Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/20

CHALIYAN is to the same effect. It is said that they were originally of a high caste, and were imported by one of the Zāmorins, who wished to introduce the worship of Ganapathi, to which they are much addicted. The latter's minister, the Mangatt Acchan, who was entrusted with the entertainment of the new arrivals, and was nettled by their fastidiousness and constant complaints about his catering, managed to degrade them in a body by the trick of secretly mixing fish with their food. They do not, like their counterparts on the east coast, wear the thread; but it is noticeable that their priests, who belong to their own caste, wear it over the right shoulder instead of over the left like the Brāhman's pūnūl, when performing certain pūjas (worship). In some parts, the place of the regular pūnūl is taken by a red scarf or sash worn in the same manner. They are remarkable for being the only caste in Malabar amongst whom any trace of the familiar east coast division into right-hand and left-hand factions is to be found. They are so divided; and those belonging to the right-hand faction deem themselves polluted by the touch of those belonging to the left-hand sect, which is numerically very weak. They are much addicted to devil-dancing, which rite is performed by certain of their numbers called Kōmarams in honour of Bhagavathi and the minor deities Vettekkorumagan and Gulikan (a demon). They appear to follow makkatāyam (descent from father to son) in some places, and marumakkatāyam (inheritance in the female line) in others. Their pollution period is ten days, and their purification is performed by the Talikunnavan (sprinkler), who belongs to a some-what degraded section of the caste."

The affairs of the caste are managed by headmen called Urālans, and the caste barber, or Pothuvan, acts as