Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/107

Rh move round, striking at the sticks, keeping time with their feet, and singing at the same time. The circle is alternately widened and narrowed. Vatta kali is another wild dance. This also requires a party of ten or twelve men, and sometimes young women join them. The party move in a circle, clapping their hands while they sing a kind of rude song. In thattinmel kali, four wooden poles are firmly stuck in the ground, two of which are connected by two horizontal pieces of wood,over which planks are arranged. A party of Pulayas dance on the top of this, to the music of their pipe and drum. This is generally erected in front of the Bhagavati temple, and the dancing takes place immediately after the harvest. This is intended to propitiate the goddess. Women perform a circular dance on the occasions of marriage celebrations." The Cherumas and Pulayas are, like the Koragas of South Canara, short of stature, and dark-skinned. The most important measurements of the Cherumans whom I investigated at Calicut were as follows: —  Cheruppu-katti (shoemaker). — Said to be a Malayālam synonym for Mādiga.  Chetti. — It is noted in the Census Report, 1891, that "the name Chetti is used both to denote a distinct caste, and also a title, and people bearing this title describe themselves loosely as belonging to the Chetti caste, in the same way as a Vellāla will say that he is a Mudali. 