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NOVEMBER, 1908.]
MISCELLANEA.
337
two of the three hairs that remained on the
crown of bis head and ran off thinking that all the Pitaranmar, a division of the Anulomaja
three had been removed. The girw, or preceptor, Ambalavasis, are also a degraded class of
found out the mistake and exclaimed: Pisharoti, Atikals, and their duties are similar to those of
i. e., the disciple ran away. the Nattupattans, whom they resemble in man
The disciple was now
neither & Brabman nor a SanyAsi. He was accordners and customs
ingly excluded from the order, rejoined his wife
and had children by her. He and his descendants Kurukkals ( Gurukkals), who are Ambala. are said to be the Pisharotis." In memory of vasts of Travancore, are degraded Brahmans.
their ancestor, who, as an ascetic, had to be They are immigrante from the Tamil country
buried in salt in & sitting posture, they are and are of Tamil origin. They used to be Saivas
buried in that poature and are not cremated. and performed puja in temples dedicated to Siva.
Pisbarûtis are said to be Vaishnavas. Their It is said that, in early times, no Variyans
duties are similar to those of the Pushpakans. or other temple servants in Malabar, were
Their women are called Pisharony Ars and their available for service in the temples in South
houses pisharoms. They observe birth and death Travancore, and that a few families from the
pollution for twelve days. They follow the Tamil Districts consequently were imported from
marumakkathayam law of inheritance. among the 48,000 Tirumadams of the Tamils, for
i. service in temples there.
Variyans, a division of Prathilomaja Am. Their dress and ornaments are similar to those balavasis. Five different traditional derivations of the Nayars. Their houses are called vidaus are given of this name. The most accepted is and sometimes madame. Their own castemen that they are the descendants of a Brahman officiate as their priests, and perform purificatory married to a Sodra wife. The term váriyan is ceremonies. They claim social precedence & corrupt form of parasava, ie, the son of over the other classes of Ambalavasis. They a Brahman by a Sadra woman in accordance with practine tonsure and upandyana, and repeat the the Yüjžiavalkya Smrithi. Their occupation is Gayatrí. The talikettu takes place between the similar to that of the Pushpakans and Pisbarotis. ages of 8 and 12. They even practise pulikudi, The duties which they perform are called kara. as do the Nayars. Tbeir birth and death kam, and their customs and manners are similar pollution lasts for twelve days. Inheritance is in to those of the N&yars. The Nambadris can the female line.
cook and take meals in the houses of Pushpakans,
Pisharôtis, and Vâriyans. Pishardtis, a sub-division of the Prathilo
| The system of inheritance obtaining among maja Ambalavasis. It is said that "a Nam
the Variyans is complicated. They generally badri desiring to become a Sanyasi is required
follow the marumakkuthayam rule of inheritance, to serve one for three years as a disciple and
but in some places both forms of inheritance then go through the ceremony of ordination on
prevail. The inheritance depends upon the naturo an appointed day. On that day, at the appointed
of the sambanthan ceremony, wbich is of two hour, the candidate has to cast away his sacred
kinds, vis., the ordinary sambantham, and that thread and his tuft of hair has to be removed.
ceremony bocompanied by what is known as But he sbould take care to retain three hairs
kutivekkal or kutipokal (Rettling in one's family). on the crown of his head. He should then
In the case of kutivekkal the woman is taken to plunge into the tank stark-naked, and while
her husband's house, and she, thereafter, becomes under water should pluck out the three hairs, with
a member of her husband's family, and her his own hand, one at each plunge in the
children inherit the property belonging to that presence of his preceptor, who whispers into his
tarad. If the woman becomes a widow after ears some mysterious formula, which he repeats
she is taken to and settled in her husband's and then gets out of the water and runs off
house, she may re-marry, and her children by the towards the north. A Pattar Brahman engaged
second husband also inherit the property of her for the occasion meets him and waylays him, first husband. and asks him to receive & cloth and accept a meal. He complies with the request and returns to the Sanyasi's abode. Now the tradition is that Nambiyars are a division of Prathilomaja once on a time a Nambadri was a candidate for Ambalavasis who do not wear the thread. the order of Sanylsis, but he plucked out only These are, as already observed, the sons of
