Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/26

PALLI OR VANNIYAN Other titles, "indicating authority, bravery, and superiority," assumed by Pallis are Nāyakar, Varma, Padaiyāchi (head of an army), Kandar, Chēra, Chōla, Pāndya, Nayanar, Udaiyar, Samburāyar, etc.* Still further titles are Pillai, Reddi, Goundan, and Kavandan. Some say that they belong to the Chōla race, and that, as such, they should be called Chembians.† Iranya Varma, the name of one of the early Pallava kings, was returned as their caste by certain wealthy Pallis, who also gave themselves the title of Sōlakanar (descendant of Chōla kings) at the census, 1901.

In reply to a question by the Census Superintendent, 1891, as to the names of the sub-divisions of the caste, it was stated that "the Vanniyans are either of the solar and lunar or Agnikula race, or Ruthra Vanniyar, Krishna Vanniyar, Samboo Vanniyar, Brahma Vanniyar, and Indra Vanniyar." The most important of the sub-divisions returned at the census were Agamudaiyan, Agni, Arasu (Rāja), Kshatriya, Nāgavadam (cobra's hood, or ear ornament of that shape), Nattamān, Ōlai (palm leaf), Pandamuttu, and Perumāl gōtra. Panda-muttu is made by Winslow to mean torches arranged so as to represent an elephant. But the Pallis derive the name from panda muttu, or touching the pandal, in reference to the pile of marriage pots reaching to the top of the pandal. The lowest pet is decorated with figures of elephants and horses. At a marriage among the Pandamuttu Pallis, the bride and bridegroom, in token of their Kshatriya descent, are seated on a raised dais, which represents a simhāsanam or throne. The bride wears a necklace of glass beads with the tāli, and the officiating priest is a Telugu Brāhman. Other