Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa.Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa.In connection with the sub-divisions of the Vellālas, Mr. Hemingway, in a note on the Vellālas of the Trichinopoly district, gives some still further information. “The Kondaikattis are so-called from the peculiar way in which they used to wear their hair—a custom no longer observed. They are split into two sections, called Mēlnādu and Kīlnādu (westerns and easterns). The Dakshināttāns (south country men) are immigrants from Tinnevelly. The members of the Kāraikkāttar sub-division in the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk are rather looked down on by other Vellālans as being a mixed race, and are also somewhat contemptuously called Yeruttu-māttu (pack-bullocks), because, in their professional calling, they formerly used pack-bullocks. They have a curious custom by which a girl’s maternal uncle ties a tāli (marriage badge) round her neck when she is seven or eight years old. The Panjukkāra Chettis live in the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk. The name is an occupational one, and denotes cotton-men, but they are not at the present day connected with the cotton trade. TheSōlapūram (or Chōlapūram) Chettis are apparently called after the village of that name in the Kumbakonam tāluk of Tanjore. The Sōlias (or Chōlias) are numerous and ubiquitous. They are generally regarded as of doubtful descent, sinceparvenus, who wish to be considered Vellālans, usually claim to belong to this sub-division. The more respectable Pandārams, the Thambirans who own temples and matams, and the Oduvar or Ādi Saivāl, belong to the Sōzhia section. The Uttunāttu sub-division is local in origin. Its head-quarters is the country round Uttatūr. The members thereof are the special devotees of the Siva of that place. The Arunāttus (six nādus) are also called Mottai (shaved) Vellālans, apparently because they always shave their moustache, and wear only a very small kudumi (hair-knot). Some of their customs are unlike those of the rest of the caste. They have exogamous septs, their widows always dress in white and wear no ornaments (a rule not universally observed in any other sub-division), they never marry their sister’s daughter, and their wives wear the tāli (marriage badge), like the Panta Reddis, on a golden thread. Of their six nādus, three of which are supposed to have been located on each side of the Aiyār river, only two are now recognised. These are the Sērkudi nādu in Nāmakkal tāluk and the Omandūr nādu of Musiri. The Yēlūr (seven villages) Vellālas are very few and far between. There is a small colony of Tuluvas, engaged in dyeing, at Illuppūr. The Malaikandas are only found near the Ratnagiri hill in the Kulittalai tāluk. They take their name from the fact that they are required to look at the Ratnagiri hill when they get up in the morning. They are devotees of the god there. The Kāniyālans (landowners) are scarce, but widely distributed, since the man who carriesthe pot of blood, when animals are sacrificed at festivals to the village goddesses, must belong to this sub-division. The Kodikkal Vellālans are so-called from their occupation of betel cultivation, which they still pursue largely.”The Konga Vellālas differ so strikingly from the rest in many of their customs that a separate account of them is given. (SeeKonga Vellāla.)It is noted by Mr. Hemingway that some Vellālas “observe a curious custom (derived from Brāhmans) with regard to marriage, which is not unknown among other communities. A man marrying a second wife after the death of his first has to marry a plantain tree, and cut it down before tying the tāli, and, in the case of a third marriage, a man has to tie a tāli first to the erukkan (arka:Calotropis gigantea) plant. The idea is that second and fourth wives do not prosper, and the tree and the plant are accordingly made to take their places.”A peculiar ceremony, called Sevvai (Tuesday) Pillayar, is performed by some Vellāla women. It is also called Avvai Nonbu, because the Tamil poetess observed it. The ceremony takes place twice in the year, on a Tuesday in the months of Thai (February-March) and Audi (August-September). It is held at midnight, and no males, even babies in arms, may be present at it, or eat the cakes which are offered. A certain number of women club together, and provide the necessary rice, which is measured on the back of the hand, or in a measure similar to those used by Madras milk-sellers, in which the bottom is fixed high up in the cylinder. At the house where the ceremony is to be performed the rice is pounded into flour, and mixed with leaves ofPongamia glabraand margosa (Melia Azadirachta). The mixture is then made intocakes, some flat, and some conical, to represent Pillayar (Ganēsa). Flowers, fruits, betel, turmeric, combs, kunkumam (red powder), and other articles required in connection with the Pillayar worship, are also taken to the room in which the rites are performed. Of these it has been impossible to gather an account, as the women refused to describe them, lest ruin should fall on their families. Some say that, during the ceremony, the women are stark-naked.In an account of an annual ceremony at Trichinopoly in connection with the festival of Kulumai Amman, who is the guardian deity against epidemics, Bishop Whitehead records62that “a very fat pujāri (priest) of the Vellāla caste is lifted up above the vast crowd on the arms of two men. Some two thousand kids are then sacrificed, one after the other. The blood of the first eight or nine is collected in a large silver vessel holding about a quart, and handed up to the pujāri, who drinks it. Then, as the throat of each kid is cut, the animal is handed up to him, and he sucks, or pretends to suck the blood out of the carcase.”Of proverbs relating to the Vellālas, the following may be cited:—Agriculture is no agriculture, unless it is performed by the Vellālas.The Vellāla ruined himself by gaudy dress; the courtesan ruined herself by coquetry and affectation.Of all the sections of the Sūdras, the Vellāla is foremost; and, of all the thefts committed in the world, those of the Kallans are most notorious.Though you may face an evil star, never oppose a Vellāla.Though apparently the Vellāla will not ruin you, the palm leaf, on which he writes about you, will certainly ruin you for ever.In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Vellāla is recorded as a caste of Jains. In this connection, it is noted by Mr. Hemingway that the Naināns or Nāyinārs (q.v.) and the Kāraikkāttans of the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk are thought to be descended from Jains who were converted to the Hindu faith.Vellān Chetti.—A name, denoting Vellāla merchant, taken by some Vellālas.Velli(silver).—SeeBelli.Velnāti.—A sub-division of Kāpu, named after the old Velnādu division of the Telugu country.Veloma.—Defined as “one of the two classes of Sūdras, viz., Anuloma and Veloma. The term Veloma is applied to those born of a lower caste male and higher caste female.”Veluttēdan.—The Veluttēdan is defined in the Madras Census Report, 1891, as “the washerman of the Nāyars and higher castes in Malabar. He calls himself a Nāyar, and, in many cases, was returned as of that main caste, but these have been separated in abstraction. The caste is called Vannattān in North Malabar. The Veluttēdans follow the marumakkatāyam law of inheritance in the north, and makkatāyam in the south. They have tāli-kettu and sambandham separately. Their dress and habits are the same as those of Nāyars.” In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bannata is given as a Canarese synonym for the caste name. In the Travancore and Cochin Census Reports, 1901, Veluttētan and Veluthēdan are given respectively as an occupational title and sub-division of Nāyars.For the following note on the Veluttēdans of Travancore, I am indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar. The name is believed to signify a place where clothes are bleached. In the early Settlement Records the designation recorded is Ayavu, in all probability an old synonym for washing. The South Travancore Veluttēdans are said to be divided into two endogamous septs, Paravūr and Attingal, with four exogamous septs in each; but these distinctions may be said to have now lost their vigour and force. There is a current tradition that once upon a time a Brāhman was washing cloths for a friend, and was on that account thrown out of caste by Parasurāma. The occupation of the Veluttēdans is washing cloths for all high-caste Hindus down to the Sūdras, in which profession, for neatness and purity at any rate, if not for promptitude, they stand above the Vannāns and Chayakkārans of the east coast, both of whom have now entered the field in competition with them, and, at least in the most civilised parts of the State, not entirely without success. In no case do the castemen receive cloths from classes lower in social rank than the Sūdras, and this is pointed to with pride as one of the causes which keep them in their present elevated scale. It need hardly be said that, in their traditional occupation, the Veluttēdans are largely and materially assisted by their females, the Veluttēdathis. They do not live in a group together, but are conveniently scattered about, so as to avoid competition one with another. Their main profession is, in many cases, supplemented by agriculture. There are absolutely no educated men among them, and, as long as machine-laundries are not introduced into the country, they have no reason to abandon the profession of their forefathers in pursuit of alien ones. In the matter of food anddrink, as also in their dress and ornaments, they resemble the Nāyars. Clothes, it may be mentioned, are never bought by Veluttēdans, as they are always in possession, though temporarily, of other peoples’ apparel. Tattooing prevails only in South Travancore. They cannot enter Brāhmanical shrines, but are permitted to stand outside the talakkal or stone-paved walk round the inner sanctuary, by which the image is taken in daily procession. Besides standing here and worshipping the higher Hindu deities, they also engage in the propitiation of the minor village deities. There are two headmen in each village, who punish social delinquents, and preside over caste ceremonials. On the twenty-eighth day after the birth of a child, the name-giving ceremony is performed, and a thread is tied round the infant’s neck. Those who can afford it celebrate the first food-giving. The tāli-tying and sambandham ceremonies are performed separately, just like Nāyars. The former is known as muhurtham or auspicious occasion. The marriage badge is called unta minnu or puliyilla minnu. The details of the marriage ceremony do not differ from those of the Nāyars. The ayani unu, bhūtakkalam, appam poli, and avaltitti are all important items, and, at least in South Travancore, seldom failed to be gone through. In poor families the mother, without any formal ceremonial, ties the tāli of the girl before she is twelve years old, after an oblation of cooked food to the rising sun. This is called Bhagavan tāli, or god’s marriage ornament. Freedom of divorce and remarriage exist. The pulikuti (tamarind) is an indispensable ceremonial, to be gone through by a pregnant woman. Inheritance devolves in the female line (marumakkattāyam). The clothes washed by Veluttēdans are used by Nambūtiri Brāhmans, without previous washing as on the east coast, for allreligious purposes; and clothes polluted by a member of a low caste are purified by the Veluttēdan sprinkling ashes and water over them.Vēmu(margosa or nīm:Melia Azadirachta).—An exogamous sept of Mūka Dora.Vēngai Puli(cruel-handed tiger).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Veralu Ichē Kāpuluor Vēlu Ichē Kāpulu (those who dedicate their fingers).—SeeMorasu.Vēshya(Sansk: Bēshya).—A name denoting prostitute, applied to dancing-girls.Vētagiri.—A Tamil class found in the Chingleput district. The members thereof are employed in hunting, cultivation, and the manufacture of wild date baskets. Their title is Nāyakan.Vettaikāran(hunter).—An occupational name of Bōyas, Irulas, and Koravas, returned at times of census.Vettile(betel vine:Piper Betle).—A kothu or tree of Kondaiyamkotti Maravans.Vettiyān.—Vettiyān is the name applied to one of the officials of a Tamil Paraiyan settlement, who is also called Tōti or Thōtti. The former title is said to be more respectful as an appellation than the latter, but this is a distinction without a difference.63The name Vettiyān is said to be equivalent to Bittiyān (bitti, for nothing), or one who does service,e.g., collecting grass, firewood, etc., without remuneration. Tōti is derived from thott, to go round, as he is the purveyor of news, and has to summon people to appear before the village tribunal, or from tondu, to dig.The duties of the Vettiyān are multifarious. He it is who goes round the rice fields, and diverts thewater-courses to the various fields, according to the rights of the ryots (agriculturists). The Vettiyān beats the drum for public notices and ceremonies. As a servant of Government, he has to carry the revenue which has been collected to the treasury. He is sometimes entrusted with large sums of money, and has never been known to abscond with it. It is said that the Village Munsiff will trust the Vettiyān, but not the Taliāri, who is never sent alone with money. The Vettiyān is in charge of the burial ground, and those who repair thither have to pay him for his services. He is also the grave-digger, and officiates when a Paraiyan corpse is burnt or buried. Hence the Tamil proverb against meddling in what ought to be left to some one else:—“Let the Vettiyān and corpse struggle together.” At a Paraiyan funeral, the Vettiyān, in some places, carries the pot of fire to the grave. To bring down rain, some of the lower classes, instead of addressing their prayers to the rain-god Varuna, try to induce a spirit or dēvata named Kodumpāvi (wicked one) to send her paramour Sukra to the affected area. The belief seems to be that Sukra goes away to his concubine for about six months, and, if he does not return, drought ensues. The ceremony consists in making a huge figure of Kodumpāvi in clay, which is placed on a cart, and dragged through the streets for seven to ten days. On the last day, the final death ceremonies of the figure are celebrated. It is disfigured, especially in those parts which are usually concealed. Vettiyāns, who have been shaved, accompany the figure, and perform the funeral ceremonies. This procedure is believed to put Kodumpāvi to shame, and to get her to induce Sukra to return and stay the drought.At Paraiyan marriages certain pots are worshipped, and it is, in some places, the Vettiyān who says “Thesun, the moon, the pots, and the owner of the girl have come to the marriage booth. So make haste, and fill the pots with water.”The office of the Vettiyān village official is hereditary, and the holder of it is entitled to some respect among his brethren, and to certain emoluments in kind,e.g., grain at the harvest season. There is a proverb that “whatever may be the wealth of the lord who comes to rule over him, his duty of supplying him with a bundle of grass is not to cease.” This relates to the demands which were, and perhaps are still, made on him in rural parts of the country. In some places, lands, called Vettiyān Māniyam, are given rent-free to Vettiyāns.The Vettiyān is said to possess the right of removing dead cattle from villages, and in return to supply leather for agricultural purposes. He is further said to make drum heads and tom-toms from raw hides.64The Vettiyāns belong to the right-hand section during disputes between the right and left hand factions.Vēttuvan.—The Tamil Vēttuvans are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “an agricultural and hunting caste, found mainly in Salem, Coimbatore, and Madura. The name means ‘a hunter.’ They are probably of the same stock as the Vēdans, though the exact connection is not clear, but they now consider themselves superior to that caste, and are even taking to calling themselves Vēttuva Vellālas. Tradition says that the Konga kings invited Vēttuvans from the Chōla and Pāndya countries to assist them against the Kēralas. Another story says that the caste helped the Chōla king Aditya Varma to conquer the Kongu country during the latter part of the ninth century. In paragraph 538 ofthe Census Report, 1891, reference is made to the belief that the Vēdans are identical with the Veddahs of Ceylon. In connection with this supposition, it is reported that the Vēttuvans worship a goddess called Kandi-Amman, which may possibly mean ‘the goddess of Kandy’ (in Ceylon). Of the endogamous sections into which the caste is divided, the most numerically important are Venganchi, Kilangu (root), Pasari, Viragu (firewood), Pannādai (sheath of the cocoanut leaf), and Villi (bow). They have their own barbers, who seem also to form a separate sub-division, and are called Vēttuva Ambattans or Nāvidans, both of which words mean barber. They are said to refuse to serve any one lower than a Konga Vellāla. Nominally they are Hindus, but they are said to worship the seven Kannimars, or aboriginal goddesses, to whom the Irulas also pay homage. They eat meat and drink alcohol, though some of those who are endeavouring to increase their social repute are taking to vegetarianism. Widow marriage is forbidden. They either burn or bury the dead, but no ceremonies are performed for deceased ancestors. Their customs are thus a curious mixture of those followed by high castes and low ones. Their ordinary title is Kavandan.”Of the Malayālam Vēttuvans, who live in Malabar and the southern portion of the South Canara district, it is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that they are “agricultural serfs, shikāris (hunters), and collectors of forest produce, who live in the Malabar jungles. They have two endogamous sub-divisions, called Kodi and Peringala. The former keep their hair long, and their women wear a cloth. The latter have top-knots, and their women dress in leaves, which they wear only round their waists, and renew daily. The latter are an unclean set of people, who live in rudebamboo and reed huts, and will eat anything down to carrion. Yet they consider themselves superior to Cherumans and Pulaiyans, and are careful not to be polluted by them. This same name is also borne by a class of masons and salt-workers in the low country in Malabar.”The Malabar Vēttuvans are said to have a fantastic legend, showing that they were not originally as low as they are at the present day in the social scale. “It is related that one of their tribe went and asked a high-caste Nāyar to give him a daughter in marriage. The Nāyar offered to do so on condition that the whole tribe would come to his place and dance on berries, each one who fell to be shot with arrows. The tribe foolishly agreed to the condition, and went and danced, with the result that, as each one tripped and fell, he or she was mercilessly shot dead with arrows. A little girl who survived this treatment was secretly rescued, and taken away by a compassionate Nāyar, who married her into his family. From this union, the present day Vēttuvans affirm their origin is to be traced. Up to this day they hold the caste of that particular Nāyar in very great veneration.”65The costume of these Vēttuvans has been described as follows.66“The men wear a short loin-cloth, secured round the waist by a belt which is also used as a sling during hunting expeditions. They also wear brass ear-rings, and grow a bit of moustache, and a little stumpy beard. The dress of the women consists of three clusters of long leaves, suspended from the waist and tied on by a cheap girdle. According to a tribal legend, when, in the morning of time, costumes were being distributed by the deity to the various races of the earth,the Vettuva women, being asked to choose between a costume which needed to be changed daily, and one which needed to be changed only yearly, readily expressed a preference for the former, and the deity, considering this an unpardonable piece of vanity, decreed that thenceforth the women should dress in leaves gathered fresh every morning. Whenever it is suggested to them that they should adopt some more lasting apparel, the Vettuva women answer that they are carrying out the mandate of the deity, and can abandon their present dress only if the deity appears in person, and sanctions a change.”On the occasion of a recent visit of the Governor of Madras to South Canara, a party of Vēttuvans was paraded before him. One of the men was wearing an aluminium coronation medal, and, on being asked by the Collector who had given it to him, he folded his arms obsequiously, and replied ‘My Tamburan’ (landlord).In a recent note on the leaf-wearing Vēttuvans, it is stated that “they believe that the sun travels, after it has set, through a hole in the bowels of the earth, and emerges at morning in the east. The way they calculate time is interesting. A Vēttuvan says that his children were born when his master sowed paddy (rice) on such and such hills. They are a very truthful lot, of good moral character, the chastity of their womankind being held very sacred.”The Malabar Vēttuvans are summed up by Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar67as being “not exactly slaves, but their social position justifies their classification amongst the slave races. They live on the cocoanut plantations of the Nairs, and other well-to-do classes.They lead a hand-to-hand existence on the wages which they obtain for hedging and fencing cocoanut plantations, plucking cocoanuts, tilling, and other allied work. They live, with their wives and children, and sometimes other relations as well, in houses small but more decent-looking than the mere huts of the other lower classes. In point of caste restrictions they are certainly better circumstanced; and their daily contact with the higher classes in the ordinary concerns of life affords them greater facilities for increased knowledge and civilisation than their brother citizens of the slave races enjoy. They are much addicted to toddy-drinking, but their principal food is rice. Their condition is never so intolerably wretched as that of the other classes. They are sometimes employed by cultivators for agricultural purposes. Their females occupy themselves in the fields during the harvest season, but they also make thatch for houses of cocoanut leaves woven after a set model during the thatching season about December or January. Their males wear ear-rings of brass, and their females adorn themselves with nose, finger, and neck ornaments of brass or beads. The one piece of cloth supplied annually by the masters, to whose plantations they are attached, forms the dress both for males and females, which they tie round their waists. They do not eat carrion, but are exceedingly fond of fish, the flesh of the civet, and the rat, and of some other animals not generally eaten by other classes. They observe death pollution like the higher classes of Malabar, and the period of observance varies according to the particular class or caste, to which their masters belong. For instance, if they belong to a Nair’s plantation, such period is fifteen days, and, if to a Brahmin’s, it is ten days; Nairs and Brahmins observing pollution for these periodsrespectively. The priests who officiate at their ceremonials are selected from among their own tribesmen or Enangers, whose express recognition is necessary to give validity to the performance of the ceremony. Their marriage customs are very like those of the Tiyyars, excepting that the feasting and revelry are not so pompous in their case. Like the Nairs, they retain the front knot. The only offences of general occurrence among them are petty cases of theft of cocoanuts, plantains, areca nuts, and roots of common occurrence. The Vettuvans believe in a Supreme Creator, whom they name and invoke as Paduchathampuram,i.e., the king who created us. Likewise, they believe in certain evil deities, to whom they make offerings at particular times of the year. They are not, like the other classes, distinguished by loyalty to their masters, but are a very ungrateful sect, and their very name, viz., Nambu Vettuvan, has passed into a bye-word for ingratitude of all kinds.”It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that “the Vēttuvans of Chirakkal taluk are a low caste of jungle cultivators and basket makers, distinguished by the survival amongst their women of the custom of dressing in leaves, their only clothing being a kind of double fan-shaped apron of leaves tied round the waist with a rolled cloth. They live in huts made of split bamboo and thatched with elephant grass, called kudumbus. The Vēttuvans are divided into fourteen illams, which seem to be named after the house names of the janmis (landlords) whom they serve. Their headmen, who are appointed by their janmis, are called Kirān, or sometimes Parakutti (drummer). Amongst the Vēttuvans, when labour begins, the woman is put in a hole dug in a corner of the hut, and left there alone with some water till the cry of the child is heard.”For the following note on the Vēttuvans of the Cochin State, I am indebted to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar.68“The Vettuvans are also called Vettuva Pulayas. They are pure agricultural labourers, taking part in every kind of work connected with agriculture, such as ploughing, sowing, weeding, transplanting, pumping water, and reaping. They are more day labourers. The males get two edangazhis of paddy (hardly worth 2 annas), and the females an edangazhi and a half. In times of scarcity, they find it difficult to support themselves.“When an unmarried woman becomes pregnant, her parents, as soon as they become aware of the fact, inform their local headman (Kanakkan or Kuruppan), who convenes a meeting of the elderly members of the community for the purpose of summoning the secret lover, and prosecuting the necessary enquiries. In the event of the confession of the charge, he is asked to marry her. The matter does not end there. They go to the local Thandan, and relate to him the incident, who thereupon gives him water in a vessel (kindi vellam). The woman is asked to drink this as well as some cow-dunged water, and is then made to let flow a few drops of blood from the body. After this he says ‘dhosham thirnu’ (free from guilt). Should, however, the lover be unwilling to marry her, he is thrashed and placed under a ban. If they are related to each other, they are both turned out of caste. The woman who is freed from guilt can marry again. The Thandan gets as his perquisite four annas out of the fine imposed, four packets of betel leaf, eight areca nuts, and three tobacco leaves. Theirheadman also has a share of the fine, etc. The balance which then remains is spent on toddy, and beaten rice for those assembled.Vēttuvans.Vēttuvans.“The Vettuvans profess the lower forms of Hinduism. Their chief gods are Chevva, Chathan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, Kappiri and Kandakaranan, and also Namburi Thamburan. They give regular offerings to them, lest the gods should become angry, and cause serious calamities to the members of their families. Images of gods are made of bell-metal, and worshipped in their huts. The deceased ancestors are also worshipped as gods, to whom are given a different kind of offerings. Toddy is an indispensable item in their offerings to them. In Ooragam and its neighbourhood, when I took my notes on the Vettuvans, I was told that there was no tree-tapping, and that toddy brought to them for sale was largely adulterated with water, and very costly. Their gods were very angry, for they were not satisfied with it. They caused fever, deafness, blindness, and other disorders. They worship Kāli also. Kumbhom Bharani is an important festival to them. On the morning of this day, tunes are played in honour of the goddess. There are special songs called Thottampattu. Sacrifices are offered to the deity very early. A pūja (worship) is also performed for the sword, anklets, and bells worn round the loins, all placed in front of the deity, and songs are again sung. One of them turns a Velichchapād (oracle), who speaks as if by inspiration. Wearing the above ornaments, they go to a temple, in front of which they empty out on a mat a few paras of paddy, and again play and sing.“The funeral ceremonies of the Vettuvans are somewhat elaborate. When a member of the caste breathes his last, his relations, friends, and othercastemen of the kara (settlement) are all informed of the event. They attend, and take part in the obsequies. The dead body is bathed, and dressed in a piece of new cloth. Some gold, rubbed on a stone in water, is poured into his mouth by his sons and daughters. Karuvanguka, or Gurutvam Vanguka, is an important ceremony performed by his sons and daughters. It consists in taking sixteen small bits of plantain leaves, with some rice on each, and placing them on the forehead, neck, chest, loins, thighs, hands, legs, feet, etc., washing the last two, and collecting the water, which is taken in by the members junior to him in the family. After this, the dead body is placed on the bier, which is carried by four persons to the grave. The nearest relatives of the family, four in number, called Bhedakars, with a mundu (cloth) tied round their heads, walk in front of the procession. The grave is dug, and a new cloth is spread, and the corpse laid on it. It is filled in with layers of earth and stones, to prevent dogs and jackals from disturbing the dead body. All those who have accompanied the chief mourner bathe, and return home. The members of the family fast for the night. The eldest son, who is the chief mourner, bathes in the early morning, and offers the pinda bali (offering of rice) to the spirit of the departed for fifteen days. On the seventh day, the chief mourner, and the Enangan, go to the graveyard, and level the slightly raised part of the grave. A piece of stone, kept near the foot, is taken, and placed on a leaf. Some toddy, arrack (alcoholic liquor) and water of the tender cocoanut, are poured over it as offerings. By some magic, the spirit is supposed to be living in it. It is brought home, and placed in a cocoanut shell containing oil mixed with turmeric, and kept outside the hut until the pollution isover. The pollution lasts for fifteen days, and on the night of the fifteenth day they fast. On the morning of the sixteenth day, all the castemen of the kara who are invited bring with them rice, curry-stuffs, and toddy. Rubbing themselves with oil, they all go to bathe, after which the Enangan sprinkles cowdunged water, to show that they are freed from pollution. The stone is also purified by a dip in water, and then brought home. Those who have assembled are fed, and then depart. The chief mourner, who has to perform the diksha, does not shave for a year, bathes in the early morning, and offers the bali before going to work. This he continues for a year, at the end of which he gets himself shaved, and celebrates a feast called masam in honour of the departed. The stone, representing the deceased, is placed on a seat in a conspicuous part of the hut. An image of wood or copper sometimes takes its place. It is thenceforward worshipped, and believed to watch over the welfare of the family. Regular offerings are given to it on Karkadagom and Thulam Sankranthi, Ōnam, Vishu, and the festival day of the local temple.“The castes below the Vettuvans are Pulayan, Nayādi, and Ullatan. They consider themselves superior to Pulayas, and are careful not to be polluted by them. A Vettuvan who is polluted by a Nayādi or Ulladan fasts for seven days, subsisting on water, tender cocoanuts, and toddy. On the eighth day he bathes, and takes his regular meals. As the Vettuvans are Chandalars, any distance less than sixty-four feet will pollute the higher castes. They stand at a distance of twenty-four feet from Kammālar. Nayādis and Ullatans stand far from them. Owing to their disabilities and low wages, many turn either Christians or Muhammadans, and work for wages of two and a half to three annas a day.”There is a class of people in Malabar called Vettan or Vettuvan, which must not be confused with the jungle Vēttuvan. These people were, it is said,69“once salt-makers, and are now masons, earth-workers, and quarrymen. They are said to be divided into two classes, the marumakkattāyam (with inheritance in the female line) regarded as indigenous to Malabar, and the makkattāyam (with inheritance from father to son), said to be immigrants from the south.”Vibhāka Gunta.—Recorded in the Madras Census Report as “a low class of wandering beggars; clubbed with Māla.” Some Mālas in the Vizagapatam district possess gunta mānyams, or petty fields, and supplement their income by begging.Vignēsvara.—A synonym for the elephant god Ganēsa, which occurs as a gōtra of Nagarālu. The equivalent Vināyaka is a gōtra of Mēdara.Vilkurup.—The Vilkuruppu or Vilkollakuruppu are the priests and barbers of the Malayālam Kammālans, and also makers of umbrellas and bows (vil) and arrows. In former times they supplied the latter articles for the Malabar Infantry. Malabar and Travancore are, par excellence, the home of the palm-leaf umbrella, which still holds its own against umbrellas of European manufacture, which were, in 1904–1905, imported into India to the value of Rs. 18,95,064. A native policeman, protecting himself from the sun with a long-handled palm umbrella, is a common object in towns and villages on the west coast.Concerning the Vilkurups of the Cochin State, Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar writes as follows.70“In former times, their occupations were training low caste men to arms and athletic feats, to use sticks in fighting,and also to the use of bows and arrows, and pial school teaching. In these days of civilisation, their services are no longer required for these purposes, and they are employed in shampooing, umbrella making, and quarrying laterite stones for building purposes. In Nāyar families, during tāli-tying ceremonies, they have to give a bow and a few arrows. During the Ōnam festival also, they have to give a bow and arrows to every Nāyar house, for which they get some paddy (rice), curry stuffs, a cocoanut, and some oil. When they are called in for shampooing, three oils are well boiled, and cooled. The patient lies on a plank, oil is poured over him, and every part of his body is well shampooed, and afterwards he is bathed in water boiled with medicinal herbs. The Vilkurups eat at the hands of Brāhmans, Nāyars, Izhuvans, and Kammālans, but abstain from taking the food of barbers, washermen, Pānāns, Kaniyans, and other low castes. They have to stand at a distance of thirty-two feet from Brāhmans and Nāyars. Pulayans and Parayans have to stand at a great distance. They live in localities occupied by the Izhuvans. They cannot approach the Brāhman temples, but have to stand far away from the outer wall. They are their own barbers and washermen.”Villasan(bowmen).—A synonym of Malayalām Kammālans, who formerly had to supply bows and arrows for the Travancore army.Villi.—Villi (bow) or Villiyan (bowmen) has been recorded as a synonym of the Irulas of Chingleput. Villi also occurs as a sub-division of Vēttuvan, a hunting caste of the Tamil country.Villu Vēdan(huntsmen using bows).—A synonym of Eravallar.Vīlyakāra.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a sub-caste of Sērvēgāra or Kōtēgāra.”Vīlyakāra, Vālēkāra and Olēkārā are names indicating the occupation of a servant under Government or a private individual.Vinka(white-ant:Termites).—An exogamous sept of Jātapu.Vipravinōdi.—In a note on the Vipravinōdis, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes that they are said to be the descendants of a Brāhman by a Lingāyat woman. They are Lingāyats, and are called Vipravinōdi because they perform acrobatic feats before Vipras, or Brāhmans. They generally travel about the country with their wives and children. One of their favourite feats is throwing up three stone or wooden balls in the air, and catching them, or rolling them over various parts of the body. When they perform before a mixed audience, they call themselves Naravidya vāru, which is said to be an abbreviated form of Narulu Mechchē Vidyalu Chēsē vāru, or those who perform feats which men praise. The dead are buried in a sitting posture.Vīrabhadra.—A synonym of the Tamil washermen (Vannān), whose patron deity is Vīrabhadra, from whom they claim descent.Viragu(firewood).—A sub-division of Vēttuvan.Virakudiyān.—A synonym of Panisavans, who are engaged in blowing the conch shell on ceremonial occasions.Vīrala(heroes).—An exogamous sept of Golla and Kāpu.Vīra Māgāli(a god).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Vīramushti.—For the following account of the Vīramushtis in the Vizagapatam district, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao.They are Lingāyats, but do not, as a rule, wear the lingam, as it is the custom to postpone initiation until death, when the linga is tied on the corpse by a Jangam before it is buried. Those who are initiated during life wear the linga suspended from the neck. The Vīramushtis seem to have several sub-divisions,e.g., Nāga Mallika (Rhinacanthus communis), the roots of which are believed to cure snake-bite, Puccha Kaya (Citrullus Colocynthis), Triputa (Ipomœa Turpethum), and Ramadosa (Cucumis Melo).Girls are married before or after puberty. The mēnarikam custom, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is observed. A vōli (bride-price) of sixteen rupees, or half a tola of gold, in the form of jewelry, is given to the bride.The Vīramushtis are professional acrobats and mendicants, and are attached to the Dēvāngas and Kōmatis. The following legends are current to account for their connection with these castes. In days gone by, there was, in a big town, a great Lingāyat mutt (monastery) named Basavanna Mandiram, presided over by a Jangam priest named Basavanna. The mutt contained three hundred crores of Lingāyat priests, and great wealth was stored in it. This the Vīrāmushtis guarded against thieves. A Telaga, Chikayya by name, who was a professional thief, determined to plunder the mutt, in order to satisfy his mistress. One night, when the Vīramushtis were fast asleep, he entered the mutt, but, when he saw a number of Jangams engaged in devout worship, he abandoned his project, and determined to turn Lingāyat. Accordingly, at day-break, he advanced to the place where the head of the mutt was seated, made known to him who he was, and informed him of his resolution. Opinions were divided as to the fitness ofreceiving such an applicant, but it was finally decided that, if a man repented, he was a fit person to be received into the Lingāyat fold, as the linga recognises no caste. The linga was accordingly tied on his neck. From that time Chikayya became a new man and a true Jangam, and went from place to place visiting sacred shrines. One day he happened to be at a place where lived a merchant prince, who never dined except in the company of a Jangam. On the suggestion of his wife Nīlakuntaladēvi, an invitation to dine was sent to Chikayya, who accepted it. After dinner, the merchant went out on business, and Nīlakuntaladēvi, noticing what a beautiful man Chikayya was, fell in love with him. He, however, rejected her advances, and ran away, leaving his knapsack behind him. Nīlakuntaladēvi cut off her golden necklace, and, having placed it in the knapsack, ran after Chikayya, and threw it at him, asking him to accept it. She then inflicted several cuts on herself, and, as soon as her husband returned home, complained that the Jangam had stolen her necklace, and attempted to ravish her. Information was sent to Basayya, the head of the mutt, and a council meeting summoned, at which it was decided that Chikayya should have his head cut off. The order to carry out this act was given to the Vīramushtis, who went in search of him, and at last found him beneath the shade of a tree overhanging the bank of a river, engaged in worshipping his linga, which was in his hand. On searching the knapsack, they found the necklace, and proceeded to cut off Chikayya’s head, which went several hundred feet up into the air, and travelled towards the mutt, whither the headless trunk followed on foot. On their return to the mutt, the Vīramushtis found that the three hundred crores of priests had been miraculously beheaded, and the placewas a vast pool of blood. As soon, however, as the head and body of Chikayya approached, they became re-united, and Siva, appearing on the scene, translated him to kylās (heaven). At the same time, he restored the priests to life, and inflicted the following four curses on the Vīramushtis:—(1) they were not to build or use houses, and are consequently found living under trees outside villages; (2) they were not to sleep on a cot; (3) they were not to use the wild broom-stick; (4) they were not to set up permanent ovens for cooking purposes, but to make impromptu stoves out of three stones. Taking compassion on them, the Dēvāngas promised to give the Vīramushtis a small sum of money annually, and to contribute towards their marriage expenses.
Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa.Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa.In connection with the sub-divisions of the Vellālas, Mr. Hemingway, in a note on the Vellālas of the Trichinopoly district, gives some still further information. “The Kondaikattis are so-called from the peculiar way in which they used to wear their hair—a custom no longer observed. They are split into two sections, called Mēlnādu and Kīlnādu (westerns and easterns). The Dakshināttāns (south country men) are immigrants from Tinnevelly. The members of the Kāraikkāttar sub-division in the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk are rather looked down on by other Vellālans as being a mixed race, and are also somewhat contemptuously called Yeruttu-māttu (pack-bullocks), because, in their professional calling, they formerly used pack-bullocks. They have a curious custom by which a girl’s maternal uncle ties a tāli (marriage badge) round her neck when she is seven or eight years old. The Panjukkāra Chettis live in the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk. The name is an occupational one, and denotes cotton-men, but they are not at the present day connected with the cotton trade. TheSōlapūram (or Chōlapūram) Chettis are apparently called after the village of that name in the Kumbakonam tāluk of Tanjore. The Sōlias (or Chōlias) are numerous and ubiquitous. They are generally regarded as of doubtful descent, sinceparvenus, who wish to be considered Vellālans, usually claim to belong to this sub-division. The more respectable Pandārams, the Thambirans who own temples and matams, and the Oduvar or Ādi Saivāl, belong to the Sōzhia section. The Uttunāttu sub-division is local in origin. Its head-quarters is the country round Uttatūr. The members thereof are the special devotees of the Siva of that place. The Arunāttus (six nādus) are also called Mottai (shaved) Vellālans, apparently because they always shave their moustache, and wear only a very small kudumi (hair-knot). Some of their customs are unlike those of the rest of the caste. They have exogamous septs, their widows always dress in white and wear no ornaments (a rule not universally observed in any other sub-division), they never marry their sister’s daughter, and their wives wear the tāli (marriage badge), like the Panta Reddis, on a golden thread. Of their six nādus, three of which are supposed to have been located on each side of the Aiyār river, only two are now recognised. These are the Sērkudi nādu in Nāmakkal tāluk and the Omandūr nādu of Musiri. The Yēlūr (seven villages) Vellālas are very few and far between. There is a small colony of Tuluvas, engaged in dyeing, at Illuppūr. The Malaikandas are only found near the Ratnagiri hill in the Kulittalai tāluk. They take their name from the fact that they are required to look at the Ratnagiri hill when they get up in the morning. They are devotees of the god there. The Kāniyālans (landowners) are scarce, but widely distributed, since the man who carriesthe pot of blood, when animals are sacrificed at festivals to the village goddesses, must belong to this sub-division. The Kodikkal Vellālans are so-called from their occupation of betel cultivation, which they still pursue largely.”The Konga Vellālas differ so strikingly from the rest in many of their customs that a separate account of them is given. (SeeKonga Vellāla.)It is noted by Mr. Hemingway that some Vellālas “observe a curious custom (derived from Brāhmans) with regard to marriage, which is not unknown among other communities. A man marrying a second wife after the death of his first has to marry a plantain tree, and cut it down before tying the tāli, and, in the case of a third marriage, a man has to tie a tāli first to the erukkan (arka:Calotropis gigantea) plant. The idea is that second and fourth wives do not prosper, and the tree and the plant are accordingly made to take their places.”A peculiar ceremony, called Sevvai (Tuesday) Pillayar, is performed by some Vellāla women. It is also called Avvai Nonbu, because the Tamil poetess observed it. The ceremony takes place twice in the year, on a Tuesday in the months of Thai (February-March) and Audi (August-September). It is held at midnight, and no males, even babies in arms, may be present at it, or eat the cakes which are offered. A certain number of women club together, and provide the necessary rice, which is measured on the back of the hand, or in a measure similar to those used by Madras milk-sellers, in which the bottom is fixed high up in the cylinder. At the house where the ceremony is to be performed the rice is pounded into flour, and mixed with leaves ofPongamia glabraand margosa (Melia Azadirachta). The mixture is then made intocakes, some flat, and some conical, to represent Pillayar (Ganēsa). Flowers, fruits, betel, turmeric, combs, kunkumam (red powder), and other articles required in connection with the Pillayar worship, are also taken to the room in which the rites are performed. Of these it has been impossible to gather an account, as the women refused to describe them, lest ruin should fall on their families. Some say that, during the ceremony, the women are stark-naked.In an account of an annual ceremony at Trichinopoly in connection with the festival of Kulumai Amman, who is the guardian deity against epidemics, Bishop Whitehead records62that “a very fat pujāri (priest) of the Vellāla caste is lifted up above the vast crowd on the arms of two men. Some two thousand kids are then sacrificed, one after the other. The blood of the first eight or nine is collected in a large silver vessel holding about a quart, and handed up to the pujāri, who drinks it. Then, as the throat of each kid is cut, the animal is handed up to him, and he sucks, or pretends to suck the blood out of the carcase.”Of proverbs relating to the Vellālas, the following may be cited:—Agriculture is no agriculture, unless it is performed by the Vellālas.The Vellāla ruined himself by gaudy dress; the courtesan ruined herself by coquetry and affectation.Of all the sections of the Sūdras, the Vellāla is foremost; and, of all the thefts committed in the world, those of the Kallans are most notorious.Though you may face an evil star, never oppose a Vellāla.Though apparently the Vellāla will not ruin you, the palm leaf, on which he writes about you, will certainly ruin you for ever.In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Vellāla is recorded as a caste of Jains. In this connection, it is noted by Mr. Hemingway that the Naināns or Nāyinārs (q.v.) and the Kāraikkāttans of the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk are thought to be descended from Jains who were converted to the Hindu faith.Vellān Chetti.—A name, denoting Vellāla merchant, taken by some Vellālas.Velli(silver).—SeeBelli.Velnāti.—A sub-division of Kāpu, named after the old Velnādu division of the Telugu country.Veloma.—Defined as “one of the two classes of Sūdras, viz., Anuloma and Veloma. The term Veloma is applied to those born of a lower caste male and higher caste female.”Veluttēdan.—The Veluttēdan is defined in the Madras Census Report, 1891, as “the washerman of the Nāyars and higher castes in Malabar. He calls himself a Nāyar, and, in many cases, was returned as of that main caste, but these have been separated in abstraction. The caste is called Vannattān in North Malabar. The Veluttēdans follow the marumakkatāyam law of inheritance in the north, and makkatāyam in the south. They have tāli-kettu and sambandham separately. Their dress and habits are the same as those of Nāyars.” In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bannata is given as a Canarese synonym for the caste name. In the Travancore and Cochin Census Reports, 1901, Veluttētan and Veluthēdan are given respectively as an occupational title and sub-division of Nāyars.For the following note on the Veluttēdans of Travancore, I am indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar. The name is believed to signify a place where clothes are bleached. In the early Settlement Records the designation recorded is Ayavu, in all probability an old synonym for washing. The South Travancore Veluttēdans are said to be divided into two endogamous septs, Paravūr and Attingal, with four exogamous septs in each; but these distinctions may be said to have now lost their vigour and force. There is a current tradition that once upon a time a Brāhman was washing cloths for a friend, and was on that account thrown out of caste by Parasurāma. The occupation of the Veluttēdans is washing cloths for all high-caste Hindus down to the Sūdras, in which profession, for neatness and purity at any rate, if not for promptitude, they stand above the Vannāns and Chayakkārans of the east coast, both of whom have now entered the field in competition with them, and, at least in the most civilised parts of the State, not entirely without success. In no case do the castemen receive cloths from classes lower in social rank than the Sūdras, and this is pointed to with pride as one of the causes which keep them in their present elevated scale. It need hardly be said that, in their traditional occupation, the Veluttēdans are largely and materially assisted by their females, the Veluttēdathis. They do not live in a group together, but are conveniently scattered about, so as to avoid competition one with another. Their main profession is, in many cases, supplemented by agriculture. There are absolutely no educated men among them, and, as long as machine-laundries are not introduced into the country, they have no reason to abandon the profession of their forefathers in pursuit of alien ones. In the matter of food anddrink, as also in their dress and ornaments, they resemble the Nāyars. Clothes, it may be mentioned, are never bought by Veluttēdans, as they are always in possession, though temporarily, of other peoples’ apparel. Tattooing prevails only in South Travancore. They cannot enter Brāhmanical shrines, but are permitted to stand outside the talakkal or stone-paved walk round the inner sanctuary, by which the image is taken in daily procession. Besides standing here and worshipping the higher Hindu deities, they also engage in the propitiation of the minor village deities. There are two headmen in each village, who punish social delinquents, and preside over caste ceremonials. On the twenty-eighth day after the birth of a child, the name-giving ceremony is performed, and a thread is tied round the infant’s neck. Those who can afford it celebrate the first food-giving. The tāli-tying and sambandham ceremonies are performed separately, just like Nāyars. The former is known as muhurtham or auspicious occasion. The marriage badge is called unta minnu or puliyilla minnu. The details of the marriage ceremony do not differ from those of the Nāyars. The ayani unu, bhūtakkalam, appam poli, and avaltitti are all important items, and, at least in South Travancore, seldom failed to be gone through. In poor families the mother, without any formal ceremonial, ties the tāli of the girl before she is twelve years old, after an oblation of cooked food to the rising sun. This is called Bhagavan tāli, or god’s marriage ornament. Freedom of divorce and remarriage exist. The pulikuti (tamarind) is an indispensable ceremonial, to be gone through by a pregnant woman. Inheritance devolves in the female line (marumakkattāyam). The clothes washed by Veluttēdans are used by Nambūtiri Brāhmans, without previous washing as on the east coast, for allreligious purposes; and clothes polluted by a member of a low caste are purified by the Veluttēdan sprinkling ashes and water over them.Vēmu(margosa or nīm:Melia Azadirachta).—An exogamous sept of Mūka Dora.Vēngai Puli(cruel-handed tiger).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Veralu Ichē Kāpuluor Vēlu Ichē Kāpulu (those who dedicate their fingers).—SeeMorasu.Vēshya(Sansk: Bēshya).—A name denoting prostitute, applied to dancing-girls.Vētagiri.—A Tamil class found in the Chingleput district. The members thereof are employed in hunting, cultivation, and the manufacture of wild date baskets. Their title is Nāyakan.Vettaikāran(hunter).—An occupational name of Bōyas, Irulas, and Koravas, returned at times of census.Vettile(betel vine:Piper Betle).—A kothu or tree of Kondaiyamkotti Maravans.Vettiyān.—Vettiyān is the name applied to one of the officials of a Tamil Paraiyan settlement, who is also called Tōti or Thōtti. The former title is said to be more respectful as an appellation than the latter, but this is a distinction without a difference.63The name Vettiyān is said to be equivalent to Bittiyān (bitti, for nothing), or one who does service,e.g., collecting grass, firewood, etc., without remuneration. Tōti is derived from thott, to go round, as he is the purveyor of news, and has to summon people to appear before the village tribunal, or from tondu, to dig.The duties of the Vettiyān are multifarious. He it is who goes round the rice fields, and diverts thewater-courses to the various fields, according to the rights of the ryots (agriculturists). The Vettiyān beats the drum for public notices and ceremonies. As a servant of Government, he has to carry the revenue which has been collected to the treasury. He is sometimes entrusted with large sums of money, and has never been known to abscond with it. It is said that the Village Munsiff will trust the Vettiyān, but not the Taliāri, who is never sent alone with money. The Vettiyān is in charge of the burial ground, and those who repair thither have to pay him for his services. He is also the grave-digger, and officiates when a Paraiyan corpse is burnt or buried. Hence the Tamil proverb against meddling in what ought to be left to some one else:—“Let the Vettiyān and corpse struggle together.” At a Paraiyan funeral, the Vettiyān, in some places, carries the pot of fire to the grave. To bring down rain, some of the lower classes, instead of addressing their prayers to the rain-god Varuna, try to induce a spirit or dēvata named Kodumpāvi (wicked one) to send her paramour Sukra to the affected area. The belief seems to be that Sukra goes away to his concubine for about six months, and, if he does not return, drought ensues. The ceremony consists in making a huge figure of Kodumpāvi in clay, which is placed on a cart, and dragged through the streets for seven to ten days. On the last day, the final death ceremonies of the figure are celebrated. It is disfigured, especially in those parts which are usually concealed. Vettiyāns, who have been shaved, accompany the figure, and perform the funeral ceremonies. This procedure is believed to put Kodumpāvi to shame, and to get her to induce Sukra to return and stay the drought.At Paraiyan marriages certain pots are worshipped, and it is, in some places, the Vettiyān who says “Thesun, the moon, the pots, and the owner of the girl have come to the marriage booth. So make haste, and fill the pots with water.”The office of the Vettiyān village official is hereditary, and the holder of it is entitled to some respect among his brethren, and to certain emoluments in kind,e.g., grain at the harvest season. There is a proverb that “whatever may be the wealth of the lord who comes to rule over him, his duty of supplying him with a bundle of grass is not to cease.” This relates to the demands which were, and perhaps are still, made on him in rural parts of the country. In some places, lands, called Vettiyān Māniyam, are given rent-free to Vettiyāns.The Vettiyān is said to possess the right of removing dead cattle from villages, and in return to supply leather for agricultural purposes. He is further said to make drum heads and tom-toms from raw hides.64The Vettiyāns belong to the right-hand section during disputes between the right and left hand factions.Vēttuvan.—The Tamil Vēttuvans are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “an agricultural and hunting caste, found mainly in Salem, Coimbatore, and Madura. The name means ‘a hunter.’ They are probably of the same stock as the Vēdans, though the exact connection is not clear, but they now consider themselves superior to that caste, and are even taking to calling themselves Vēttuva Vellālas. Tradition says that the Konga kings invited Vēttuvans from the Chōla and Pāndya countries to assist them against the Kēralas. Another story says that the caste helped the Chōla king Aditya Varma to conquer the Kongu country during the latter part of the ninth century. In paragraph 538 ofthe Census Report, 1891, reference is made to the belief that the Vēdans are identical with the Veddahs of Ceylon. In connection with this supposition, it is reported that the Vēttuvans worship a goddess called Kandi-Amman, which may possibly mean ‘the goddess of Kandy’ (in Ceylon). Of the endogamous sections into which the caste is divided, the most numerically important are Venganchi, Kilangu (root), Pasari, Viragu (firewood), Pannādai (sheath of the cocoanut leaf), and Villi (bow). They have their own barbers, who seem also to form a separate sub-division, and are called Vēttuva Ambattans or Nāvidans, both of which words mean barber. They are said to refuse to serve any one lower than a Konga Vellāla. Nominally they are Hindus, but they are said to worship the seven Kannimars, or aboriginal goddesses, to whom the Irulas also pay homage. They eat meat and drink alcohol, though some of those who are endeavouring to increase their social repute are taking to vegetarianism. Widow marriage is forbidden. They either burn or bury the dead, but no ceremonies are performed for deceased ancestors. Their customs are thus a curious mixture of those followed by high castes and low ones. Their ordinary title is Kavandan.”Of the Malayālam Vēttuvans, who live in Malabar and the southern portion of the South Canara district, it is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that they are “agricultural serfs, shikāris (hunters), and collectors of forest produce, who live in the Malabar jungles. They have two endogamous sub-divisions, called Kodi and Peringala. The former keep their hair long, and their women wear a cloth. The latter have top-knots, and their women dress in leaves, which they wear only round their waists, and renew daily. The latter are an unclean set of people, who live in rudebamboo and reed huts, and will eat anything down to carrion. Yet they consider themselves superior to Cherumans and Pulaiyans, and are careful not to be polluted by them. This same name is also borne by a class of masons and salt-workers in the low country in Malabar.”The Malabar Vēttuvans are said to have a fantastic legend, showing that they were not originally as low as they are at the present day in the social scale. “It is related that one of their tribe went and asked a high-caste Nāyar to give him a daughter in marriage. The Nāyar offered to do so on condition that the whole tribe would come to his place and dance on berries, each one who fell to be shot with arrows. The tribe foolishly agreed to the condition, and went and danced, with the result that, as each one tripped and fell, he or she was mercilessly shot dead with arrows. A little girl who survived this treatment was secretly rescued, and taken away by a compassionate Nāyar, who married her into his family. From this union, the present day Vēttuvans affirm their origin is to be traced. Up to this day they hold the caste of that particular Nāyar in very great veneration.”65The costume of these Vēttuvans has been described as follows.66“The men wear a short loin-cloth, secured round the waist by a belt which is also used as a sling during hunting expeditions. They also wear brass ear-rings, and grow a bit of moustache, and a little stumpy beard. The dress of the women consists of three clusters of long leaves, suspended from the waist and tied on by a cheap girdle. According to a tribal legend, when, in the morning of time, costumes were being distributed by the deity to the various races of the earth,the Vettuva women, being asked to choose between a costume which needed to be changed daily, and one which needed to be changed only yearly, readily expressed a preference for the former, and the deity, considering this an unpardonable piece of vanity, decreed that thenceforth the women should dress in leaves gathered fresh every morning. Whenever it is suggested to them that they should adopt some more lasting apparel, the Vettuva women answer that they are carrying out the mandate of the deity, and can abandon their present dress only if the deity appears in person, and sanctions a change.”On the occasion of a recent visit of the Governor of Madras to South Canara, a party of Vēttuvans was paraded before him. One of the men was wearing an aluminium coronation medal, and, on being asked by the Collector who had given it to him, he folded his arms obsequiously, and replied ‘My Tamburan’ (landlord).In a recent note on the leaf-wearing Vēttuvans, it is stated that “they believe that the sun travels, after it has set, through a hole in the bowels of the earth, and emerges at morning in the east. The way they calculate time is interesting. A Vēttuvan says that his children were born when his master sowed paddy (rice) on such and such hills. They are a very truthful lot, of good moral character, the chastity of their womankind being held very sacred.”The Malabar Vēttuvans are summed up by Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar67as being “not exactly slaves, but their social position justifies their classification amongst the slave races. They live on the cocoanut plantations of the Nairs, and other well-to-do classes.They lead a hand-to-hand existence on the wages which they obtain for hedging and fencing cocoanut plantations, plucking cocoanuts, tilling, and other allied work. They live, with their wives and children, and sometimes other relations as well, in houses small but more decent-looking than the mere huts of the other lower classes. In point of caste restrictions they are certainly better circumstanced; and their daily contact with the higher classes in the ordinary concerns of life affords them greater facilities for increased knowledge and civilisation than their brother citizens of the slave races enjoy. They are much addicted to toddy-drinking, but their principal food is rice. Their condition is never so intolerably wretched as that of the other classes. They are sometimes employed by cultivators for agricultural purposes. Their females occupy themselves in the fields during the harvest season, but they also make thatch for houses of cocoanut leaves woven after a set model during the thatching season about December or January. Their males wear ear-rings of brass, and their females adorn themselves with nose, finger, and neck ornaments of brass or beads. The one piece of cloth supplied annually by the masters, to whose plantations they are attached, forms the dress both for males and females, which they tie round their waists. They do not eat carrion, but are exceedingly fond of fish, the flesh of the civet, and the rat, and of some other animals not generally eaten by other classes. They observe death pollution like the higher classes of Malabar, and the period of observance varies according to the particular class or caste, to which their masters belong. For instance, if they belong to a Nair’s plantation, such period is fifteen days, and, if to a Brahmin’s, it is ten days; Nairs and Brahmins observing pollution for these periodsrespectively. The priests who officiate at their ceremonials are selected from among their own tribesmen or Enangers, whose express recognition is necessary to give validity to the performance of the ceremony. Their marriage customs are very like those of the Tiyyars, excepting that the feasting and revelry are not so pompous in their case. Like the Nairs, they retain the front knot. The only offences of general occurrence among them are petty cases of theft of cocoanuts, plantains, areca nuts, and roots of common occurrence. The Vettuvans believe in a Supreme Creator, whom they name and invoke as Paduchathampuram,i.e., the king who created us. Likewise, they believe in certain evil deities, to whom they make offerings at particular times of the year. They are not, like the other classes, distinguished by loyalty to their masters, but are a very ungrateful sect, and their very name, viz., Nambu Vettuvan, has passed into a bye-word for ingratitude of all kinds.”It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that “the Vēttuvans of Chirakkal taluk are a low caste of jungle cultivators and basket makers, distinguished by the survival amongst their women of the custom of dressing in leaves, their only clothing being a kind of double fan-shaped apron of leaves tied round the waist with a rolled cloth. They live in huts made of split bamboo and thatched with elephant grass, called kudumbus. The Vēttuvans are divided into fourteen illams, which seem to be named after the house names of the janmis (landlords) whom they serve. Their headmen, who are appointed by their janmis, are called Kirān, or sometimes Parakutti (drummer). Amongst the Vēttuvans, when labour begins, the woman is put in a hole dug in a corner of the hut, and left there alone with some water till the cry of the child is heard.”For the following note on the Vēttuvans of the Cochin State, I am indebted to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar.68“The Vettuvans are also called Vettuva Pulayas. They are pure agricultural labourers, taking part in every kind of work connected with agriculture, such as ploughing, sowing, weeding, transplanting, pumping water, and reaping. They are more day labourers. The males get two edangazhis of paddy (hardly worth 2 annas), and the females an edangazhi and a half. In times of scarcity, they find it difficult to support themselves.“When an unmarried woman becomes pregnant, her parents, as soon as they become aware of the fact, inform their local headman (Kanakkan or Kuruppan), who convenes a meeting of the elderly members of the community for the purpose of summoning the secret lover, and prosecuting the necessary enquiries. In the event of the confession of the charge, he is asked to marry her. The matter does not end there. They go to the local Thandan, and relate to him the incident, who thereupon gives him water in a vessel (kindi vellam). The woman is asked to drink this as well as some cow-dunged water, and is then made to let flow a few drops of blood from the body. After this he says ‘dhosham thirnu’ (free from guilt). Should, however, the lover be unwilling to marry her, he is thrashed and placed under a ban. If they are related to each other, they are both turned out of caste. The woman who is freed from guilt can marry again. The Thandan gets as his perquisite four annas out of the fine imposed, four packets of betel leaf, eight areca nuts, and three tobacco leaves. Theirheadman also has a share of the fine, etc. The balance which then remains is spent on toddy, and beaten rice for those assembled.Vēttuvans.Vēttuvans.“The Vettuvans profess the lower forms of Hinduism. Their chief gods are Chevva, Chathan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, Kappiri and Kandakaranan, and also Namburi Thamburan. They give regular offerings to them, lest the gods should become angry, and cause serious calamities to the members of their families. Images of gods are made of bell-metal, and worshipped in their huts. The deceased ancestors are also worshipped as gods, to whom are given a different kind of offerings. Toddy is an indispensable item in their offerings to them. In Ooragam and its neighbourhood, when I took my notes on the Vettuvans, I was told that there was no tree-tapping, and that toddy brought to them for sale was largely adulterated with water, and very costly. Their gods were very angry, for they were not satisfied with it. They caused fever, deafness, blindness, and other disorders. They worship Kāli also. Kumbhom Bharani is an important festival to them. On the morning of this day, tunes are played in honour of the goddess. There are special songs called Thottampattu. Sacrifices are offered to the deity very early. A pūja (worship) is also performed for the sword, anklets, and bells worn round the loins, all placed in front of the deity, and songs are again sung. One of them turns a Velichchapād (oracle), who speaks as if by inspiration. Wearing the above ornaments, they go to a temple, in front of which they empty out on a mat a few paras of paddy, and again play and sing.“The funeral ceremonies of the Vettuvans are somewhat elaborate. When a member of the caste breathes his last, his relations, friends, and othercastemen of the kara (settlement) are all informed of the event. They attend, and take part in the obsequies. The dead body is bathed, and dressed in a piece of new cloth. Some gold, rubbed on a stone in water, is poured into his mouth by his sons and daughters. Karuvanguka, or Gurutvam Vanguka, is an important ceremony performed by his sons and daughters. It consists in taking sixteen small bits of plantain leaves, with some rice on each, and placing them on the forehead, neck, chest, loins, thighs, hands, legs, feet, etc., washing the last two, and collecting the water, which is taken in by the members junior to him in the family. After this, the dead body is placed on the bier, which is carried by four persons to the grave. The nearest relatives of the family, four in number, called Bhedakars, with a mundu (cloth) tied round their heads, walk in front of the procession. The grave is dug, and a new cloth is spread, and the corpse laid on it. It is filled in with layers of earth and stones, to prevent dogs and jackals from disturbing the dead body. All those who have accompanied the chief mourner bathe, and return home. The members of the family fast for the night. The eldest son, who is the chief mourner, bathes in the early morning, and offers the pinda bali (offering of rice) to the spirit of the departed for fifteen days. On the seventh day, the chief mourner, and the Enangan, go to the graveyard, and level the slightly raised part of the grave. A piece of stone, kept near the foot, is taken, and placed on a leaf. Some toddy, arrack (alcoholic liquor) and water of the tender cocoanut, are poured over it as offerings. By some magic, the spirit is supposed to be living in it. It is brought home, and placed in a cocoanut shell containing oil mixed with turmeric, and kept outside the hut until the pollution isover. The pollution lasts for fifteen days, and on the night of the fifteenth day they fast. On the morning of the sixteenth day, all the castemen of the kara who are invited bring with them rice, curry-stuffs, and toddy. Rubbing themselves with oil, they all go to bathe, after which the Enangan sprinkles cowdunged water, to show that they are freed from pollution. The stone is also purified by a dip in water, and then brought home. Those who have assembled are fed, and then depart. The chief mourner, who has to perform the diksha, does not shave for a year, bathes in the early morning, and offers the bali before going to work. This he continues for a year, at the end of which he gets himself shaved, and celebrates a feast called masam in honour of the departed. The stone, representing the deceased, is placed on a seat in a conspicuous part of the hut. An image of wood or copper sometimes takes its place. It is thenceforward worshipped, and believed to watch over the welfare of the family. Regular offerings are given to it on Karkadagom and Thulam Sankranthi, Ōnam, Vishu, and the festival day of the local temple.“The castes below the Vettuvans are Pulayan, Nayādi, and Ullatan. They consider themselves superior to Pulayas, and are careful not to be polluted by them. A Vettuvan who is polluted by a Nayādi or Ulladan fasts for seven days, subsisting on water, tender cocoanuts, and toddy. On the eighth day he bathes, and takes his regular meals. As the Vettuvans are Chandalars, any distance less than sixty-four feet will pollute the higher castes. They stand at a distance of twenty-four feet from Kammālar. Nayādis and Ullatans stand far from them. Owing to their disabilities and low wages, many turn either Christians or Muhammadans, and work for wages of two and a half to three annas a day.”There is a class of people in Malabar called Vettan or Vettuvan, which must not be confused with the jungle Vēttuvan. These people were, it is said,69“once salt-makers, and are now masons, earth-workers, and quarrymen. They are said to be divided into two classes, the marumakkattāyam (with inheritance in the female line) regarded as indigenous to Malabar, and the makkattāyam (with inheritance from father to son), said to be immigrants from the south.”Vibhāka Gunta.—Recorded in the Madras Census Report as “a low class of wandering beggars; clubbed with Māla.” Some Mālas in the Vizagapatam district possess gunta mānyams, or petty fields, and supplement their income by begging.Vignēsvara.—A synonym for the elephant god Ganēsa, which occurs as a gōtra of Nagarālu. The equivalent Vināyaka is a gōtra of Mēdara.Vilkurup.—The Vilkuruppu or Vilkollakuruppu are the priests and barbers of the Malayālam Kammālans, and also makers of umbrellas and bows (vil) and arrows. In former times they supplied the latter articles for the Malabar Infantry. Malabar and Travancore are, par excellence, the home of the palm-leaf umbrella, which still holds its own against umbrellas of European manufacture, which were, in 1904–1905, imported into India to the value of Rs. 18,95,064. A native policeman, protecting himself from the sun with a long-handled palm umbrella, is a common object in towns and villages on the west coast.Concerning the Vilkurups of the Cochin State, Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar writes as follows.70“In former times, their occupations were training low caste men to arms and athletic feats, to use sticks in fighting,and also to the use of bows and arrows, and pial school teaching. In these days of civilisation, their services are no longer required for these purposes, and they are employed in shampooing, umbrella making, and quarrying laterite stones for building purposes. In Nāyar families, during tāli-tying ceremonies, they have to give a bow and a few arrows. During the Ōnam festival also, they have to give a bow and arrows to every Nāyar house, for which they get some paddy (rice), curry stuffs, a cocoanut, and some oil. When they are called in for shampooing, three oils are well boiled, and cooled. The patient lies on a plank, oil is poured over him, and every part of his body is well shampooed, and afterwards he is bathed in water boiled with medicinal herbs. The Vilkurups eat at the hands of Brāhmans, Nāyars, Izhuvans, and Kammālans, but abstain from taking the food of barbers, washermen, Pānāns, Kaniyans, and other low castes. They have to stand at a distance of thirty-two feet from Brāhmans and Nāyars. Pulayans and Parayans have to stand at a great distance. They live in localities occupied by the Izhuvans. They cannot approach the Brāhman temples, but have to stand far away from the outer wall. They are their own barbers and washermen.”Villasan(bowmen).—A synonym of Malayalām Kammālans, who formerly had to supply bows and arrows for the Travancore army.Villi.—Villi (bow) or Villiyan (bowmen) has been recorded as a synonym of the Irulas of Chingleput. Villi also occurs as a sub-division of Vēttuvan, a hunting caste of the Tamil country.Villu Vēdan(huntsmen using bows).—A synonym of Eravallar.Vīlyakāra.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a sub-caste of Sērvēgāra or Kōtēgāra.”Vīlyakāra, Vālēkāra and Olēkārā are names indicating the occupation of a servant under Government or a private individual.Vinka(white-ant:Termites).—An exogamous sept of Jātapu.Vipravinōdi.—In a note on the Vipravinōdis, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes that they are said to be the descendants of a Brāhman by a Lingāyat woman. They are Lingāyats, and are called Vipravinōdi because they perform acrobatic feats before Vipras, or Brāhmans. They generally travel about the country with their wives and children. One of their favourite feats is throwing up three stone or wooden balls in the air, and catching them, or rolling them over various parts of the body. When they perform before a mixed audience, they call themselves Naravidya vāru, which is said to be an abbreviated form of Narulu Mechchē Vidyalu Chēsē vāru, or those who perform feats which men praise. The dead are buried in a sitting posture.Vīrabhadra.—A synonym of the Tamil washermen (Vannān), whose patron deity is Vīrabhadra, from whom they claim descent.Viragu(firewood).—A sub-division of Vēttuvan.Virakudiyān.—A synonym of Panisavans, who are engaged in blowing the conch shell on ceremonial occasions.Vīrala(heroes).—An exogamous sept of Golla and Kāpu.Vīra Māgāli(a god).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Vīramushti.—For the following account of the Vīramushtis in the Vizagapatam district, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao.They are Lingāyats, but do not, as a rule, wear the lingam, as it is the custom to postpone initiation until death, when the linga is tied on the corpse by a Jangam before it is buried. Those who are initiated during life wear the linga suspended from the neck. The Vīramushtis seem to have several sub-divisions,e.g., Nāga Mallika (Rhinacanthus communis), the roots of which are believed to cure snake-bite, Puccha Kaya (Citrullus Colocynthis), Triputa (Ipomœa Turpethum), and Ramadosa (Cucumis Melo).Girls are married before or after puberty. The mēnarikam custom, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is observed. A vōli (bride-price) of sixteen rupees, or half a tola of gold, in the form of jewelry, is given to the bride.The Vīramushtis are professional acrobats and mendicants, and are attached to the Dēvāngas and Kōmatis. The following legends are current to account for their connection with these castes. In days gone by, there was, in a big town, a great Lingāyat mutt (monastery) named Basavanna Mandiram, presided over by a Jangam priest named Basavanna. The mutt contained three hundred crores of Lingāyat priests, and great wealth was stored in it. This the Vīrāmushtis guarded against thieves. A Telaga, Chikayya by name, who was a professional thief, determined to plunder the mutt, in order to satisfy his mistress. One night, when the Vīramushtis were fast asleep, he entered the mutt, but, when he saw a number of Jangams engaged in devout worship, he abandoned his project, and determined to turn Lingāyat. Accordingly, at day-break, he advanced to the place where the head of the mutt was seated, made known to him who he was, and informed him of his resolution. Opinions were divided as to the fitness ofreceiving such an applicant, but it was finally decided that, if a man repented, he was a fit person to be received into the Lingāyat fold, as the linga recognises no caste. The linga was accordingly tied on his neck. From that time Chikayya became a new man and a true Jangam, and went from place to place visiting sacred shrines. One day he happened to be at a place where lived a merchant prince, who never dined except in the company of a Jangam. On the suggestion of his wife Nīlakuntaladēvi, an invitation to dine was sent to Chikayya, who accepted it. After dinner, the merchant went out on business, and Nīlakuntaladēvi, noticing what a beautiful man Chikayya was, fell in love with him. He, however, rejected her advances, and ran away, leaving his knapsack behind him. Nīlakuntaladēvi cut off her golden necklace, and, having placed it in the knapsack, ran after Chikayya, and threw it at him, asking him to accept it. She then inflicted several cuts on herself, and, as soon as her husband returned home, complained that the Jangam had stolen her necklace, and attempted to ravish her. Information was sent to Basayya, the head of the mutt, and a council meeting summoned, at which it was decided that Chikayya should have his head cut off. The order to carry out this act was given to the Vīramushtis, who went in search of him, and at last found him beneath the shade of a tree overhanging the bank of a river, engaged in worshipping his linga, which was in his hand. On searching the knapsack, they found the necklace, and proceeded to cut off Chikayya’s head, which went several hundred feet up into the air, and travelled towards the mutt, whither the headless trunk followed on foot. On their return to the mutt, the Vīramushtis found that the three hundred crores of priests had been miraculously beheaded, and the placewas a vast pool of blood. As soon, however, as the head and body of Chikayya approached, they became re-united, and Siva, appearing on the scene, translated him to kylās (heaven). At the same time, he restored the priests to life, and inflicted the following four curses on the Vīramushtis:—(1) they were not to build or use houses, and are consequently found living under trees outside villages; (2) they were not to sleep on a cot; (3) they were not to use the wild broom-stick; (4) they were not to set up permanent ovens for cooking purposes, but to make impromptu stoves out of three stones. Taking compassion on them, the Dēvāngas promised to give the Vīramushtis a small sum of money annually, and to contribute towards their marriage expenses.
Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa.Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa.In connection with the sub-divisions of the Vellālas, Mr. Hemingway, in a note on the Vellālas of the Trichinopoly district, gives some still further information. “The Kondaikattis are so-called from the peculiar way in which they used to wear their hair—a custom no longer observed. They are split into two sections, called Mēlnādu and Kīlnādu (westerns and easterns). The Dakshināttāns (south country men) are immigrants from Tinnevelly. The members of the Kāraikkāttar sub-division in the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk are rather looked down on by other Vellālans as being a mixed race, and are also somewhat contemptuously called Yeruttu-māttu (pack-bullocks), because, in their professional calling, they formerly used pack-bullocks. They have a curious custom by which a girl’s maternal uncle ties a tāli (marriage badge) round her neck when she is seven or eight years old. The Panjukkāra Chettis live in the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk. The name is an occupational one, and denotes cotton-men, but they are not at the present day connected with the cotton trade. TheSōlapūram (or Chōlapūram) Chettis are apparently called after the village of that name in the Kumbakonam tāluk of Tanjore. The Sōlias (or Chōlias) are numerous and ubiquitous. They are generally regarded as of doubtful descent, sinceparvenus, who wish to be considered Vellālans, usually claim to belong to this sub-division. The more respectable Pandārams, the Thambirans who own temples and matams, and the Oduvar or Ādi Saivāl, belong to the Sōzhia section. The Uttunāttu sub-division is local in origin. Its head-quarters is the country round Uttatūr. The members thereof are the special devotees of the Siva of that place. The Arunāttus (six nādus) are also called Mottai (shaved) Vellālans, apparently because they always shave their moustache, and wear only a very small kudumi (hair-knot). Some of their customs are unlike those of the rest of the caste. They have exogamous septs, their widows always dress in white and wear no ornaments (a rule not universally observed in any other sub-division), they never marry their sister’s daughter, and their wives wear the tāli (marriage badge), like the Panta Reddis, on a golden thread. Of their six nādus, three of which are supposed to have been located on each side of the Aiyār river, only two are now recognised. These are the Sērkudi nādu in Nāmakkal tāluk and the Omandūr nādu of Musiri. The Yēlūr (seven villages) Vellālas are very few and far between. There is a small colony of Tuluvas, engaged in dyeing, at Illuppūr. The Malaikandas are only found near the Ratnagiri hill in the Kulittalai tāluk. They take their name from the fact that they are required to look at the Ratnagiri hill when they get up in the morning. They are devotees of the god there. The Kāniyālans (landowners) are scarce, but widely distributed, since the man who carriesthe pot of blood, when animals are sacrificed at festivals to the village goddesses, must belong to this sub-division. The Kodikkal Vellālans are so-called from their occupation of betel cultivation, which they still pursue largely.”The Konga Vellālas differ so strikingly from the rest in many of their customs that a separate account of them is given. (SeeKonga Vellāla.)It is noted by Mr. Hemingway that some Vellālas “observe a curious custom (derived from Brāhmans) with regard to marriage, which is not unknown among other communities. A man marrying a second wife after the death of his first has to marry a plantain tree, and cut it down before tying the tāli, and, in the case of a third marriage, a man has to tie a tāli first to the erukkan (arka:Calotropis gigantea) plant. The idea is that second and fourth wives do not prosper, and the tree and the plant are accordingly made to take their places.”A peculiar ceremony, called Sevvai (Tuesday) Pillayar, is performed by some Vellāla women. It is also called Avvai Nonbu, because the Tamil poetess observed it. The ceremony takes place twice in the year, on a Tuesday in the months of Thai (February-March) and Audi (August-September). It is held at midnight, and no males, even babies in arms, may be present at it, or eat the cakes which are offered. A certain number of women club together, and provide the necessary rice, which is measured on the back of the hand, or in a measure similar to those used by Madras milk-sellers, in which the bottom is fixed high up in the cylinder. At the house where the ceremony is to be performed the rice is pounded into flour, and mixed with leaves ofPongamia glabraand margosa (Melia Azadirachta). The mixture is then made intocakes, some flat, and some conical, to represent Pillayar (Ganēsa). Flowers, fruits, betel, turmeric, combs, kunkumam (red powder), and other articles required in connection with the Pillayar worship, are also taken to the room in which the rites are performed. Of these it has been impossible to gather an account, as the women refused to describe them, lest ruin should fall on their families. Some say that, during the ceremony, the women are stark-naked.In an account of an annual ceremony at Trichinopoly in connection with the festival of Kulumai Amman, who is the guardian deity against epidemics, Bishop Whitehead records62that “a very fat pujāri (priest) of the Vellāla caste is lifted up above the vast crowd on the arms of two men. Some two thousand kids are then sacrificed, one after the other. The blood of the first eight or nine is collected in a large silver vessel holding about a quart, and handed up to the pujāri, who drinks it. Then, as the throat of each kid is cut, the animal is handed up to him, and he sucks, or pretends to suck the blood out of the carcase.”Of proverbs relating to the Vellālas, the following may be cited:—Agriculture is no agriculture, unless it is performed by the Vellālas.The Vellāla ruined himself by gaudy dress; the courtesan ruined herself by coquetry and affectation.Of all the sections of the Sūdras, the Vellāla is foremost; and, of all the thefts committed in the world, those of the Kallans are most notorious.Though you may face an evil star, never oppose a Vellāla.Though apparently the Vellāla will not ruin you, the palm leaf, on which he writes about you, will certainly ruin you for ever.In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Vellāla is recorded as a caste of Jains. In this connection, it is noted by Mr. Hemingway that the Naināns or Nāyinārs (q.v.) and the Kāraikkāttans of the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk are thought to be descended from Jains who were converted to the Hindu faith.Vellān Chetti.—A name, denoting Vellāla merchant, taken by some Vellālas.Velli(silver).—SeeBelli.Velnāti.—A sub-division of Kāpu, named after the old Velnādu division of the Telugu country.Veloma.—Defined as “one of the two classes of Sūdras, viz., Anuloma and Veloma. The term Veloma is applied to those born of a lower caste male and higher caste female.”Veluttēdan.—The Veluttēdan is defined in the Madras Census Report, 1891, as “the washerman of the Nāyars and higher castes in Malabar. He calls himself a Nāyar, and, in many cases, was returned as of that main caste, but these have been separated in abstraction. The caste is called Vannattān in North Malabar. The Veluttēdans follow the marumakkatāyam law of inheritance in the north, and makkatāyam in the south. They have tāli-kettu and sambandham separately. Their dress and habits are the same as those of Nāyars.” In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bannata is given as a Canarese synonym for the caste name. In the Travancore and Cochin Census Reports, 1901, Veluttētan and Veluthēdan are given respectively as an occupational title and sub-division of Nāyars.For the following note on the Veluttēdans of Travancore, I am indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar. The name is believed to signify a place where clothes are bleached. In the early Settlement Records the designation recorded is Ayavu, in all probability an old synonym for washing. The South Travancore Veluttēdans are said to be divided into two endogamous septs, Paravūr and Attingal, with four exogamous septs in each; but these distinctions may be said to have now lost their vigour and force. There is a current tradition that once upon a time a Brāhman was washing cloths for a friend, and was on that account thrown out of caste by Parasurāma. The occupation of the Veluttēdans is washing cloths for all high-caste Hindus down to the Sūdras, in which profession, for neatness and purity at any rate, if not for promptitude, they stand above the Vannāns and Chayakkārans of the east coast, both of whom have now entered the field in competition with them, and, at least in the most civilised parts of the State, not entirely without success. In no case do the castemen receive cloths from classes lower in social rank than the Sūdras, and this is pointed to with pride as one of the causes which keep them in their present elevated scale. It need hardly be said that, in their traditional occupation, the Veluttēdans are largely and materially assisted by their females, the Veluttēdathis. They do not live in a group together, but are conveniently scattered about, so as to avoid competition one with another. Their main profession is, in many cases, supplemented by agriculture. There are absolutely no educated men among them, and, as long as machine-laundries are not introduced into the country, they have no reason to abandon the profession of their forefathers in pursuit of alien ones. In the matter of food anddrink, as also in their dress and ornaments, they resemble the Nāyars. Clothes, it may be mentioned, are never bought by Veluttēdans, as they are always in possession, though temporarily, of other peoples’ apparel. Tattooing prevails only in South Travancore. They cannot enter Brāhmanical shrines, but are permitted to stand outside the talakkal or stone-paved walk round the inner sanctuary, by which the image is taken in daily procession. Besides standing here and worshipping the higher Hindu deities, they also engage in the propitiation of the minor village deities. There are two headmen in each village, who punish social delinquents, and preside over caste ceremonials. On the twenty-eighth day after the birth of a child, the name-giving ceremony is performed, and a thread is tied round the infant’s neck. Those who can afford it celebrate the first food-giving. The tāli-tying and sambandham ceremonies are performed separately, just like Nāyars. The former is known as muhurtham or auspicious occasion. The marriage badge is called unta minnu or puliyilla minnu. The details of the marriage ceremony do not differ from those of the Nāyars. The ayani unu, bhūtakkalam, appam poli, and avaltitti are all important items, and, at least in South Travancore, seldom failed to be gone through. In poor families the mother, without any formal ceremonial, ties the tāli of the girl before she is twelve years old, after an oblation of cooked food to the rising sun. This is called Bhagavan tāli, or god’s marriage ornament. Freedom of divorce and remarriage exist. The pulikuti (tamarind) is an indispensable ceremonial, to be gone through by a pregnant woman. Inheritance devolves in the female line (marumakkattāyam). The clothes washed by Veluttēdans are used by Nambūtiri Brāhmans, without previous washing as on the east coast, for allreligious purposes; and clothes polluted by a member of a low caste are purified by the Veluttēdan sprinkling ashes and water over them.Vēmu(margosa or nīm:Melia Azadirachta).—An exogamous sept of Mūka Dora.Vēngai Puli(cruel-handed tiger).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Veralu Ichē Kāpuluor Vēlu Ichē Kāpulu (those who dedicate their fingers).—SeeMorasu.Vēshya(Sansk: Bēshya).—A name denoting prostitute, applied to dancing-girls.Vētagiri.—A Tamil class found in the Chingleput district. The members thereof are employed in hunting, cultivation, and the manufacture of wild date baskets. Their title is Nāyakan.Vettaikāran(hunter).—An occupational name of Bōyas, Irulas, and Koravas, returned at times of census.Vettile(betel vine:Piper Betle).—A kothu or tree of Kondaiyamkotti Maravans.Vettiyān.—Vettiyān is the name applied to one of the officials of a Tamil Paraiyan settlement, who is also called Tōti or Thōtti. The former title is said to be more respectful as an appellation than the latter, but this is a distinction without a difference.63The name Vettiyān is said to be equivalent to Bittiyān (bitti, for nothing), or one who does service,e.g., collecting grass, firewood, etc., without remuneration. Tōti is derived from thott, to go round, as he is the purveyor of news, and has to summon people to appear before the village tribunal, or from tondu, to dig.The duties of the Vettiyān are multifarious. He it is who goes round the rice fields, and diverts thewater-courses to the various fields, according to the rights of the ryots (agriculturists). The Vettiyān beats the drum for public notices and ceremonies. As a servant of Government, he has to carry the revenue which has been collected to the treasury. He is sometimes entrusted with large sums of money, and has never been known to abscond with it. It is said that the Village Munsiff will trust the Vettiyān, but not the Taliāri, who is never sent alone with money. The Vettiyān is in charge of the burial ground, and those who repair thither have to pay him for his services. He is also the grave-digger, and officiates when a Paraiyan corpse is burnt or buried. Hence the Tamil proverb against meddling in what ought to be left to some one else:—“Let the Vettiyān and corpse struggle together.” At a Paraiyan funeral, the Vettiyān, in some places, carries the pot of fire to the grave. To bring down rain, some of the lower classes, instead of addressing their prayers to the rain-god Varuna, try to induce a spirit or dēvata named Kodumpāvi (wicked one) to send her paramour Sukra to the affected area. The belief seems to be that Sukra goes away to his concubine for about six months, and, if he does not return, drought ensues. The ceremony consists in making a huge figure of Kodumpāvi in clay, which is placed on a cart, and dragged through the streets for seven to ten days. On the last day, the final death ceremonies of the figure are celebrated. It is disfigured, especially in those parts which are usually concealed. Vettiyāns, who have been shaved, accompany the figure, and perform the funeral ceremonies. This procedure is believed to put Kodumpāvi to shame, and to get her to induce Sukra to return and stay the drought.At Paraiyan marriages certain pots are worshipped, and it is, in some places, the Vettiyān who says “Thesun, the moon, the pots, and the owner of the girl have come to the marriage booth. So make haste, and fill the pots with water.”The office of the Vettiyān village official is hereditary, and the holder of it is entitled to some respect among his brethren, and to certain emoluments in kind,e.g., grain at the harvest season. There is a proverb that “whatever may be the wealth of the lord who comes to rule over him, his duty of supplying him with a bundle of grass is not to cease.” This relates to the demands which were, and perhaps are still, made on him in rural parts of the country. In some places, lands, called Vettiyān Māniyam, are given rent-free to Vettiyāns.The Vettiyān is said to possess the right of removing dead cattle from villages, and in return to supply leather for agricultural purposes. He is further said to make drum heads and tom-toms from raw hides.64The Vettiyāns belong to the right-hand section during disputes between the right and left hand factions.Vēttuvan.—The Tamil Vēttuvans are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “an agricultural and hunting caste, found mainly in Salem, Coimbatore, and Madura. The name means ‘a hunter.’ They are probably of the same stock as the Vēdans, though the exact connection is not clear, but they now consider themselves superior to that caste, and are even taking to calling themselves Vēttuva Vellālas. Tradition says that the Konga kings invited Vēttuvans from the Chōla and Pāndya countries to assist them against the Kēralas. Another story says that the caste helped the Chōla king Aditya Varma to conquer the Kongu country during the latter part of the ninth century. In paragraph 538 ofthe Census Report, 1891, reference is made to the belief that the Vēdans are identical with the Veddahs of Ceylon. In connection with this supposition, it is reported that the Vēttuvans worship a goddess called Kandi-Amman, which may possibly mean ‘the goddess of Kandy’ (in Ceylon). Of the endogamous sections into which the caste is divided, the most numerically important are Venganchi, Kilangu (root), Pasari, Viragu (firewood), Pannādai (sheath of the cocoanut leaf), and Villi (bow). They have their own barbers, who seem also to form a separate sub-division, and are called Vēttuva Ambattans or Nāvidans, both of which words mean barber. They are said to refuse to serve any one lower than a Konga Vellāla. Nominally they are Hindus, but they are said to worship the seven Kannimars, or aboriginal goddesses, to whom the Irulas also pay homage. They eat meat and drink alcohol, though some of those who are endeavouring to increase their social repute are taking to vegetarianism. Widow marriage is forbidden. They either burn or bury the dead, but no ceremonies are performed for deceased ancestors. Their customs are thus a curious mixture of those followed by high castes and low ones. Their ordinary title is Kavandan.”Of the Malayālam Vēttuvans, who live in Malabar and the southern portion of the South Canara district, it is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that they are “agricultural serfs, shikāris (hunters), and collectors of forest produce, who live in the Malabar jungles. They have two endogamous sub-divisions, called Kodi and Peringala. The former keep their hair long, and their women wear a cloth. The latter have top-knots, and their women dress in leaves, which they wear only round their waists, and renew daily. The latter are an unclean set of people, who live in rudebamboo and reed huts, and will eat anything down to carrion. Yet they consider themselves superior to Cherumans and Pulaiyans, and are careful not to be polluted by them. This same name is also borne by a class of masons and salt-workers in the low country in Malabar.”The Malabar Vēttuvans are said to have a fantastic legend, showing that they were not originally as low as they are at the present day in the social scale. “It is related that one of their tribe went and asked a high-caste Nāyar to give him a daughter in marriage. The Nāyar offered to do so on condition that the whole tribe would come to his place and dance on berries, each one who fell to be shot with arrows. The tribe foolishly agreed to the condition, and went and danced, with the result that, as each one tripped and fell, he or she was mercilessly shot dead with arrows. A little girl who survived this treatment was secretly rescued, and taken away by a compassionate Nāyar, who married her into his family. From this union, the present day Vēttuvans affirm their origin is to be traced. Up to this day they hold the caste of that particular Nāyar in very great veneration.”65The costume of these Vēttuvans has been described as follows.66“The men wear a short loin-cloth, secured round the waist by a belt which is also used as a sling during hunting expeditions. They also wear brass ear-rings, and grow a bit of moustache, and a little stumpy beard. The dress of the women consists of three clusters of long leaves, suspended from the waist and tied on by a cheap girdle. According to a tribal legend, when, in the morning of time, costumes were being distributed by the deity to the various races of the earth,the Vettuva women, being asked to choose between a costume which needed to be changed daily, and one which needed to be changed only yearly, readily expressed a preference for the former, and the deity, considering this an unpardonable piece of vanity, decreed that thenceforth the women should dress in leaves gathered fresh every morning. Whenever it is suggested to them that they should adopt some more lasting apparel, the Vettuva women answer that they are carrying out the mandate of the deity, and can abandon their present dress only if the deity appears in person, and sanctions a change.”On the occasion of a recent visit of the Governor of Madras to South Canara, a party of Vēttuvans was paraded before him. One of the men was wearing an aluminium coronation medal, and, on being asked by the Collector who had given it to him, he folded his arms obsequiously, and replied ‘My Tamburan’ (landlord).In a recent note on the leaf-wearing Vēttuvans, it is stated that “they believe that the sun travels, after it has set, through a hole in the bowels of the earth, and emerges at morning in the east. The way they calculate time is interesting. A Vēttuvan says that his children were born when his master sowed paddy (rice) on such and such hills. They are a very truthful lot, of good moral character, the chastity of their womankind being held very sacred.”The Malabar Vēttuvans are summed up by Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar67as being “not exactly slaves, but their social position justifies their classification amongst the slave races. They live on the cocoanut plantations of the Nairs, and other well-to-do classes.They lead a hand-to-hand existence on the wages which they obtain for hedging and fencing cocoanut plantations, plucking cocoanuts, tilling, and other allied work. They live, with their wives and children, and sometimes other relations as well, in houses small but more decent-looking than the mere huts of the other lower classes. In point of caste restrictions they are certainly better circumstanced; and their daily contact with the higher classes in the ordinary concerns of life affords them greater facilities for increased knowledge and civilisation than their brother citizens of the slave races enjoy. They are much addicted to toddy-drinking, but their principal food is rice. Their condition is never so intolerably wretched as that of the other classes. They are sometimes employed by cultivators for agricultural purposes. Their females occupy themselves in the fields during the harvest season, but they also make thatch for houses of cocoanut leaves woven after a set model during the thatching season about December or January. Their males wear ear-rings of brass, and their females adorn themselves with nose, finger, and neck ornaments of brass or beads. The one piece of cloth supplied annually by the masters, to whose plantations they are attached, forms the dress both for males and females, which they tie round their waists. They do not eat carrion, but are exceedingly fond of fish, the flesh of the civet, and the rat, and of some other animals not generally eaten by other classes. They observe death pollution like the higher classes of Malabar, and the period of observance varies according to the particular class or caste, to which their masters belong. For instance, if they belong to a Nair’s plantation, such period is fifteen days, and, if to a Brahmin’s, it is ten days; Nairs and Brahmins observing pollution for these periodsrespectively. The priests who officiate at their ceremonials are selected from among their own tribesmen or Enangers, whose express recognition is necessary to give validity to the performance of the ceremony. Their marriage customs are very like those of the Tiyyars, excepting that the feasting and revelry are not so pompous in their case. Like the Nairs, they retain the front knot. The only offences of general occurrence among them are petty cases of theft of cocoanuts, plantains, areca nuts, and roots of common occurrence. The Vettuvans believe in a Supreme Creator, whom they name and invoke as Paduchathampuram,i.e., the king who created us. Likewise, they believe in certain evil deities, to whom they make offerings at particular times of the year. They are not, like the other classes, distinguished by loyalty to their masters, but are a very ungrateful sect, and their very name, viz., Nambu Vettuvan, has passed into a bye-word for ingratitude of all kinds.”It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that “the Vēttuvans of Chirakkal taluk are a low caste of jungle cultivators and basket makers, distinguished by the survival amongst their women of the custom of dressing in leaves, their only clothing being a kind of double fan-shaped apron of leaves tied round the waist with a rolled cloth. They live in huts made of split bamboo and thatched with elephant grass, called kudumbus. The Vēttuvans are divided into fourteen illams, which seem to be named after the house names of the janmis (landlords) whom they serve. Their headmen, who are appointed by their janmis, are called Kirān, or sometimes Parakutti (drummer). Amongst the Vēttuvans, when labour begins, the woman is put in a hole dug in a corner of the hut, and left there alone with some water till the cry of the child is heard.”For the following note on the Vēttuvans of the Cochin State, I am indebted to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar.68“The Vettuvans are also called Vettuva Pulayas. They are pure agricultural labourers, taking part in every kind of work connected with agriculture, such as ploughing, sowing, weeding, transplanting, pumping water, and reaping. They are more day labourers. The males get two edangazhis of paddy (hardly worth 2 annas), and the females an edangazhi and a half. In times of scarcity, they find it difficult to support themselves.“When an unmarried woman becomes pregnant, her parents, as soon as they become aware of the fact, inform their local headman (Kanakkan or Kuruppan), who convenes a meeting of the elderly members of the community for the purpose of summoning the secret lover, and prosecuting the necessary enquiries. In the event of the confession of the charge, he is asked to marry her. The matter does not end there. They go to the local Thandan, and relate to him the incident, who thereupon gives him water in a vessel (kindi vellam). The woman is asked to drink this as well as some cow-dunged water, and is then made to let flow a few drops of blood from the body. After this he says ‘dhosham thirnu’ (free from guilt). Should, however, the lover be unwilling to marry her, he is thrashed and placed under a ban. If they are related to each other, they are both turned out of caste. The woman who is freed from guilt can marry again. The Thandan gets as his perquisite four annas out of the fine imposed, four packets of betel leaf, eight areca nuts, and three tobacco leaves. Theirheadman also has a share of the fine, etc. The balance which then remains is spent on toddy, and beaten rice for those assembled.Vēttuvans.Vēttuvans.“The Vettuvans profess the lower forms of Hinduism. Their chief gods are Chevva, Chathan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, Kappiri and Kandakaranan, and also Namburi Thamburan. They give regular offerings to them, lest the gods should become angry, and cause serious calamities to the members of their families. Images of gods are made of bell-metal, and worshipped in their huts. The deceased ancestors are also worshipped as gods, to whom are given a different kind of offerings. Toddy is an indispensable item in their offerings to them. In Ooragam and its neighbourhood, when I took my notes on the Vettuvans, I was told that there was no tree-tapping, and that toddy brought to them for sale was largely adulterated with water, and very costly. Their gods were very angry, for they were not satisfied with it. They caused fever, deafness, blindness, and other disorders. They worship Kāli also. Kumbhom Bharani is an important festival to them. On the morning of this day, tunes are played in honour of the goddess. There are special songs called Thottampattu. Sacrifices are offered to the deity very early. A pūja (worship) is also performed for the sword, anklets, and bells worn round the loins, all placed in front of the deity, and songs are again sung. One of them turns a Velichchapād (oracle), who speaks as if by inspiration. Wearing the above ornaments, they go to a temple, in front of which they empty out on a mat a few paras of paddy, and again play and sing.“The funeral ceremonies of the Vettuvans are somewhat elaborate. When a member of the caste breathes his last, his relations, friends, and othercastemen of the kara (settlement) are all informed of the event. They attend, and take part in the obsequies. The dead body is bathed, and dressed in a piece of new cloth. Some gold, rubbed on a stone in water, is poured into his mouth by his sons and daughters. Karuvanguka, or Gurutvam Vanguka, is an important ceremony performed by his sons and daughters. It consists in taking sixteen small bits of plantain leaves, with some rice on each, and placing them on the forehead, neck, chest, loins, thighs, hands, legs, feet, etc., washing the last two, and collecting the water, which is taken in by the members junior to him in the family. After this, the dead body is placed on the bier, which is carried by four persons to the grave. The nearest relatives of the family, four in number, called Bhedakars, with a mundu (cloth) tied round their heads, walk in front of the procession. The grave is dug, and a new cloth is spread, and the corpse laid on it. It is filled in with layers of earth and stones, to prevent dogs and jackals from disturbing the dead body. All those who have accompanied the chief mourner bathe, and return home. The members of the family fast for the night. The eldest son, who is the chief mourner, bathes in the early morning, and offers the pinda bali (offering of rice) to the spirit of the departed for fifteen days. On the seventh day, the chief mourner, and the Enangan, go to the graveyard, and level the slightly raised part of the grave. A piece of stone, kept near the foot, is taken, and placed on a leaf. Some toddy, arrack (alcoholic liquor) and water of the tender cocoanut, are poured over it as offerings. By some magic, the spirit is supposed to be living in it. It is brought home, and placed in a cocoanut shell containing oil mixed with turmeric, and kept outside the hut until the pollution isover. The pollution lasts for fifteen days, and on the night of the fifteenth day they fast. On the morning of the sixteenth day, all the castemen of the kara who are invited bring with them rice, curry-stuffs, and toddy. Rubbing themselves with oil, they all go to bathe, after which the Enangan sprinkles cowdunged water, to show that they are freed from pollution. The stone is also purified by a dip in water, and then brought home. Those who have assembled are fed, and then depart. The chief mourner, who has to perform the diksha, does not shave for a year, bathes in the early morning, and offers the bali before going to work. This he continues for a year, at the end of which he gets himself shaved, and celebrates a feast called masam in honour of the departed. The stone, representing the deceased, is placed on a seat in a conspicuous part of the hut. An image of wood or copper sometimes takes its place. It is thenceforward worshipped, and believed to watch over the welfare of the family. Regular offerings are given to it on Karkadagom and Thulam Sankranthi, Ōnam, Vishu, and the festival day of the local temple.“The castes below the Vettuvans are Pulayan, Nayādi, and Ullatan. They consider themselves superior to Pulayas, and are careful not to be polluted by them. A Vettuvan who is polluted by a Nayādi or Ulladan fasts for seven days, subsisting on water, tender cocoanuts, and toddy. On the eighth day he bathes, and takes his regular meals. As the Vettuvans are Chandalars, any distance less than sixty-four feet will pollute the higher castes. They stand at a distance of twenty-four feet from Kammālar. Nayādis and Ullatans stand far from them. Owing to their disabilities and low wages, many turn either Christians or Muhammadans, and work for wages of two and a half to three annas a day.”There is a class of people in Malabar called Vettan or Vettuvan, which must not be confused with the jungle Vēttuvan. These people were, it is said,69“once salt-makers, and are now masons, earth-workers, and quarrymen. They are said to be divided into two classes, the marumakkattāyam (with inheritance in the female line) regarded as indigenous to Malabar, and the makkattāyam (with inheritance from father to son), said to be immigrants from the south.”Vibhāka Gunta.—Recorded in the Madras Census Report as “a low class of wandering beggars; clubbed with Māla.” Some Mālas in the Vizagapatam district possess gunta mānyams, or petty fields, and supplement their income by begging.Vignēsvara.—A synonym for the elephant god Ganēsa, which occurs as a gōtra of Nagarālu. The equivalent Vināyaka is a gōtra of Mēdara.Vilkurup.—The Vilkuruppu or Vilkollakuruppu are the priests and barbers of the Malayālam Kammālans, and also makers of umbrellas and bows (vil) and arrows. In former times they supplied the latter articles for the Malabar Infantry. Malabar and Travancore are, par excellence, the home of the palm-leaf umbrella, which still holds its own against umbrellas of European manufacture, which were, in 1904–1905, imported into India to the value of Rs. 18,95,064. A native policeman, protecting himself from the sun with a long-handled palm umbrella, is a common object in towns and villages on the west coast.Concerning the Vilkurups of the Cochin State, Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar writes as follows.70“In former times, their occupations were training low caste men to arms and athletic feats, to use sticks in fighting,and also to the use of bows and arrows, and pial school teaching. In these days of civilisation, their services are no longer required for these purposes, and they are employed in shampooing, umbrella making, and quarrying laterite stones for building purposes. In Nāyar families, during tāli-tying ceremonies, they have to give a bow and a few arrows. During the Ōnam festival also, they have to give a bow and arrows to every Nāyar house, for which they get some paddy (rice), curry stuffs, a cocoanut, and some oil. When they are called in for shampooing, three oils are well boiled, and cooled. The patient lies on a plank, oil is poured over him, and every part of his body is well shampooed, and afterwards he is bathed in water boiled with medicinal herbs. The Vilkurups eat at the hands of Brāhmans, Nāyars, Izhuvans, and Kammālans, but abstain from taking the food of barbers, washermen, Pānāns, Kaniyans, and other low castes. They have to stand at a distance of thirty-two feet from Brāhmans and Nāyars. Pulayans and Parayans have to stand at a great distance. They live in localities occupied by the Izhuvans. They cannot approach the Brāhman temples, but have to stand far away from the outer wall. They are their own barbers and washermen.”Villasan(bowmen).—A synonym of Malayalām Kammālans, who formerly had to supply bows and arrows for the Travancore army.Villi.—Villi (bow) or Villiyan (bowmen) has been recorded as a synonym of the Irulas of Chingleput. Villi also occurs as a sub-division of Vēttuvan, a hunting caste of the Tamil country.Villu Vēdan(huntsmen using bows).—A synonym of Eravallar.Vīlyakāra.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a sub-caste of Sērvēgāra or Kōtēgāra.”Vīlyakāra, Vālēkāra and Olēkārā are names indicating the occupation of a servant under Government or a private individual.Vinka(white-ant:Termites).—An exogamous sept of Jātapu.Vipravinōdi.—In a note on the Vipravinōdis, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes that they are said to be the descendants of a Brāhman by a Lingāyat woman. They are Lingāyats, and are called Vipravinōdi because they perform acrobatic feats before Vipras, or Brāhmans. They generally travel about the country with their wives and children. One of their favourite feats is throwing up three stone or wooden balls in the air, and catching them, or rolling them over various parts of the body. When they perform before a mixed audience, they call themselves Naravidya vāru, which is said to be an abbreviated form of Narulu Mechchē Vidyalu Chēsē vāru, or those who perform feats which men praise. The dead are buried in a sitting posture.Vīrabhadra.—A synonym of the Tamil washermen (Vannān), whose patron deity is Vīrabhadra, from whom they claim descent.Viragu(firewood).—A sub-division of Vēttuvan.Virakudiyān.—A synonym of Panisavans, who are engaged in blowing the conch shell on ceremonial occasions.Vīrala(heroes).—An exogamous sept of Golla and Kāpu.Vīra Māgāli(a god).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Vīramushti.—For the following account of the Vīramushtis in the Vizagapatam district, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao.They are Lingāyats, but do not, as a rule, wear the lingam, as it is the custom to postpone initiation until death, when the linga is tied on the corpse by a Jangam before it is buried. Those who are initiated during life wear the linga suspended from the neck. The Vīramushtis seem to have several sub-divisions,e.g., Nāga Mallika (Rhinacanthus communis), the roots of which are believed to cure snake-bite, Puccha Kaya (Citrullus Colocynthis), Triputa (Ipomœa Turpethum), and Ramadosa (Cucumis Melo).Girls are married before or after puberty. The mēnarikam custom, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is observed. A vōli (bride-price) of sixteen rupees, or half a tola of gold, in the form of jewelry, is given to the bride.The Vīramushtis are professional acrobats and mendicants, and are attached to the Dēvāngas and Kōmatis. The following legends are current to account for their connection with these castes. In days gone by, there was, in a big town, a great Lingāyat mutt (monastery) named Basavanna Mandiram, presided over by a Jangam priest named Basavanna. The mutt contained three hundred crores of Lingāyat priests, and great wealth was stored in it. This the Vīrāmushtis guarded against thieves. A Telaga, Chikayya by name, who was a professional thief, determined to plunder the mutt, in order to satisfy his mistress. One night, when the Vīramushtis were fast asleep, he entered the mutt, but, when he saw a number of Jangams engaged in devout worship, he abandoned his project, and determined to turn Lingāyat. Accordingly, at day-break, he advanced to the place where the head of the mutt was seated, made known to him who he was, and informed him of his resolution. Opinions were divided as to the fitness ofreceiving such an applicant, but it was finally decided that, if a man repented, he was a fit person to be received into the Lingāyat fold, as the linga recognises no caste. The linga was accordingly tied on his neck. From that time Chikayya became a new man and a true Jangam, and went from place to place visiting sacred shrines. One day he happened to be at a place where lived a merchant prince, who never dined except in the company of a Jangam. On the suggestion of his wife Nīlakuntaladēvi, an invitation to dine was sent to Chikayya, who accepted it. After dinner, the merchant went out on business, and Nīlakuntaladēvi, noticing what a beautiful man Chikayya was, fell in love with him. He, however, rejected her advances, and ran away, leaving his knapsack behind him. Nīlakuntaladēvi cut off her golden necklace, and, having placed it in the knapsack, ran after Chikayya, and threw it at him, asking him to accept it. She then inflicted several cuts on herself, and, as soon as her husband returned home, complained that the Jangam had stolen her necklace, and attempted to ravish her. Information was sent to Basayya, the head of the mutt, and a council meeting summoned, at which it was decided that Chikayya should have his head cut off. The order to carry out this act was given to the Vīramushtis, who went in search of him, and at last found him beneath the shade of a tree overhanging the bank of a river, engaged in worshipping his linga, which was in his hand. On searching the knapsack, they found the necklace, and proceeded to cut off Chikayya’s head, which went several hundred feet up into the air, and travelled towards the mutt, whither the headless trunk followed on foot. On their return to the mutt, the Vīramushtis found that the three hundred crores of priests had been miraculously beheaded, and the placewas a vast pool of blood. As soon, however, as the head and body of Chikayya approached, they became re-united, and Siva, appearing on the scene, translated him to kylās (heaven). At the same time, he restored the priests to life, and inflicted the following four curses on the Vīramushtis:—(1) they were not to build or use houses, and are consequently found living under trees outside villages; (2) they were not to sleep on a cot; (3) they were not to use the wild broom-stick; (4) they were not to set up permanent ovens for cooking purposes, but to make impromptu stoves out of three stones. Taking compassion on them, the Dēvāngas promised to give the Vīramushtis a small sum of money annually, and to contribute towards their marriage expenses.
Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa.Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa.In connection with the sub-divisions of the Vellālas, Mr. Hemingway, in a note on the Vellālas of the Trichinopoly district, gives some still further information. “The Kondaikattis are so-called from the peculiar way in which they used to wear their hair—a custom no longer observed. They are split into two sections, called Mēlnādu and Kīlnādu (westerns and easterns). The Dakshināttāns (south country men) are immigrants from Tinnevelly. The members of the Kāraikkāttar sub-division in the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk are rather looked down on by other Vellālans as being a mixed race, and are also somewhat contemptuously called Yeruttu-māttu (pack-bullocks), because, in their professional calling, they formerly used pack-bullocks. They have a curious custom by which a girl’s maternal uncle ties a tāli (marriage badge) round her neck when she is seven or eight years old. The Panjukkāra Chettis live in the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk. The name is an occupational one, and denotes cotton-men, but they are not at the present day connected with the cotton trade. TheSōlapūram (or Chōlapūram) Chettis are apparently called after the village of that name in the Kumbakonam tāluk of Tanjore. The Sōlias (or Chōlias) are numerous and ubiquitous. They are generally regarded as of doubtful descent, sinceparvenus, who wish to be considered Vellālans, usually claim to belong to this sub-division. The more respectable Pandārams, the Thambirans who own temples and matams, and the Oduvar or Ādi Saivāl, belong to the Sōzhia section. The Uttunāttu sub-division is local in origin. Its head-quarters is the country round Uttatūr. The members thereof are the special devotees of the Siva of that place. The Arunāttus (six nādus) are also called Mottai (shaved) Vellālans, apparently because they always shave their moustache, and wear only a very small kudumi (hair-knot). Some of their customs are unlike those of the rest of the caste. They have exogamous septs, their widows always dress in white and wear no ornaments (a rule not universally observed in any other sub-division), they never marry their sister’s daughter, and their wives wear the tāli (marriage badge), like the Panta Reddis, on a golden thread. Of their six nādus, three of which are supposed to have been located on each side of the Aiyār river, only two are now recognised. These are the Sērkudi nādu in Nāmakkal tāluk and the Omandūr nādu of Musiri. The Yēlūr (seven villages) Vellālas are very few and far between. There is a small colony of Tuluvas, engaged in dyeing, at Illuppūr. The Malaikandas are only found near the Ratnagiri hill in the Kulittalai tāluk. They take their name from the fact that they are required to look at the Ratnagiri hill when they get up in the morning. They are devotees of the god there. The Kāniyālans (landowners) are scarce, but widely distributed, since the man who carriesthe pot of blood, when animals are sacrificed at festivals to the village goddesses, must belong to this sub-division. The Kodikkal Vellālans are so-called from their occupation of betel cultivation, which they still pursue largely.”The Konga Vellālas differ so strikingly from the rest in many of their customs that a separate account of them is given. (SeeKonga Vellāla.)It is noted by Mr. Hemingway that some Vellālas “observe a curious custom (derived from Brāhmans) with regard to marriage, which is not unknown among other communities. A man marrying a second wife after the death of his first has to marry a plantain tree, and cut it down before tying the tāli, and, in the case of a third marriage, a man has to tie a tāli first to the erukkan (arka:Calotropis gigantea) plant. The idea is that second and fourth wives do not prosper, and the tree and the plant are accordingly made to take their places.”A peculiar ceremony, called Sevvai (Tuesday) Pillayar, is performed by some Vellāla women. It is also called Avvai Nonbu, because the Tamil poetess observed it. The ceremony takes place twice in the year, on a Tuesday in the months of Thai (February-March) and Audi (August-September). It is held at midnight, and no males, even babies in arms, may be present at it, or eat the cakes which are offered. A certain number of women club together, and provide the necessary rice, which is measured on the back of the hand, or in a measure similar to those used by Madras milk-sellers, in which the bottom is fixed high up in the cylinder. At the house where the ceremony is to be performed the rice is pounded into flour, and mixed with leaves ofPongamia glabraand margosa (Melia Azadirachta). The mixture is then made intocakes, some flat, and some conical, to represent Pillayar (Ganēsa). Flowers, fruits, betel, turmeric, combs, kunkumam (red powder), and other articles required in connection with the Pillayar worship, are also taken to the room in which the rites are performed. Of these it has been impossible to gather an account, as the women refused to describe them, lest ruin should fall on their families. Some say that, during the ceremony, the women are stark-naked.In an account of an annual ceremony at Trichinopoly in connection with the festival of Kulumai Amman, who is the guardian deity against epidemics, Bishop Whitehead records62that “a very fat pujāri (priest) of the Vellāla caste is lifted up above the vast crowd on the arms of two men. Some two thousand kids are then sacrificed, one after the other. The blood of the first eight or nine is collected in a large silver vessel holding about a quart, and handed up to the pujāri, who drinks it. Then, as the throat of each kid is cut, the animal is handed up to him, and he sucks, or pretends to suck the blood out of the carcase.”Of proverbs relating to the Vellālas, the following may be cited:—Agriculture is no agriculture, unless it is performed by the Vellālas.The Vellāla ruined himself by gaudy dress; the courtesan ruined herself by coquetry and affectation.Of all the sections of the Sūdras, the Vellāla is foremost; and, of all the thefts committed in the world, those of the Kallans are most notorious.Though you may face an evil star, never oppose a Vellāla.Though apparently the Vellāla will not ruin you, the palm leaf, on which he writes about you, will certainly ruin you for ever.In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Vellāla is recorded as a caste of Jains. In this connection, it is noted by Mr. Hemingway that the Naināns or Nāyinārs (q.v.) and the Kāraikkāttans of the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk are thought to be descended from Jains who were converted to the Hindu faith.Vellān Chetti.—A name, denoting Vellāla merchant, taken by some Vellālas.Velli(silver).—SeeBelli.Velnāti.—A sub-division of Kāpu, named after the old Velnādu division of the Telugu country.Veloma.—Defined as “one of the two classes of Sūdras, viz., Anuloma and Veloma. The term Veloma is applied to those born of a lower caste male and higher caste female.”Veluttēdan.—The Veluttēdan is defined in the Madras Census Report, 1891, as “the washerman of the Nāyars and higher castes in Malabar. He calls himself a Nāyar, and, in many cases, was returned as of that main caste, but these have been separated in abstraction. The caste is called Vannattān in North Malabar. The Veluttēdans follow the marumakkatāyam law of inheritance in the north, and makkatāyam in the south. They have tāli-kettu and sambandham separately. Their dress and habits are the same as those of Nāyars.” In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bannata is given as a Canarese synonym for the caste name. In the Travancore and Cochin Census Reports, 1901, Veluttētan and Veluthēdan are given respectively as an occupational title and sub-division of Nāyars.For the following note on the Veluttēdans of Travancore, I am indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar. The name is believed to signify a place where clothes are bleached. In the early Settlement Records the designation recorded is Ayavu, in all probability an old synonym for washing. The South Travancore Veluttēdans are said to be divided into two endogamous septs, Paravūr and Attingal, with four exogamous septs in each; but these distinctions may be said to have now lost their vigour and force. There is a current tradition that once upon a time a Brāhman was washing cloths for a friend, and was on that account thrown out of caste by Parasurāma. The occupation of the Veluttēdans is washing cloths for all high-caste Hindus down to the Sūdras, in which profession, for neatness and purity at any rate, if not for promptitude, they stand above the Vannāns and Chayakkārans of the east coast, both of whom have now entered the field in competition with them, and, at least in the most civilised parts of the State, not entirely without success. In no case do the castemen receive cloths from classes lower in social rank than the Sūdras, and this is pointed to with pride as one of the causes which keep them in their present elevated scale. It need hardly be said that, in their traditional occupation, the Veluttēdans are largely and materially assisted by their females, the Veluttēdathis. They do not live in a group together, but are conveniently scattered about, so as to avoid competition one with another. Their main profession is, in many cases, supplemented by agriculture. There are absolutely no educated men among them, and, as long as machine-laundries are not introduced into the country, they have no reason to abandon the profession of their forefathers in pursuit of alien ones. In the matter of food anddrink, as also in their dress and ornaments, they resemble the Nāyars. Clothes, it may be mentioned, are never bought by Veluttēdans, as they are always in possession, though temporarily, of other peoples’ apparel. Tattooing prevails only in South Travancore. They cannot enter Brāhmanical shrines, but are permitted to stand outside the talakkal or stone-paved walk round the inner sanctuary, by which the image is taken in daily procession. Besides standing here and worshipping the higher Hindu deities, they also engage in the propitiation of the minor village deities. There are two headmen in each village, who punish social delinquents, and preside over caste ceremonials. On the twenty-eighth day after the birth of a child, the name-giving ceremony is performed, and a thread is tied round the infant’s neck. Those who can afford it celebrate the first food-giving. The tāli-tying and sambandham ceremonies are performed separately, just like Nāyars. The former is known as muhurtham or auspicious occasion. The marriage badge is called unta minnu or puliyilla minnu. The details of the marriage ceremony do not differ from those of the Nāyars. The ayani unu, bhūtakkalam, appam poli, and avaltitti are all important items, and, at least in South Travancore, seldom failed to be gone through. In poor families the mother, without any formal ceremonial, ties the tāli of the girl before she is twelve years old, after an oblation of cooked food to the rising sun. This is called Bhagavan tāli, or god’s marriage ornament. Freedom of divorce and remarriage exist. The pulikuti (tamarind) is an indispensable ceremonial, to be gone through by a pregnant woman. Inheritance devolves in the female line (marumakkattāyam). The clothes washed by Veluttēdans are used by Nambūtiri Brāhmans, without previous washing as on the east coast, for allreligious purposes; and clothes polluted by a member of a low caste are purified by the Veluttēdan sprinkling ashes and water over them.Vēmu(margosa or nīm:Melia Azadirachta).—An exogamous sept of Mūka Dora.Vēngai Puli(cruel-handed tiger).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Veralu Ichē Kāpuluor Vēlu Ichē Kāpulu (those who dedicate their fingers).—SeeMorasu.Vēshya(Sansk: Bēshya).—A name denoting prostitute, applied to dancing-girls.Vētagiri.—A Tamil class found in the Chingleput district. The members thereof are employed in hunting, cultivation, and the manufacture of wild date baskets. Their title is Nāyakan.Vettaikāran(hunter).—An occupational name of Bōyas, Irulas, and Koravas, returned at times of census.Vettile(betel vine:Piper Betle).—A kothu or tree of Kondaiyamkotti Maravans.Vettiyān.—Vettiyān is the name applied to one of the officials of a Tamil Paraiyan settlement, who is also called Tōti or Thōtti. The former title is said to be more respectful as an appellation than the latter, but this is a distinction without a difference.63The name Vettiyān is said to be equivalent to Bittiyān (bitti, for nothing), or one who does service,e.g., collecting grass, firewood, etc., without remuneration. Tōti is derived from thott, to go round, as he is the purveyor of news, and has to summon people to appear before the village tribunal, or from tondu, to dig.The duties of the Vettiyān are multifarious. He it is who goes round the rice fields, and diverts thewater-courses to the various fields, according to the rights of the ryots (agriculturists). The Vettiyān beats the drum for public notices and ceremonies. As a servant of Government, he has to carry the revenue which has been collected to the treasury. He is sometimes entrusted with large sums of money, and has never been known to abscond with it. It is said that the Village Munsiff will trust the Vettiyān, but not the Taliāri, who is never sent alone with money. The Vettiyān is in charge of the burial ground, and those who repair thither have to pay him for his services. He is also the grave-digger, and officiates when a Paraiyan corpse is burnt or buried. Hence the Tamil proverb against meddling in what ought to be left to some one else:—“Let the Vettiyān and corpse struggle together.” At a Paraiyan funeral, the Vettiyān, in some places, carries the pot of fire to the grave. To bring down rain, some of the lower classes, instead of addressing their prayers to the rain-god Varuna, try to induce a spirit or dēvata named Kodumpāvi (wicked one) to send her paramour Sukra to the affected area. The belief seems to be that Sukra goes away to his concubine for about six months, and, if he does not return, drought ensues. The ceremony consists in making a huge figure of Kodumpāvi in clay, which is placed on a cart, and dragged through the streets for seven to ten days. On the last day, the final death ceremonies of the figure are celebrated. It is disfigured, especially in those parts which are usually concealed. Vettiyāns, who have been shaved, accompany the figure, and perform the funeral ceremonies. This procedure is believed to put Kodumpāvi to shame, and to get her to induce Sukra to return and stay the drought.At Paraiyan marriages certain pots are worshipped, and it is, in some places, the Vettiyān who says “Thesun, the moon, the pots, and the owner of the girl have come to the marriage booth. So make haste, and fill the pots with water.”The office of the Vettiyān village official is hereditary, and the holder of it is entitled to some respect among his brethren, and to certain emoluments in kind,e.g., grain at the harvest season. There is a proverb that “whatever may be the wealth of the lord who comes to rule over him, his duty of supplying him with a bundle of grass is not to cease.” This relates to the demands which were, and perhaps are still, made on him in rural parts of the country. In some places, lands, called Vettiyān Māniyam, are given rent-free to Vettiyāns.The Vettiyān is said to possess the right of removing dead cattle from villages, and in return to supply leather for agricultural purposes. He is further said to make drum heads and tom-toms from raw hides.64The Vettiyāns belong to the right-hand section during disputes between the right and left hand factions.Vēttuvan.—The Tamil Vēttuvans are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “an agricultural and hunting caste, found mainly in Salem, Coimbatore, and Madura. The name means ‘a hunter.’ They are probably of the same stock as the Vēdans, though the exact connection is not clear, but they now consider themselves superior to that caste, and are even taking to calling themselves Vēttuva Vellālas. Tradition says that the Konga kings invited Vēttuvans from the Chōla and Pāndya countries to assist them against the Kēralas. Another story says that the caste helped the Chōla king Aditya Varma to conquer the Kongu country during the latter part of the ninth century. In paragraph 538 ofthe Census Report, 1891, reference is made to the belief that the Vēdans are identical with the Veddahs of Ceylon. In connection with this supposition, it is reported that the Vēttuvans worship a goddess called Kandi-Amman, which may possibly mean ‘the goddess of Kandy’ (in Ceylon). Of the endogamous sections into which the caste is divided, the most numerically important are Venganchi, Kilangu (root), Pasari, Viragu (firewood), Pannādai (sheath of the cocoanut leaf), and Villi (bow). They have their own barbers, who seem also to form a separate sub-division, and are called Vēttuva Ambattans or Nāvidans, both of which words mean barber. They are said to refuse to serve any one lower than a Konga Vellāla. Nominally they are Hindus, but they are said to worship the seven Kannimars, or aboriginal goddesses, to whom the Irulas also pay homage. They eat meat and drink alcohol, though some of those who are endeavouring to increase their social repute are taking to vegetarianism. Widow marriage is forbidden. They either burn or bury the dead, but no ceremonies are performed for deceased ancestors. Their customs are thus a curious mixture of those followed by high castes and low ones. Their ordinary title is Kavandan.”Of the Malayālam Vēttuvans, who live in Malabar and the southern portion of the South Canara district, it is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that they are “agricultural serfs, shikāris (hunters), and collectors of forest produce, who live in the Malabar jungles. They have two endogamous sub-divisions, called Kodi and Peringala. The former keep their hair long, and their women wear a cloth. The latter have top-knots, and their women dress in leaves, which they wear only round their waists, and renew daily. The latter are an unclean set of people, who live in rudebamboo and reed huts, and will eat anything down to carrion. Yet they consider themselves superior to Cherumans and Pulaiyans, and are careful not to be polluted by them. This same name is also borne by a class of masons and salt-workers in the low country in Malabar.”The Malabar Vēttuvans are said to have a fantastic legend, showing that they were not originally as low as they are at the present day in the social scale. “It is related that one of their tribe went and asked a high-caste Nāyar to give him a daughter in marriage. The Nāyar offered to do so on condition that the whole tribe would come to his place and dance on berries, each one who fell to be shot with arrows. The tribe foolishly agreed to the condition, and went and danced, with the result that, as each one tripped and fell, he or she was mercilessly shot dead with arrows. A little girl who survived this treatment was secretly rescued, and taken away by a compassionate Nāyar, who married her into his family. From this union, the present day Vēttuvans affirm their origin is to be traced. Up to this day they hold the caste of that particular Nāyar in very great veneration.”65The costume of these Vēttuvans has been described as follows.66“The men wear a short loin-cloth, secured round the waist by a belt which is also used as a sling during hunting expeditions. They also wear brass ear-rings, and grow a bit of moustache, and a little stumpy beard. The dress of the women consists of three clusters of long leaves, suspended from the waist and tied on by a cheap girdle. According to a tribal legend, when, in the morning of time, costumes were being distributed by the deity to the various races of the earth,the Vettuva women, being asked to choose between a costume which needed to be changed daily, and one which needed to be changed only yearly, readily expressed a preference for the former, and the deity, considering this an unpardonable piece of vanity, decreed that thenceforth the women should dress in leaves gathered fresh every morning. Whenever it is suggested to them that they should adopt some more lasting apparel, the Vettuva women answer that they are carrying out the mandate of the deity, and can abandon their present dress only if the deity appears in person, and sanctions a change.”On the occasion of a recent visit of the Governor of Madras to South Canara, a party of Vēttuvans was paraded before him. One of the men was wearing an aluminium coronation medal, and, on being asked by the Collector who had given it to him, he folded his arms obsequiously, and replied ‘My Tamburan’ (landlord).In a recent note on the leaf-wearing Vēttuvans, it is stated that “they believe that the sun travels, after it has set, through a hole in the bowels of the earth, and emerges at morning in the east. The way they calculate time is interesting. A Vēttuvan says that his children were born when his master sowed paddy (rice) on such and such hills. They are a very truthful lot, of good moral character, the chastity of their womankind being held very sacred.”The Malabar Vēttuvans are summed up by Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar67as being “not exactly slaves, but their social position justifies their classification amongst the slave races. They live on the cocoanut plantations of the Nairs, and other well-to-do classes.They lead a hand-to-hand existence on the wages which they obtain for hedging and fencing cocoanut plantations, plucking cocoanuts, tilling, and other allied work. They live, with their wives and children, and sometimes other relations as well, in houses small but more decent-looking than the mere huts of the other lower classes. In point of caste restrictions they are certainly better circumstanced; and their daily contact with the higher classes in the ordinary concerns of life affords them greater facilities for increased knowledge and civilisation than their brother citizens of the slave races enjoy. They are much addicted to toddy-drinking, but their principal food is rice. Their condition is never so intolerably wretched as that of the other classes. They are sometimes employed by cultivators for agricultural purposes. Their females occupy themselves in the fields during the harvest season, but they also make thatch for houses of cocoanut leaves woven after a set model during the thatching season about December or January. Their males wear ear-rings of brass, and their females adorn themselves with nose, finger, and neck ornaments of brass or beads. The one piece of cloth supplied annually by the masters, to whose plantations they are attached, forms the dress both for males and females, which they tie round their waists. They do not eat carrion, but are exceedingly fond of fish, the flesh of the civet, and the rat, and of some other animals not generally eaten by other classes. They observe death pollution like the higher classes of Malabar, and the period of observance varies according to the particular class or caste, to which their masters belong. For instance, if they belong to a Nair’s plantation, such period is fifteen days, and, if to a Brahmin’s, it is ten days; Nairs and Brahmins observing pollution for these periodsrespectively. The priests who officiate at their ceremonials are selected from among their own tribesmen or Enangers, whose express recognition is necessary to give validity to the performance of the ceremony. Their marriage customs are very like those of the Tiyyars, excepting that the feasting and revelry are not so pompous in their case. Like the Nairs, they retain the front knot. The only offences of general occurrence among them are petty cases of theft of cocoanuts, plantains, areca nuts, and roots of common occurrence. The Vettuvans believe in a Supreme Creator, whom they name and invoke as Paduchathampuram,i.e., the king who created us. Likewise, they believe in certain evil deities, to whom they make offerings at particular times of the year. They are not, like the other classes, distinguished by loyalty to their masters, but are a very ungrateful sect, and their very name, viz., Nambu Vettuvan, has passed into a bye-word for ingratitude of all kinds.”It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that “the Vēttuvans of Chirakkal taluk are a low caste of jungle cultivators and basket makers, distinguished by the survival amongst their women of the custom of dressing in leaves, their only clothing being a kind of double fan-shaped apron of leaves tied round the waist with a rolled cloth. They live in huts made of split bamboo and thatched with elephant grass, called kudumbus. The Vēttuvans are divided into fourteen illams, which seem to be named after the house names of the janmis (landlords) whom they serve. Their headmen, who are appointed by their janmis, are called Kirān, or sometimes Parakutti (drummer). Amongst the Vēttuvans, when labour begins, the woman is put in a hole dug in a corner of the hut, and left there alone with some water till the cry of the child is heard.”For the following note on the Vēttuvans of the Cochin State, I am indebted to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar.68“The Vettuvans are also called Vettuva Pulayas. They are pure agricultural labourers, taking part in every kind of work connected with agriculture, such as ploughing, sowing, weeding, transplanting, pumping water, and reaping. They are more day labourers. The males get two edangazhis of paddy (hardly worth 2 annas), and the females an edangazhi and a half. In times of scarcity, they find it difficult to support themselves.“When an unmarried woman becomes pregnant, her parents, as soon as they become aware of the fact, inform their local headman (Kanakkan or Kuruppan), who convenes a meeting of the elderly members of the community for the purpose of summoning the secret lover, and prosecuting the necessary enquiries. In the event of the confession of the charge, he is asked to marry her. The matter does not end there. They go to the local Thandan, and relate to him the incident, who thereupon gives him water in a vessel (kindi vellam). The woman is asked to drink this as well as some cow-dunged water, and is then made to let flow a few drops of blood from the body. After this he says ‘dhosham thirnu’ (free from guilt). Should, however, the lover be unwilling to marry her, he is thrashed and placed under a ban. If they are related to each other, they are both turned out of caste. The woman who is freed from guilt can marry again. The Thandan gets as his perquisite four annas out of the fine imposed, four packets of betel leaf, eight areca nuts, and three tobacco leaves. Theirheadman also has a share of the fine, etc. The balance which then remains is spent on toddy, and beaten rice for those assembled.Vēttuvans.Vēttuvans.“The Vettuvans profess the lower forms of Hinduism. Their chief gods are Chevva, Chathan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, Kappiri and Kandakaranan, and also Namburi Thamburan. They give regular offerings to them, lest the gods should become angry, and cause serious calamities to the members of their families. Images of gods are made of bell-metal, and worshipped in their huts. The deceased ancestors are also worshipped as gods, to whom are given a different kind of offerings. Toddy is an indispensable item in their offerings to them. In Ooragam and its neighbourhood, when I took my notes on the Vettuvans, I was told that there was no tree-tapping, and that toddy brought to them for sale was largely adulterated with water, and very costly. Their gods were very angry, for they were not satisfied with it. They caused fever, deafness, blindness, and other disorders. They worship Kāli also. Kumbhom Bharani is an important festival to them. On the morning of this day, tunes are played in honour of the goddess. There are special songs called Thottampattu. Sacrifices are offered to the deity very early. A pūja (worship) is also performed for the sword, anklets, and bells worn round the loins, all placed in front of the deity, and songs are again sung. One of them turns a Velichchapād (oracle), who speaks as if by inspiration. Wearing the above ornaments, they go to a temple, in front of which they empty out on a mat a few paras of paddy, and again play and sing.“The funeral ceremonies of the Vettuvans are somewhat elaborate. When a member of the caste breathes his last, his relations, friends, and othercastemen of the kara (settlement) are all informed of the event. They attend, and take part in the obsequies. The dead body is bathed, and dressed in a piece of new cloth. Some gold, rubbed on a stone in water, is poured into his mouth by his sons and daughters. Karuvanguka, or Gurutvam Vanguka, is an important ceremony performed by his sons and daughters. It consists in taking sixteen small bits of plantain leaves, with some rice on each, and placing them on the forehead, neck, chest, loins, thighs, hands, legs, feet, etc., washing the last two, and collecting the water, which is taken in by the members junior to him in the family. After this, the dead body is placed on the bier, which is carried by four persons to the grave. The nearest relatives of the family, four in number, called Bhedakars, with a mundu (cloth) tied round their heads, walk in front of the procession. The grave is dug, and a new cloth is spread, and the corpse laid on it. It is filled in with layers of earth and stones, to prevent dogs and jackals from disturbing the dead body. All those who have accompanied the chief mourner bathe, and return home. The members of the family fast for the night. The eldest son, who is the chief mourner, bathes in the early morning, and offers the pinda bali (offering of rice) to the spirit of the departed for fifteen days. On the seventh day, the chief mourner, and the Enangan, go to the graveyard, and level the slightly raised part of the grave. A piece of stone, kept near the foot, is taken, and placed on a leaf. Some toddy, arrack (alcoholic liquor) and water of the tender cocoanut, are poured over it as offerings. By some magic, the spirit is supposed to be living in it. It is brought home, and placed in a cocoanut shell containing oil mixed with turmeric, and kept outside the hut until the pollution isover. The pollution lasts for fifteen days, and on the night of the fifteenth day they fast. On the morning of the sixteenth day, all the castemen of the kara who are invited bring with them rice, curry-stuffs, and toddy. Rubbing themselves with oil, they all go to bathe, after which the Enangan sprinkles cowdunged water, to show that they are freed from pollution. The stone is also purified by a dip in water, and then brought home. Those who have assembled are fed, and then depart. The chief mourner, who has to perform the diksha, does not shave for a year, bathes in the early morning, and offers the bali before going to work. This he continues for a year, at the end of which he gets himself shaved, and celebrates a feast called masam in honour of the departed. The stone, representing the deceased, is placed on a seat in a conspicuous part of the hut. An image of wood or copper sometimes takes its place. It is thenceforward worshipped, and believed to watch over the welfare of the family. Regular offerings are given to it on Karkadagom and Thulam Sankranthi, Ōnam, Vishu, and the festival day of the local temple.“The castes below the Vettuvans are Pulayan, Nayādi, and Ullatan. They consider themselves superior to Pulayas, and are careful not to be polluted by them. A Vettuvan who is polluted by a Nayādi or Ulladan fasts for seven days, subsisting on water, tender cocoanuts, and toddy. On the eighth day he bathes, and takes his regular meals. As the Vettuvans are Chandalars, any distance less than sixty-four feet will pollute the higher castes. They stand at a distance of twenty-four feet from Kammālar. Nayādis and Ullatans stand far from them. Owing to their disabilities and low wages, many turn either Christians or Muhammadans, and work for wages of two and a half to three annas a day.”There is a class of people in Malabar called Vettan or Vettuvan, which must not be confused with the jungle Vēttuvan. These people were, it is said,69“once salt-makers, and are now masons, earth-workers, and quarrymen. They are said to be divided into two classes, the marumakkattāyam (with inheritance in the female line) regarded as indigenous to Malabar, and the makkattāyam (with inheritance from father to son), said to be immigrants from the south.”Vibhāka Gunta.—Recorded in the Madras Census Report as “a low class of wandering beggars; clubbed with Māla.” Some Mālas in the Vizagapatam district possess gunta mānyams, or petty fields, and supplement their income by begging.Vignēsvara.—A synonym for the elephant god Ganēsa, which occurs as a gōtra of Nagarālu. The equivalent Vināyaka is a gōtra of Mēdara.Vilkurup.—The Vilkuruppu or Vilkollakuruppu are the priests and barbers of the Malayālam Kammālans, and also makers of umbrellas and bows (vil) and arrows. In former times they supplied the latter articles for the Malabar Infantry. Malabar and Travancore are, par excellence, the home of the palm-leaf umbrella, which still holds its own against umbrellas of European manufacture, which were, in 1904–1905, imported into India to the value of Rs. 18,95,064. A native policeman, protecting himself from the sun with a long-handled palm umbrella, is a common object in towns and villages on the west coast.Concerning the Vilkurups of the Cochin State, Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar writes as follows.70“In former times, their occupations were training low caste men to arms and athletic feats, to use sticks in fighting,and also to the use of bows and arrows, and pial school teaching. In these days of civilisation, their services are no longer required for these purposes, and they are employed in shampooing, umbrella making, and quarrying laterite stones for building purposes. In Nāyar families, during tāli-tying ceremonies, they have to give a bow and a few arrows. During the Ōnam festival also, they have to give a bow and arrows to every Nāyar house, for which they get some paddy (rice), curry stuffs, a cocoanut, and some oil. When they are called in for shampooing, three oils are well boiled, and cooled. The patient lies on a plank, oil is poured over him, and every part of his body is well shampooed, and afterwards he is bathed in water boiled with medicinal herbs. The Vilkurups eat at the hands of Brāhmans, Nāyars, Izhuvans, and Kammālans, but abstain from taking the food of barbers, washermen, Pānāns, Kaniyans, and other low castes. They have to stand at a distance of thirty-two feet from Brāhmans and Nāyars. Pulayans and Parayans have to stand at a great distance. They live in localities occupied by the Izhuvans. They cannot approach the Brāhman temples, but have to stand far away from the outer wall. They are their own barbers and washermen.”Villasan(bowmen).—A synonym of Malayalām Kammālans, who formerly had to supply bows and arrows for the Travancore army.Villi.—Villi (bow) or Villiyan (bowmen) has been recorded as a synonym of the Irulas of Chingleput. Villi also occurs as a sub-division of Vēttuvan, a hunting caste of the Tamil country.Villu Vēdan(huntsmen using bows).—A synonym of Eravallar.Vīlyakāra.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a sub-caste of Sērvēgāra or Kōtēgāra.”Vīlyakāra, Vālēkāra and Olēkārā are names indicating the occupation of a servant under Government or a private individual.Vinka(white-ant:Termites).—An exogamous sept of Jātapu.Vipravinōdi.—In a note on the Vipravinōdis, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes that they are said to be the descendants of a Brāhman by a Lingāyat woman. They are Lingāyats, and are called Vipravinōdi because they perform acrobatic feats before Vipras, or Brāhmans. They generally travel about the country with their wives and children. One of their favourite feats is throwing up three stone or wooden balls in the air, and catching them, or rolling them over various parts of the body. When they perform before a mixed audience, they call themselves Naravidya vāru, which is said to be an abbreviated form of Narulu Mechchē Vidyalu Chēsē vāru, or those who perform feats which men praise. The dead are buried in a sitting posture.Vīrabhadra.—A synonym of the Tamil washermen (Vannān), whose patron deity is Vīrabhadra, from whom they claim descent.Viragu(firewood).—A sub-division of Vēttuvan.Virakudiyān.—A synonym of Panisavans, who are engaged in blowing the conch shell on ceremonial occasions.Vīrala(heroes).—An exogamous sept of Golla and Kāpu.Vīra Māgāli(a god).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Vīramushti.—For the following account of the Vīramushtis in the Vizagapatam district, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao.They are Lingāyats, but do not, as a rule, wear the lingam, as it is the custom to postpone initiation until death, when the linga is tied on the corpse by a Jangam before it is buried. Those who are initiated during life wear the linga suspended from the neck. The Vīramushtis seem to have several sub-divisions,e.g., Nāga Mallika (Rhinacanthus communis), the roots of which are believed to cure snake-bite, Puccha Kaya (Citrullus Colocynthis), Triputa (Ipomœa Turpethum), and Ramadosa (Cucumis Melo).Girls are married before or after puberty. The mēnarikam custom, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is observed. A vōli (bride-price) of sixteen rupees, or half a tola of gold, in the form of jewelry, is given to the bride.The Vīramushtis are professional acrobats and mendicants, and are attached to the Dēvāngas and Kōmatis. The following legends are current to account for their connection with these castes. In days gone by, there was, in a big town, a great Lingāyat mutt (monastery) named Basavanna Mandiram, presided over by a Jangam priest named Basavanna. The mutt contained three hundred crores of Lingāyat priests, and great wealth was stored in it. This the Vīrāmushtis guarded against thieves. A Telaga, Chikayya by name, who was a professional thief, determined to plunder the mutt, in order to satisfy his mistress. One night, when the Vīramushtis were fast asleep, he entered the mutt, but, when he saw a number of Jangams engaged in devout worship, he abandoned his project, and determined to turn Lingāyat. Accordingly, at day-break, he advanced to the place where the head of the mutt was seated, made known to him who he was, and informed him of his resolution. Opinions were divided as to the fitness ofreceiving such an applicant, but it was finally decided that, if a man repented, he was a fit person to be received into the Lingāyat fold, as the linga recognises no caste. The linga was accordingly tied on his neck. From that time Chikayya became a new man and a true Jangam, and went from place to place visiting sacred shrines. One day he happened to be at a place where lived a merchant prince, who never dined except in the company of a Jangam. On the suggestion of his wife Nīlakuntaladēvi, an invitation to dine was sent to Chikayya, who accepted it. After dinner, the merchant went out on business, and Nīlakuntaladēvi, noticing what a beautiful man Chikayya was, fell in love with him. He, however, rejected her advances, and ran away, leaving his knapsack behind him. Nīlakuntaladēvi cut off her golden necklace, and, having placed it in the knapsack, ran after Chikayya, and threw it at him, asking him to accept it. She then inflicted several cuts on herself, and, as soon as her husband returned home, complained that the Jangam had stolen her necklace, and attempted to ravish her. Information was sent to Basayya, the head of the mutt, and a council meeting summoned, at which it was decided that Chikayya should have his head cut off. The order to carry out this act was given to the Vīramushtis, who went in search of him, and at last found him beneath the shade of a tree overhanging the bank of a river, engaged in worshipping his linga, which was in his hand. On searching the knapsack, they found the necklace, and proceeded to cut off Chikayya’s head, which went several hundred feet up into the air, and travelled towards the mutt, whither the headless trunk followed on foot. On their return to the mutt, the Vīramushtis found that the three hundred crores of priests had been miraculously beheaded, and the placewas a vast pool of blood. As soon, however, as the head and body of Chikayya approached, they became re-united, and Siva, appearing on the scene, translated him to kylās (heaven). At the same time, he restored the priests to life, and inflicted the following four curses on the Vīramushtis:—(1) they were not to build or use houses, and are consequently found living under trees outside villages; (2) they were not to sleep on a cot; (3) they were not to use the wild broom-stick; (4) they were not to set up permanent ovens for cooking purposes, but to make impromptu stoves out of three stones. Taking compassion on them, the Dēvāngas promised to give the Vīramushtis a small sum of money annually, and to contribute towards their marriage expenses.
Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa.Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa.
Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa.
In connection with the sub-divisions of the Vellālas, Mr. Hemingway, in a note on the Vellālas of the Trichinopoly district, gives some still further information. “The Kondaikattis are so-called from the peculiar way in which they used to wear their hair—a custom no longer observed. They are split into two sections, called Mēlnādu and Kīlnādu (westerns and easterns). The Dakshināttāns (south country men) are immigrants from Tinnevelly. The members of the Kāraikkāttar sub-division in the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk are rather looked down on by other Vellālans as being a mixed race, and are also somewhat contemptuously called Yeruttu-māttu (pack-bullocks), because, in their professional calling, they formerly used pack-bullocks. They have a curious custom by which a girl’s maternal uncle ties a tāli (marriage badge) round her neck when she is seven or eight years old. The Panjukkāra Chettis live in the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk. The name is an occupational one, and denotes cotton-men, but they are not at the present day connected with the cotton trade. TheSōlapūram (or Chōlapūram) Chettis are apparently called after the village of that name in the Kumbakonam tāluk of Tanjore. The Sōlias (or Chōlias) are numerous and ubiquitous. They are generally regarded as of doubtful descent, sinceparvenus, who wish to be considered Vellālans, usually claim to belong to this sub-division. The more respectable Pandārams, the Thambirans who own temples and matams, and the Oduvar or Ādi Saivāl, belong to the Sōzhia section. The Uttunāttu sub-division is local in origin. Its head-quarters is the country round Uttatūr. The members thereof are the special devotees of the Siva of that place. The Arunāttus (six nādus) are also called Mottai (shaved) Vellālans, apparently because they always shave their moustache, and wear only a very small kudumi (hair-knot). Some of their customs are unlike those of the rest of the caste. They have exogamous septs, their widows always dress in white and wear no ornaments (a rule not universally observed in any other sub-division), they never marry their sister’s daughter, and their wives wear the tāli (marriage badge), like the Panta Reddis, on a golden thread. Of their six nādus, three of which are supposed to have been located on each side of the Aiyār river, only two are now recognised. These are the Sērkudi nādu in Nāmakkal tāluk and the Omandūr nādu of Musiri. The Yēlūr (seven villages) Vellālas are very few and far between. There is a small colony of Tuluvas, engaged in dyeing, at Illuppūr. The Malaikandas are only found near the Ratnagiri hill in the Kulittalai tāluk. They take their name from the fact that they are required to look at the Ratnagiri hill when they get up in the morning. They are devotees of the god there. The Kāniyālans (landowners) are scarce, but widely distributed, since the man who carriesthe pot of blood, when animals are sacrificed at festivals to the village goddesses, must belong to this sub-division. The Kodikkal Vellālans are so-called from their occupation of betel cultivation, which they still pursue largely.”
The Konga Vellālas differ so strikingly from the rest in many of their customs that a separate account of them is given. (SeeKonga Vellāla.)
It is noted by Mr. Hemingway that some Vellālas “observe a curious custom (derived from Brāhmans) with regard to marriage, which is not unknown among other communities. A man marrying a second wife after the death of his first has to marry a plantain tree, and cut it down before tying the tāli, and, in the case of a third marriage, a man has to tie a tāli first to the erukkan (arka:Calotropis gigantea) plant. The idea is that second and fourth wives do not prosper, and the tree and the plant are accordingly made to take their places.”
A peculiar ceremony, called Sevvai (Tuesday) Pillayar, is performed by some Vellāla women. It is also called Avvai Nonbu, because the Tamil poetess observed it. The ceremony takes place twice in the year, on a Tuesday in the months of Thai (February-March) and Audi (August-September). It is held at midnight, and no males, even babies in arms, may be present at it, or eat the cakes which are offered. A certain number of women club together, and provide the necessary rice, which is measured on the back of the hand, or in a measure similar to those used by Madras milk-sellers, in which the bottom is fixed high up in the cylinder. At the house where the ceremony is to be performed the rice is pounded into flour, and mixed with leaves ofPongamia glabraand margosa (Melia Azadirachta). The mixture is then made intocakes, some flat, and some conical, to represent Pillayar (Ganēsa). Flowers, fruits, betel, turmeric, combs, kunkumam (red powder), and other articles required in connection with the Pillayar worship, are also taken to the room in which the rites are performed. Of these it has been impossible to gather an account, as the women refused to describe them, lest ruin should fall on their families. Some say that, during the ceremony, the women are stark-naked.
In an account of an annual ceremony at Trichinopoly in connection with the festival of Kulumai Amman, who is the guardian deity against epidemics, Bishop Whitehead records62that “a very fat pujāri (priest) of the Vellāla caste is lifted up above the vast crowd on the arms of two men. Some two thousand kids are then sacrificed, one after the other. The blood of the first eight or nine is collected in a large silver vessel holding about a quart, and handed up to the pujāri, who drinks it. Then, as the throat of each kid is cut, the animal is handed up to him, and he sucks, or pretends to suck the blood out of the carcase.”
Of proverbs relating to the Vellālas, the following may be cited:—
Agriculture is no agriculture, unless it is performed by the Vellālas.
The Vellāla ruined himself by gaudy dress; the courtesan ruined herself by coquetry and affectation.
Of all the sections of the Sūdras, the Vellāla is foremost; and, of all the thefts committed in the world, those of the Kallans are most notorious.
Though you may face an evil star, never oppose a Vellāla.
Though apparently the Vellāla will not ruin you, the palm leaf, on which he writes about you, will certainly ruin you for ever.
In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Vellāla is recorded as a caste of Jains. In this connection, it is noted by Mr. Hemingway that the Naināns or Nāyinārs (q.v.) and the Kāraikkāttans of the Udaiyarpālaiyam tāluk are thought to be descended from Jains who were converted to the Hindu faith.
Vellān Chetti.—A name, denoting Vellāla merchant, taken by some Vellālas.
Velli(silver).—SeeBelli.
Velnāti.—A sub-division of Kāpu, named after the old Velnādu division of the Telugu country.
Veloma.—Defined as “one of the two classes of Sūdras, viz., Anuloma and Veloma. The term Veloma is applied to those born of a lower caste male and higher caste female.”
Veluttēdan.—The Veluttēdan is defined in the Madras Census Report, 1891, as “the washerman of the Nāyars and higher castes in Malabar. He calls himself a Nāyar, and, in many cases, was returned as of that main caste, but these have been separated in abstraction. The caste is called Vannattān in North Malabar. The Veluttēdans follow the marumakkatāyam law of inheritance in the north, and makkatāyam in the south. They have tāli-kettu and sambandham separately. Their dress and habits are the same as those of Nāyars.” In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bannata is given as a Canarese synonym for the caste name. In the Travancore and Cochin Census Reports, 1901, Veluttētan and Veluthēdan are given respectively as an occupational title and sub-division of Nāyars.
For the following note on the Veluttēdans of Travancore, I am indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar. The name is believed to signify a place where clothes are bleached. In the early Settlement Records the designation recorded is Ayavu, in all probability an old synonym for washing. The South Travancore Veluttēdans are said to be divided into two endogamous septs, Paravūr and Attingal, with four exogamous septs in each; but these distinctions may be said to have now lost their vigour and force. There is a current tradition that once upon a time a Brāhman was washing cloths for a friend, and was on that account thrown out of caste by Parasurāma. The occupation of the Veluttēdans is washing cloths for all high-caste Hindus down to the Sūdras, in which profession, for neatness and purity at any rate, if not for promptitude, they stand above the Vannāns and Chayakkārans of the east coast, both of whom have now entered the field in competition with them, and, at least in the most civilised parts of the State, not entirely without success. In no case do the castemen receive cloths from classes lower in social rank than the Sūdras, and this is pointed to with pride as one of the causes which keep them in their present elevated scale. It need hardly be said that, in their traditional occupation, the Veluttēdans are largely and materially assisted by their females, the Veluttēdathis. They do not live in a group together, but are conveniently scattered about, so as to avoid competition one with another. Their main profession is, in many cases, supplemented by agriculture. There are absolutely no educated men among them, and, as long as machine-laundries are not introduced into the country, they have no reason to abandon the profession of their forefathers in pursuit of alien ones. In the matter of food anddrink, as also in their dress and ornaments, they resemble the Nāyars. Clothes, it may be mentioned, are never bought by Veluttēdans, as they are always in possession, though temporarily, of other peoples’ apparel. Tattooing prevails only in South Travancore. They cannot enter Brāhmanical shrines, but are permitted to stand outside the talakkal or stone-paved walk round the inner sanctuary, by which the image is taken in daily procession. Besides standing here and worshipping the higher Hindu deities, they also engage in the propitiation of the minor village deities. There are two headmen in each village, who punish social delinquents, and preside over caste ceremonials. On the twenty-eighth day after the birth of a child, the name-giving ceremony is performed, and a thread is tied round the infant’s neck. Those who can afford it celebrate the first food-giving. The tāli-tying and sambandham ceremonies are performed separately, just like Nāyars. The former is known as muhurtham or auspicious occasion. The marriage badge is called unta minnu or puliyilla minnu. The details of the marriage ceremony do not differ from those of the Nāyars. The ayani unu, bhūtakkalam, appam poli, and avaltitti are all important items, and, at least in South Travancore, seldom failed to be gone through. In poor families the mother, without any formal ceremonial, ties the tāli of the girl before she is twelve years old, after an oblation of cooked food to the rising sun. This is called Bhagavan tāli, or god’s marriage ornament. Freedom of divorce and remarriage exist. The pulikuti (tamarind) is an indispensable ceremonial, to be gone through by a pregnant woman. Inheritance devolves in the female line (marumakkattāyam). The clothes washed by Veluttēdans are used by Nambūtiri Brāhmans, without previous washing as on the east coast, for allreligious purposes; and clothes polluted by a member of a low caste are purified by the Veluttēdan sprinkling ashes and water over them.
Vēmu(margosa or nīm:Melia Azadirachta).—An exogamous sept of Mūka Dora.
Vēngai Puli(cruel-handed tiger).—An exogamous section of Kallan.
Veralu Ichē Kāpuluor Vēlu Ichē Kāpulu (those who dedicate their fingers).—SeeMorasu.
Vēshya(Sansk: Bēshya).—A name denoting prostitute, applied to dancing-girls.
Vētagiri.—A Tamil class found in the Chingleput district. The members thereof are employed in hunting, cultivation, and the manufacture of wild date baskets. Their title is Nāyakan.
Vettaikāran(hunter).—An occupational name of Bōyas, Irulas, and Koravas, returned at times of census.
Vettile(betel vine:Piper Betle).—A kothu or tree of Kondaiyamkotti Maravans.
Vettiyān.—Vettiyān is the name applied to one of the officials of a Tamil Paraiyan settlement, who is also called Tōti or Thōtti. The former title is said to be more respectful as an appellation than the latter, but this is a distinction without a difference.63The name Vettiyān is said to be equivalent to Bittiyān (bitti, for nothing), or one who does service,e.g., collecting grass, firewood, etc., without remuneration. Tōti is derived from thott, to go round, as he is the purveyor of news, and has to summon people to appear before the village tribunal, or from tondu, to dig.
The duties of the Vettiyān are multifarious. He it is who goes round the rice fields, and diverts thewater-courses to the various fields, according to the rights of the ryots (agriculturists). The Vettiyān beats the drum for public notices and ceremonies. As a servant of Government, he has to carry the revenue which has been collected to the treasury. He is sometimes entrusted with large sums of money, and has never been known to abscond with it. It is said that the Village Munsiff will trust the Vettiyān, but not the Taliāri, who is never sent alone with money. The Vettiyān is in charge of the burial ground, and those who repair thither have to pay him for his services. He is also the grave-digger, and officiates when a Paraiyan corpse is burnt or buried. Hence the Tamil proverb against meddling in what ought to be left to some one else:—“Let the Vettiyān and corpse struggle together.” At a Paraiyan funeral, the Vettiyān, in some places, carries the pot of fire to the grave. To bring down rain, some of the lower classes, instead of addressing their prayers to the rain-god Varuna, try to induce a spirit or dēvata named Kodumpāvi (wicked one) to send her paramour Sukra to the affected area. The belief seems to be that Sukra goes away to his concubine for about six months, and, if he does not return, drought ensues. The ceremony consists in making a huge figure of Kodumpāvi in clay, which is placed on a cart, and dragged through the streets for seven to ten days. On the last day, the final death ceremonies of the figure are celebrated. It is disfigured, especially in those parts which are usually concealed. Vettiyāns, who have been shaved, accompany the figure, and perform the funeral ceremonies. This procedure is believed to put Kodumpāvi to shame, and to get her to induce Sukra to return and stay the drought.
At Paraiyan marriages certain pots are worshipped, and it is, in some places, the Vettiyān who says “Thesun, the moon, the pots, and the owner of the girl have come to the marriage booth. So make haste, and fill the pots with water.”
The office of the Vettiyān village official is hereditary, and the holder of it is entitled to some respect among his brethren, and to certain emoluments in kind,e.g., grain at the harvest season. There is a proverb that “whatever may be the wealth of the lord who comes to rule over him, his duty of supplying him with a bundle of grass is not to cease.” This relates to the demands which were, and perhaps are still, made on him in rural parts of the country. In some places, lands, called Vettiyān Māniyam, are given rent-free to Vettiyāns.
The Vettiyān is said to possess the right of removing dead cattle from villages, and in return to supply leather for agricultural purposes. He is further said to make drum heads and tom-toms from raw hides.64
The Vettiyāns belong to the right-hand section during disputes between the right and left hand factions.
Vēttuvan.—The Tamil Vēttuvans are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “an agricultural and hunting caste, found mainly in Salem, Coimbatore, and Madura. The name means ‘a hunter.’ They are probably of the same stock as the Vēdans, though the exact connection is not clear, but they now consider themselves superior to that caste, and are even taking to calling themselves Vēttuva Vellālas. Tradition says that the Konga kings invited Vēttuvans from the Chōla and Pāndya countries to assist them against the Kēralas. Another story says that the caste helped the Chōla king Aditya Varma to conquer the Kongu country during the latter part of the ninth century. In paragraph 538 ofthe Census Report, 1891, reference is made to the belief that the Vēdans are identical with the Veddahs of Ceylon. In connection with this supposition, it is reported that the Vēttuvans worship a goddess called Kandi-Amman, which may possibly mean ‘the goddess of Kandy’ (in Ceylon). Of the endogamous sections into which the caste is divided, the most numerically important are Venganchi, Kilangu (root), Pasari, Viragu (firewood), Pannādai (sheath of the cocoanut leaf), and Villi (bow). They have their own barbers, who seem also to form a separate sub-division, and are called Vēttuva Ambattans or Nāvidans, both of which words mean barber. They are said to refuse to serve any one lower than a Konga Vellāla. Nominally they are Hindus, but they are said to worship the seven Kannimars, or aboriginal goddesses, to whom the Irulas also pay homage. They eat meat and drink alcohol, though some of those who are endeavouring to increase their social repute are taking to vegetarianism. Widow marriage is forbidden. They either burn or bury the dead, but no ceremonies are performed for deceased ancestors. Their customs are thus a curious mixture of those followed by high castes and low ones. Their ordinary title is Kavandan.”
Of the Malayālam Vēttuvans, who live in Malabar and the southern portion of the South Canara district, it is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that they are “agricultural serfs, shikāris (hunters), and collectors of forest produce, who live in the Malabar jungles. They have two endogamous sub-divisions, called Kodi and Peringala. The former keep their hair long, and their women wear a cloth. The latter have top-knots, and their women dress in leaves, which they wear only round their waists, and renew daily. The latter are an unclean set of people, who live in rudebamboo and reed huts, and will eat anything down to carrion. Yet they consider themselves superior to Cherumans and Pulaiyans, and are careful not to be polluted by them. This same name is also borne by a class of masons and salt-workers in the low country in Malabar.”
The Malabar Vēttuvans are said to have a fantastic legend, showing that they were not originally as low as they are at the present day in the social scale. “It is related that one of their tribe went and asked a high-caste Nāyar to give him a daughter in marriage. The Nāyar offered to do so on condition that the whole tribe would come to his place and dance on berries, each one who fell to be shot with arrows. The tribe foolishly agreed to the condition, and went and danced, with the result that, as each one tripped and fell, he or she was mercilessly shot dead with arrows. A little girl who survived this treatment was secretly rescued, and taken away by a compassionate Nāyar, who married her into his family. From this union, the present day Vēttuvans affirm their origin is to be traced. Up to this day they hold the caste of that particular Nāyar in very great veneration.”65The costume of these Vēttuvans has been described as follows.66“The men wear a short loin-cloth, secured round the waist by a belt which is also used as a sling during hunting expeditions. They also wear brass ear-rings, and grow a bit of moustache, and a little stumpy beard. The dress of the women consists of three clusters of long leaves, suspended from the waist and tied on by a cheap girdle. According to a tribal legend, when, in the morning of time, costumes were being distributed by the deity to the various races of the earth,the Vettuva women, being asked to choose between a costume which needed to be changed daily, and one which needed to be changed only yearly, readily expressed a preference for the former, and the deity, considering this an unpardonable piece of vanity, decreed that thenceforth the women should dress in leaves gathered fresh every morning. Whenever it is suggested to them that they should adopt some more lasting apparel, the Vettuva women answer that they are carrying out the mandate of the deity, and can abandon their present dress only if the deity appears in person, and sanctions a change.”
On the occasion of a recent visit of the Governor of Madras to South Canara, a party of Vēttuvans was paraded before him. One of the men was wearing an aluminium coronation medal, and, on being asked by the Collector who had given it to him, he folded his arms obsequiously, and replied ‘My Tamburan’ (landlord).
In a recent note on the leaf-wearing Vēttuvans, it is stated that “they believe that the sun travels, after it has set, through a hole in the bowels of the earth, and emerges at morning in the east. The way they calculate time is interesting. A Vēttuvan says that his children were born when his master sowed paddy (rice) on such and such hills. They are a very truthful lot, of good moral character, the chastity of their womankind being held very sacred.”
The Malabar Vēttuvans are summed up by Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar67as being “not exactly slaves, but their social position justifies their classification amongst the slave races. They live on the cocoanut plantations of the Nairs, and other well-to-do classes.They lead a hand-to-hand existence on the wages which they obtain for hedging and fencing cocoanut plantations, plucking cocoanuts, tilling, and other allied work. They live, with their wives and children, and sometimes other relations as well, in houses small but more decent-looking than the mere huts of the other lower classes. In point of caste restrictions they are certainly better circumstanced; and their daily contact with the higher classes in the ordinary concerns of life affords them greater facilities for increased knowledge and civilisation than their brother citizens of the slave races enjoy. They are much addicted to toddy-drinking, but their principal food is rice. Their condition is never so intolerably wretched as that of the other classes. They are sometimes employed by cultivators for agricultural purposes. Their females occupy themselves in the fields during the harvest season, but they also make thatch for houses of cocoanut leaves woven after a set model during the thatching season about December or January. Their males wear ear-rings of brass, and their females adorn themselves with nose, finger, and neck ornaments of brass or beads. The one piece of cloth supplied annually by the masters, to whose plantations they are attached, forms the dress both for males and females, which they tie round their waists. They do not eat carrion, but are exceedingly fond of fish, the flesh of the civet, and the rat, and of some other animals not generally eaten by other classes. They observe death pollution like the higher classes of Malabar, and the period of observance varies according to the particular class or caste, to which their masters belong. For instance, if they belong to a Nair’s plantation, such period is fifteen days, and, if to a Brahmin’s, it is ten days; Nairs and Brahmins observing pollution for these periodsrespectively. The priests who officiate at their ceremonials are selected from among their own tribesmen or Enangers, whose express recognition is necessary to give validity to the performance of the ceremony. Their marriage customs are very like those of the Tiyyars, excepting that the feasting and revelry are not so pompous in their case. Like the Nairs, they retain the front knot. The only offences of general occurrence among them are petty cases of theft of cocoanuts, plantains, areca nuts, and roots of common occurrence. The Vettuvans believe in a Supreme Creator, whom they name and invoke as Paduchathampuram,i.e., the king who created us. Likewise, they believe in certain evil deities, to whom they make offerings at particular times of the year. They are not, like the other classes, distinguished by loyalty to their masters, but are a very ungrateful sect, and their very name, viz., Nambu Vettuvan, has passed into a bye-word for ingratitude of all kinds.”
It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that “the Vēttuvans of Chirakkal taluk are a low caste of jungle cultivators and basket makers, distinguished by the survival amongst their women of the custom of dressing in leaves, their only clothing being a kind of double fan-shaped apron of leaves tied round the waist with a rolled cloth. They live in huts made of split bamboo and thatched with elephant grass, called kudumbus. The Vēttuvans are divided into fourteen illams, which seem to be named after the house names of the janmis (landlords) whom they serve. Their headmen, who are appointed by their janmis, are called Kirān, or sometimes Parakutti (drummer). Amongst the Vēttuvans, when labour begins, the woman is put in a hole dug in a corner of the hut, and left there alone with some water till the cry of the child is heard.”For the following note on the Vēttuvans of the Cochin State, I am indebted to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar.68
“The Vettuvans are also called Vettuva Pulayas. They are pure agricultural labourers, taking part in every kind of work connected with agriculture, such as ploughing, sowing, weeding, transplanting, pumping water, and reaping. They are more day labourers. The males get two edangazhis of paddy (hardly worth 2 annas), and the females an edangazhi and a half. In times of scarcity, they find it difficult to support themselves.
“When an unmarried woman becomes pregnant, her parents, as soon as they become aware of the fact, inform their local headman (Kanakkan or Kuruppan), who convenes a meeting of the elderly members of the community for the purpose of summoning the secret lover, and prosecuting the necessary enquiries. In the event of the confession of the charge, he is asked to marry her. The matter does not end there. They go to the local Thandan, and relate to him the incident, who thereupon gives him water in a vessel (kindi vellam). The woman is asked to drink this as well as some cow-dunged water, and is then made to let flow a few drops of blood from the body. After this he says ‘dhosham thirnu’ (free from guilt). Should, however, the lover be unwilling to marry her, he is thrashed and placed under a ban. If they are related to each other, they are both turned out of caste. The woman who is freed from guilt can marry again. The Thandan gets as his perquisite four annas out of the fine imposed, four packets of betel leaf, eight areca nuts, and three tobacco leaves. Theirheadman also has a share of the fine, etc. The balance which then remains is spent on toddy, and beaten rice for those assembled.
Vēttuvans.Vēttuvans.
Vēttuvans.
“The Vettuvans profess the lower forms of Hinduism. Their chief gods are Chevva, Chathan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, Kappiri and Kandakaranan, and also Namburi Thamburan. They give regular offerings to them, lest the gods should become angry, and cause serious calamities to the members of their families. Images of gods are made of bell-metal, and worshipped in their huts. The deceased ancestors are also worshipped as gods, to whom are given a different kind of offerings. Toddy is an indispensable item in their offerings to them. In Ooragam and its neighbourhood, when I took my notes on the Vettuvans, I was told that there was no tree-tapping, and that toddy brought to them for sale was largely adulterated with water, and very costly. Their gods were very angry, for they were not satisfied with it. They caused fever, deafness, blindness, and other disorders. They worship Kāli also. Kumbhom Bharani is an important festival to them. On the morning of this day, tunes are played in honour of the goddess. There are special songs called Thottampattu. Sacrifices are offered to the deity very early. A pūja (worship) is also performed for the sword, anklets, and bells worn round the loins, all placed in front of the deity, and songs are again sung. One of them turns a Velichchapād (oracle), who speaks as if by inspiration. Wearing the above ornaments, they go to a temple, in front of which they empty out on a mat a few paras of paddy, and again play and sing.
“The funeral ceremonies of the Vettuvans are somewhat elaborate. When a member of the caste breathes his last, his relations, friends, and othercastemen of the kara (settlement) are all informed of the event. They attend, and take part in the obsequies. The dead body is bathed, and dressed in a piece of new cloth. Some gold, rubbed on a stone in water, is poured into his mouth by his sons and daughters. Karuvanguka, or Gurutvam Vanguka, is an important ceremony performed by his sons and daughters. It consists in taking sixteen small bits of plantain leaves, with some rice on each, and placing them on the forehead, neck, chest, loins, thighs, hands, legs, feet, etc., washing the last two, and collecting the water, which is taken in by the members junior to him in the family. After this, the dead body is placed on the bier, which is carried by four persons to the grave. The nearest relatives of the family, four in number, called Bhedakars, with a mundu (cloth) tied round their heads, walk in front of the procession. The grave is dug, and a new cloth is spread, and the corpse laid on it. It is filled in with layers of earth and stones, to prevent dogs and jackals from disturbing the dead body. All those who have accompanied the chief mourner bathe, and return home. The members of the family fast for the night. The eldest son, who is the chief mourner, bathes in the early morning, and offers the pinda bali (offering of rice) to the spirit of the departed for fifteen days. On the seventh day, the chief mourner, and the Enangan, go to the graveyard, and level the slightly raised part of the grave. A piece of stone, kept near the foot, is taken, and placed on a leaf. Some toddy, arrack (alcoholic liquor) and water of the tender cocoanut, are poured over it as offerings. By some magic, the spirit is supposed to be living in it. It is brought home, and placed in a cocoanut shell containing oil mixed with turmeric, and kept outside the hut until the pollution isover. The pollution lasts for fifteen days, and on the night of the fifteenth day they fast. On the morning of the sixteenth day, all the castemen of the kara who are invited bring with them rice, curry-stuffs, and toddy. Rubbing themselves with oil, they all go to bathe, after which the Enangan sprinkles cowdunged water, to show that they are freed from pollution. The stone is also purified by a dip in water, and then brought home. Those who have assembled are fed, and then depart. The chief mourner, who has to perform the diksha, does not shave for a year, bathes in the early morning, and offers the bali before going to work. This he continues for a year, at the end of which he gets himself shaved, and celebrates a feast called masam in honour of the departed. The stone, representing the deceased, is placed on a seat in a conspicuous part of the hut. An image of wood or copper sometimes takes its place. It is thenceforward worshipped, and believed to watch over the welfare of the family. Regular offerings are given to it on Karkadagom and Thulam Sankranthi, Ōnam, Vishu, and the festival day of the local temple.
“The castes below the Vettuvans are Pulayan, Nayādi, and Ullatan. They consider themselves superior to Pulayas, and are careful not to be polluted by them. A Vettuvan who is polluted by a Nayādi or Ulladan fasts for seven days, subsisting on water, tender cocoanuts, and toddy. On the eighth day he bathes, and takes his regular meals. As the Vettuvans are Chandalars, any distance less than sixty-four feet will pollute the higher castes. They stand at a distance of twenty-four feet from Kammālar. Nayādis and Ullatans stand far from them. Owing to their disabilities and low wages, many turn either Christians or Muhammadans, and work for wages of two and a half to three annas a day.”
There is a class of people in Malabar called Vettan or Vettuvan, which must not be confused with the jungle Vēttuvan. These people were, it is said,69“once salt-makers, and are now masons, earth-workers, and quarrymen. They are said to be divided into two classes, the marumakkattāyam (with inheritance in the female line) regarded as indigenous to Malabar, and the makkattāyam (with inheritance from father to son), said to be immigrants from the south.”
Vibhāka Gunta.—Recorded in the Madras Census Report as “a low class of wandering beggars; clubbed with Māla.” Some Mālas in the Vizagapatam district possess gunta mānyams, or petty fields, and supplement their income by begging.
Vignēsvara.—A synonym for the elephant god Ganēsa, which occurs as a gōtra of Nagarālu. The equivalent Vināyaka is a gōtra of Mēdara.
Vilkurup.—The Vilkuruppu or Vilkollakuruppu are the priests and barbers of the Malayālam Kammālans, and also makers of umbrellas and bows (vil) and arrows. In former times they supplied the latter articles for the Malabar Infantry. Malabar and Travancore are, par excellence, the home of the palm-leaf umbrella, which still holds its own against umbrellas of European manufacture, which were, in 1904–1905, imported into India to the value of Rs. 18,95,064. A native policeman, protecting himself from the sun with a long-handled palm umbrella, is a common object in towns and villages on the west coast.
Concerning the Vilkurups of the Cochin State, Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar writes as follows.70“In former times, their occupations were training low caste men to arms and athletic feats, to use sticks in fighting,and also to the use of bows and arrows, and pial school teaching. In these days of civilisation, their services are no longer required for these purposes, and they are employed in shampooing, umbrella making, and quarrying laterite stones for building purposes. In Nāyar families, during tāli-tying ceremonies, they have to give a bow and a few arrows. During the Ōnam festival also, they have to give a bow and arrows to every Nāyar house, for which they get some paddy (rice), curry stuffs, a cocoanut, and some oil. When they are called in for shampooing, three oils are well boiled, and cooled. The patient lies on a plank, oil is poured over him, and every part of his body is well shampooed, and afterwards he is bathed in water boiled with medicinal herbs. The Vilkurups eat at the hands of Brāhmans, Nāyars, Izhuvans, and Kammālans, but abstain from taking the food of barbers, washermen, Pānāns, Kaniyans, and other low castes. They have to stand at a distance of thirty-two feet from Brāhmans and Nāyars. Pulayans and Parayans have to stand at a great distance. They live in localities occupied by the Izhuvans. They cannot approach the Brāhman temples, but have to stand far away from the outer wall. They are their own barbers and washermen.”
Villasan(bowmen).—A synonym of Malayalām Kammālans, who formerly had to supply bows and arrows for the Travancore army.
Villi.—Villi (bow) or Villiyan (bowmen) has been recorded as a synonym of the Irulas of Chingleput. Villi also occurs as a sub-division of Vēttuvan, a hunting caste of the Tamil country.
Villu Vēdan(huntsmen using bows).—A synonym of Eravallar.
Vīlyakāra.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a sub-caste of Sērvēgāra or Kōtēgāra.”Vīlyakāra, Vālēkāra and Olēkārā are names indicating the occupation of a servant under Government or a private individual.
Vinka(white-ant:Termites).—An exogamous sept of Jātapu.
Vipravinōdi.—In a note on the Vipravinōdis, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes that they are said to be the descendants of a Brāhman by a Lingāyat woman. They are Lingāyats, and are called Vipravinōdi because they perform acrobatic feats before Vipras, or Brāhmans. They generally travel about the country with their wives and children. One of their favourite feats is throwing up three stone or wooden balls in the air, and catching them, or rolling them over various parts of the body. When they perform before a mixed audience, they call themselves Naravidya vāru, which is said to be an abbreviated form of Narulu Mechchē Vidyalu Chēsē vāru, or those who perform feats which men praise. The dead are buried in a sitting posture.
Vīrabhadra.—A synonym of the Tamil washermen (Vannān), whose patron deity is Vīrabhadra, from whom they claim descent.
Viragu(firewood).—A sub-division of Vēttuvan.
Virakudiyān.—A synonym of Panisavans, who are engaged in blowing the conch shell on ceremonial occasions.
Vīrala(heroes).—An exogamous sept of Golla and Kāpu.
Vīra Māgāli(a god).—An exogamous section of Kallan.
Vīramushti.—For the following account of the Vīramushtis in the Vizagapatam district, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao.
They are Lingāyats, but do not, as a rule, wear the lingam, as it is the custom to postpone initiation until death, when the linga is tied on the corpse by a Jangam before it is buried. Those who are initiated during life wear the linga suspended from the neck. The Vīramushtis seem to have several sub-divisions,e.g., Nāga Mallika (Rhinacanthus communis), the roots of which are believed to cure snake-bite, Puccha Kaya (Citrullus Colocynthis), Triputa (Ipomœa Turpethum), and Ramadosa (Cucumis Melo).
Girls are married before or after puberty. The mēnarikam custom, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is observed. A vōli (bride-price) of sixteen rupees, or half a tola of gold, in the form of jewelry, is given to the bride.
The Vīramushtis are professional acrobats and mendicants, and are attached to the Dēvāngas and Kōmatis. The following legends are current to account for their connection with these castes. In days gone by, there was, in a big town, a great Lingāyat mutt (monastery) named Basavanna Mandiram, presided over by a Jangam priest named Basavanna. The mutt contained three hundred crores of Lingāyat priests, and great wealth was stored in it. This the Vīrāmushtis guarded against thieves. A Telaga, Chikayya by name, who was a professional thief, determined to plunder the mutt, in order to satisfy his mistress. One night, when the Vīramushtis were fast asleep, he entered the mutt, but, when he saw a number of Jangams engaged in devout worship, he abandoned his project, and determined to turn Lingāyat. Accordingly, at day-break, he advanced to the place where the head of the mutt was seated, made known to him who he was, and informed him of his resolution. Opinions were divided as to the fitness ofreceiving such an applicant, but it was finally decided that, if a man repented, he was a fit person to be received into the Lingāyat fold, as the linga recognises no caste. The linga was accordingly tied on his neck. From that time Chikayya became a new man and a true Jangam, and went from place to place visiting sacred shrines. One day he happened to be at a place where lived a merchant prince, who never dined except in the company of a Jangam. On the suggestion of his wife Nīlakuntaladēvi, an invitation to dine was sent to Chikayya, who accepted it. After dinner, the merchant went out on business, and Nīlakuntaladēvi, noticing what a beautiful man Chikayya was, fell in love with him. He, however, rejected her advances, and ran away, leaving his knapsack behind him. Nīlakuntaladēvi cut off her golden necklace, and, having placed it in the knapsack, ran after Chikayya, and threw it at him, asking him to accept it. She then inflicted several cuts on herself, and, as soon as her husband returned home, complained that the Jangam had stolen her necklace, and attempted to ravish her. Information was sent to Basayya, the head of the mutt, and a council meeting summoned, at which it was decided that Chikayya should have his head cut off. The order to carry out this act was given to the Vīramushtis, who went in search of him, and at last found him beneath the shade of a tree overhanging the bank of a river, engaged in worshipping his linga, which was in his hand. On searching the knapsack, they found the necklace, and proceeded to cut off Chikayya’s head, which went several hundred feet up into the air, and travelled towards the mutt, whither the headless trunk followed on foot. On their return to the mutt, the Vīramushtis found that the three hundred crores of priests had been miraculously beheaded, and the placewas a vast pool of blood. As soon, however, as the head and body of Chikayya approached, they became re-united, and Siva, appearing on the scene, translated him to kylās (heaven). At the same time, he restored the priests to life, and inflicted the following four curses on the Vīramushtis:—(1) they were not to build or use houses, and are consequently found living under trees outside villages; (2) they were not to sleep on a cot; (3) they were not to use the wild broom-stick; (4) they were not to set up permanent ovens for cooking purposes, but to make impromptu stoves out of three stones. Taking compassion on them, the Dēvāngas promised to give the Vīramushtis a small sum of money annually, and to contribute towards their marriage expenses.