Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/350

VALLUVAN inscription, believed to be of the ninth century, the following sentence occurs ' Srī Velluvam Pūvanavan, the Uvac'chan (Ōc'chan) of this temple, will employ daily six men for doing the temple service.' Again, the Valluvans must have formerly held a position at least equal to that of the Vellālas, if the story that Tiruvalluva Nāyanar married a Vellāla girl is true.* He is said to have " refused to acknowledge the distinctions of caste, and succeeded in obtaining a Vellāla woman as his wife, from whom a section of the Valluvans say it has its descent. As their ancestor amused himself in the intervals between his studies by weaving, they employ themselves in mending torn linen, but chiefly live by astrology, and by acting as priests of Paraiyans, and officiating at their funerals and marriages, though some refuse to take part in the former inauspicious ceremony, and leave the duty to those whom they consider impure Valluvans called Paraiya Tādas. Another section of the Valluvans is called Ālvar Dāsari or Tāvadadhāri (those who wear the necklace of tulsi beads). Both Saivites and Vaishnavites eat together, but do not intermarry. Unlike Paraiyans, they forbid remarriage of widows and even polygamy, and all males above twelve wear the sacred thread." According to one account, the Valluvans are the descendants of an alliance between a Brāhman sage and a Paraiyan woman, whose children complained to their father of their lowly position. He blessed them, and told them that they would become very clever astrologers, and, in consequence, much respected. At the Travancore census, 1901, the Valluvans were defined as a sub-division of the Pulayas, for whom they perform priestly functions.