaliyar, was appointed sarvadhikari or prime minister, who had a
samprati or secretary of the caste of Gollavaru or cowherds, whose name
was Venayaterthapalli. It so happened that a set of Bhagavata Sevar,
or strolling players, came to the city, and one night acted a play
in the presence of Krishna Rayalu and his court. In one of the acts,
a player appeared in the garb and character of a female cowherd, and,
by mimicking the actions and manners of that caste, afforded great
diversion both to the Raja and his courtiers. But no person seemed
to be so much pleased as the prime minister, which being perceived by
his secretary, he determined on making him pay dear for his mirth by
turning the Vellal caste into ridicule, and thus hurt his pride, and
take revenge for the pleasure he expressed at seeing the follies of
the cowherd caste exposed. For that purpose, he requested the players,
when they acted another play, to dress themselves up in the habit of a
female of the Vellal caste. This scheme came to the ears of the prime
minister, who, being a proud man, was sadly vexed at the trick, and
resolved on preventing its being carried into execution; but, having
none of his own caste present to assist him, and not knowing well how
to put a stop to the business, he got into his palanquin, and went to a
Canardha Shetti or headman of the right-hand caste, informed him of the
circumstance, and begged his advice and assistance. The Shetti replied
'Formerly the left-hand caste had influence enough with Government to
get an order issued forbidding the right-hand caste to cultivate or
traffic; therefore, when we quarrel again, do you contrive to prevent
the ryots of the Vellal caste from cultivating the ground, so that
the public revenue will fall short, and Government will be obliged to
grant us our own terms; and I will save you from the disgrace that is
intended to be put on you. The prime minister agreed to the proposal,
and went home. At night, when the players were coming to the royal
presence to act, and one of them had on the habit of a female of the
Vellal caste, the Canardha Shetti cut off his head, and saved the
honour of the prime minister. The death of the player being reported
to the Raja Krishna Rayalu, he enquired into the affair, and finding
how matters stood, he directed the prime minister and his secretary to
be more circumspect in their conduct, and not to carry their enmity
to such lengths.' Since that time, the Vellal castes have always
assisted the right-hand against the left-hand castes." (See Kammalan.)

At the time of the census, 1871, some Vellalas claimed that they had
been seriously injured in reputation, and handled with great injustice,
in being classed as Sudras by the Municipal Commissioners of Madras
in the classification of Hindus under the four great divisions of
Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. In their petition it
was stated that "we shall first proceed to show that the Vellalas
do come exactly within the most authoritative definition given of
Vysias, and then point out that they do not come within the like
definition of Sudras. First then to the definition of Vysia, Manu,
the paramount authority upon these matters, says in paragraph 90
of his Institutes:--'To keep herds of cattle, to bestow largesses,
to sacrifice, to read the scripture, to carry on trade, to lend at
interest, and to cultivate land, are prescribed or permitted to a
Vysia.'" In the course of the petition, the Vellalas observed that "it
is impossible to imagine that the Vellalas, a race of agriculturists
and traders, should have had to render menial service to the three
higher classes; for the very idea of service is, as it needs must
be, revolting to the Vellala, whose profession teaches him perfect
independence, and dependence, if it be, upon the sovereign alone
for the protection of his proper interests. Hence a Vellala cannot
be of the Sudra or servile class. Besides, that the Vellalas are
recognised as a respectable body of the community will also appear
from the following. There was a ceremony called tulabharam (weighing
in scales) observed by the ancient kings of, at some part of their
lives, distributing in charity to the most deserving gold and silver
equal to the weight of their persons; and tradition alleges that, when
the kings of Tanjore performed this ceremony, the right to weigh the
king's person was accorded to the Vellalan Chettis. This shows that
the Vellalas have been recognised as a respectable body of mercantile
men in charge of weights and measures (Manu 30, chap. 9). So also,
in the Halasya Puranam of Madura, it is said that, when the King
Somasundara Pandien, who was supposed to be the very incarnation
of Siva, had to be crowned, there arose a contention as to who was
to put the crown on his head. After much discussion, it was agreed
that one of the Vellalas, who formed the strength of the community
(note the fact that Manu says that Vysia came from the thighs of
the Supreme Deity, which, as an allegory, is interpreted to mean the
strength of the State) should be appointed to perform that part of the
ceremony. Also, in Kamban's Ramayana, written 1,000 and odd years ago,
it is said that the priest Vasista handed the crown to a Vellala,
who placed it upon great Rama's head."

In 'The Tamils eighteen hundred years ago,' Mr. V. Kanakasabhai
writes that "among the pure Tamils, the class most honoured was
the Arivar or Sages. Next in rank to the Arivar were the Ulavar
or farmers. The Arivars were ascetics, but, of the men living in
society, the farmers occupied the highest position. They formed the
nobility, or the landed aristocracy, of the country. They were also
called Vellalar, 'lords of the flood,' or 'Karalar,' 'lords of the
clouds,' titles expressive of their skill in controlling floods,
and in storing water for agricultural purposes. The Chera, Chola and
Pandyan Kings, and most of the petty chiefs of Tamilakam, belonged to
the tribe of Vellalas. The poor families of Vellalas who owned small
estates were generally spoken of as the Veelkudi-Uluvar or 'the fallen
Vellalas,' implying thereby that the rest of the Vellalas were wealthy
land-holders. When Karikal the Great defeated the Aruvalar, and annexed
their territory to his kingdom, he distributed the conquered lands
among Vellala chiefs. [133] The descendants of some of these chiefs
are to this day in possession of their lands, which they hold as petty
zamindars under the British Government. [134] The Vellala families who
conquered Vadukam, or the modern Telugu country, were called Velamas,
and the great zamindars there still belong to the Velama caste. In the
Canarese country, the Vellalas founded the Bellal dynasty, which ruled
that country for several centuries. The Vellalas were also called the
Gangakula or Gangavamsa, because they derived their descent from the
great and powerful tribe named Gangvida, which inhabited the valley
of the Ganges, as mentioned by Pliny and Ptolemy. A portion of Mysore
which was peopled mostly by Vellalas was called Gangavadi in the tenth
and eleventh centuries of the Christian era. Another dynasty of kings
of this tribe, who ruled Orissa in the eleventh and twelfth centuries,
was known as the Gangavamsa.... In the earliest Tamil grammar extant,
which was composed by a Brahman named Tholkappiyan, in the first
or second century B.C., frequent allusions are made to the Arivar
or Sages. But, in the chapter in which he describes the classes of
society, the author omits all mention of the Arivar, and places the
Brahmins who wear the sacred thread as the first caste. The kings,
he says, very guardedly, and not warriors, form the second caste, as
if the three kings Chera, Chola and Pandy could form a caste; all who
live by trade belong to the third caste. He does not say that either
the kings or the merchants wear the sacred thread. Then he singles
out the Vellalas, and states that they have no other calling than the
cultivation of the soil. Here he does not say that the Vellalas are
Sudras, but indirectly implies that the ordinary Vellalas should be
reckoned as Sudras, and that those Vellalas who were kings should