Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/514

BRAHMAN areca nuts which are valued only second to those grown in the māgane of the Coondapoor taluk above the ghauts. The Havīka Brahmins, perhaps owing to their residing for many generations in the comparatively cool shade of the areca nut gardens, are specially fair even for west coast Brahmins. This fairness of complexion is particularly noticeable in the women, who do not differ much in their manners and customs from the Shivalli Brahmin women, except that they take a prominent part in the work of the gardens, and never on any occasion wear the end of their cloth passed through the legs and tucked up behind. The Havīk widows are allowed more freedom than in most other classes. Some Havīk Brahmins in the Malayālam portion of the Kāsaragōd taluk have, like the Shivallis in the same locality, adopted the language and customs of the Malayāli Brahmins. "Kōta Brahmins, so called from a village in the northern part of the Udipi taluk, are, like the Havīks, Smarthas or followers of Sankarāchārya, and now speak Canarese, but the breach between them and the Shivallis is not so wide, as intermarriages occasionally take place. In the Coondapoor taluk and the northern part of the Udipi taluk, the Kōtas occupy a place in the community corresponding to that taken by the Shivallis throughout the rest of the district. "Saklāpuris, of whom there are a few in the district, are what may be called a dissenting sect of Havīkas who, a few years ago, renounced their allegiance to the Rāmchandrapura matha in favour of one at Saklāpuri near the boundary between North and South Canara. Like the Havīkas, they speak Canarese. "Kandāvaras obtain their name from the village of Kandāvar in the Coondapoor taluk. They are commonly