Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/459

Rh is because the Sri Vaishnavas are Vadamas recently converted into Vaishnava families. (B) Kēsigal. — The Kēsigals, or Hiranyakēsikal (men of the silvery hair), as they are sometimes called, closely resemble the Vadamas, but are an exclusive endogamous unit, and highly conservative and orthodox. They are called Hiranyakēsikal or Hiranyakēsis because they follow the Grihya Sūtras of Hiranyakēsi. It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Tanjore district, that they " are peculiar in all having one common Sūtram called the Sathyāshāda after a common ancestor." (c) Brahacharnam (the great sect). — The Brahacharnams are more Saivite, and more orthodox than the Vadamas. They put on vibhūti (sacred ashes) and sandal paste horizontal lines as their sect mark. The sub-division Sathyamangalam Brahacharnam seems, however, to be an exception, as some members thereof put on the Vaishnavite sect mark at all times, or at least during the month of Purattāsi, which is considered sacred to the god Venkataramana of Tirupati. The more orthodox Brahacharnams wear a single rudrāksha bead, or a necklace of beads, and some make lingams out of these beads, which they put on the head during worship. They generally worship five gods, viz., Siva in the form of a lingam, spatika (crystal) lingam, Vishnu, Ganēsa, and Iswara. It is said that Brahacharnam women can be distinguished by the mode of tying the cloth, which is not worn so as to reach to the feet, but reaches only to just below the knees. The Brahacharnams are sub-divided into the following sections:-