Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/363

Rh and wells. They are Saivites. They have their own priests, who are called Panditars. They observe birth and death pollution for ten days, and are like Brāhmans in this respect. They are mostly petty merchants and shop-keepers. Some can read and write Malayālam, but they are very backward in English education."

The oils expressed by the Vāniyans are said to be "gingelly (Sesamum indicum), cocoanut, iluppei (Bassia longifolia) pinnei (Calophyllum inophyllum), and ground-nut (Arachis hypogœa). According to the sāstras the crushing of gingelly seeds, and the sale of gingelly oil, are sinful acts, and no one, who does not belong to the Vāniyan class, will either express or sell gingelly oil."* When a Vāniyan dies a bachelor, a post-mortem mock ceremony is performed as by the Gānigas, and the corpse is married to the arka plant (Calotropis gigantea), and decorated with a wreath made of the flowers thereof.  Vankāyala (brinjal or egg plant: Solanum Melongena). — An exogamous sept of Golla. The fruit is eaten by Natives, and, stuffed with minced meat, is a common article of Anglo- Indian dietary.  Vanki (armlet). — A gōtra of Kurni.  Vannān.— The Vannāns are washermen in the Tamil and Malayālam countries. The name Vānnan is, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, † " derived from vannam, beauty. There is a tradition that they are descendants of the mythological hero Vīrabadra, who was ordered by Siva to wash the clothes of all men, as an expiation of the sin of putting many people to death in Daksha's Yāga. Hence the Tamil washermen are frequently 