Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/367

Rh Then, on occasions of death pollution, they have a similar duty to perform. Among the Nāyars, on the fourth, or rarely the third day after the menses, the woman has to use, during her bath, clothes supplied by Mannān females. The same duty they have to perform during the confinement of Nāyar females. All the dirty cloths and bed sheets used, these Mannān females have to wash." Mr. S. Appadorai Iyer informs us that those Mannāns who are employed by the Kammālan, or artisan class, as barbers, are not admitted into the Mannān caste, which follows the more honourable profession of washing clothes. The Mannāns perform certain ceremonies in connection with Mundian, the deity who is responsible for the weal or woe of cattle; and, at Pūram festivals, carry the vengida koda or prosperity umbrella, composed of many tiers of red, green, orange, black and white cloth, supported on a long bamboo pole, before the goddess.

It is recorded by Bishop Whitehead * that, in various places in Malabar, there are temples in honour of Bhagavati, at which the pūjāris (priests) are of the Vannān caste. "There is an annual feast called gurusi tarpanam (giving to the guru) about March, when the hot weather begins, and the people are at leisure. Its object is to appease the wrath of the goddess. During the festival, the pūjāri sits in the courtyard outside the temple, thickly garlanded with red flowers, and with red kunkuma marks on his forehead. Goats and fowls are then brought to him by the devotees, and he kills them with one blow of the large sacrificial sword or chopper. It is thought auspicious for the head to be severed at one blow, and, apparently, pūjāris who are skilful in