Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/377

Rh the tree, singing songs, and performing pūja. A piece of white cloth is tied to the top of the tree, to serve as a flag, and a lamp is lighted, and placed at the foot of the tree." The Vāriyars are described, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, as " a caste whose traditional duty is to sweep the temple precincts (vāruga). At the present day, some members of the caste are important land-owners or petty chieftains, occupying a very high social position. They generally follow the marumakkatāyam principle, but they have also a form of marriage called Kudivekkal similar to the Brahman Sarvasvadhānam, by which the wife is adopted as a member of the family into which she marries, and her children also belong to it. The Vāriyars names and ceremonies indicate Sivaite proclivities, just as those of the Pishārodi are tinged with Vishnavism. The Vāriyars house is called a Vāriyam, and his woman-folk Varassiars. This class is perhaps the most progressive among the Ambalavāsis, some of its members having received a Western education and entered the learned professions."  Varugu Bhatta.___A mendicant class, which begs from Perikes.  Varuna.— Some Pattanavan fishermen have adopted the name of Varunakula Vellāla or Varunakula Mudali after Varuna the god of the waters.  Vasa (new). — A sub-division of Kurubas, who are said to weave only white blankets.  Vasishta.— A Brāhmanical gōtra adopted by Khatris and Toreyas. Vasishta, one of the seven great Rishis, was the son of Mitra and Varuna, whose quarrels with Viswamitra are narrated in the Rāmayana.  Vastra.___One division of the Koragas is called Vastra, meaning cloths such are used as a shroud for a 