Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/58

PANAN The poles are connected by a strong wire, from which is suspended the pot to be heated and boiled. Seven fire-places are made beneath the wire. The branches of bamboo, katalati (Ackyranthes Emblica), conga (Bauhinea variegata), cocoanut palm, jack tree (Artocarpus integrifolia), and pavatta (Pavatta indica), are used in forming a bright fire. The mixture in the pot soon boils and becomes oily, at which stage it is passed through a fine cloth. The oil is preserved, and a mark made with it on the forehead enables the possessor to realise anything that is thought of. The sorcerer must be in a state of vow for twenty-one days, and live on a diet of chama kanji. The deity, whose aid is necessary, is propitiated with offerings.

"One of the ceremonies which the Pānāns perform is called Thukil Onarthuka (waking thukil, a kind of drum). In the month of Karkadakam (July-August), a Pānān, with his wife, provided with a drum and kuzhithalam (circular bell-metal cymbals), goes to the houses of Brāhmans and Nāyars after midnight, and sings sacred songs. During the week, they sing standing underneath a banyan tree near the western gate of the Trichūr temple. From the temple authorities they get five measures of paddy, half a measure of rice, some gingelly oil, and a cocoanut. For their services in other houses, they receive a similar remuneration. This is intended to drive evil spirits, if any, from houses. Another of their festivals is known as Pānān Kāli. The traditional account therefor is as follows. Once, when a Pānān and his wife went to a forest to bring bamboos for the manufacture of umbrellas, they missed their way, night approached, and they could not return. They began to be frightened by the varieties of noise heard by them in the wilderness. They collected pieces