Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/53

Rh when suddenly, by a clever artifice, the carpenters caused the building to tumble down, and thereby killed all those who were in it. They immediately left the Perumāl's country, and took refuge in the island of Ceylon. The ruler was much embarrassed by the disaster to the washerman, and by the flight of the carpenters, for he had none in his country to build houses. A few Pānāns were sent for, and they brought the carpenters back. On their return, they were given some fruit of the palmyra palm, which they ate. They sowed the seeds in their own places, and these grew into large fruit-bearing palms. The Pānāns possessed the privilege of keeping these trees as their own, but subsequently made them over to the Izhuvans, who, in memory of this, give even to-day two dishes of food to the Pānāns on all ceremonial occasions in their houses. They have been, on that account, called by the Izhuvans nettaries, for their having originally planted these trees.

"There are no titles among the Pānāns, but one, who was brought for examination at Trichūr, told me that one of his ancestors got the title of Panikkan, and that he had the privilege of wearing a gold ear-ring, carrying a walking-stick lined with silver, and using a knife provided with a style. Kapradan is a title given to the headman in the Palghat taluk. In Palghat, when the Kapradan dies, the Rāja is informed, and he sends to the chief mourner (the son) a sword, a shield, a spear, a few small guns with some gunpowder, a silver bangle, and a few necklaces. As the dead body is taken to the burial ground, the chief mourner, wearing the ornaments above mentioned, goes behind it. In front go a few persons armed with the weapons referred to. Three discharges are made (1) when the dead body is removed from the house, (2) when it is placed on the ground, (3) when