Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/50

PANAN three. They are also divided into exogamous illams or kiriyams. They worship Kāli, and inferior deities such as Parakutti, Karinkutti, Gulikan, and Kutti Chāttan. Their methods of exorcism are various. If any one is considered to be possessed by demons, it is usual, after consulting the astrologer, to ascertain what Murti (lit. form) is causing the trouble, to call in Pānans, who perform a ceremony called Teyāttam, in which they wear masks, and, so attired, sing, dance, tom-tom, and play on rude and strident pipes. Other of their ceremonies for driving out devils called Ucchaveli seem to be survivals of imitations of human sacrifice, or instances of sympathetic magic. One of these consists of a mock living burial of the principal performer, who is placed in a pit which is covered with planks,on the top of which a sacrifice (hōmam) is performed with a fire kindled with jack Artocarpus integrifolia) branches. In another variety, the Pānan cuts his left forearm, and smears his face with the blood thus drawn. Pānans also take part with Mannāns in various ceremonies at Badrakāli and other temples, in which the performers personate, in suitable costumes, some of the minor deities or demons, and fowls are sacrificed, while a Velicchapād dances himself into a frenzy, and pronounces oracles." It is further noted, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that "to constitute a valid divorce, the husband pulls a thread from his cloth, and gives it to his wife's brother, saying 'Your parisha is over.' It is a traditional duty of the Pānans to furnish a messenger to announce to an Izhuvan (or Tandān) girl's mother or husband (according to where she is staying) that she has attained puberty." In the Census Report, 1901, Anjūttān (men of the five hundred) and Munnūttān (men of the three