Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/18

MARAN OR MARAVAN as their services are engaged at the funerals of many castes. Before the days of Sankarāchārya, the sole occupation of the Mārāns is said to have been beating the drum in Brāhmanical temples. When Sankarāchārya was refused assistance in the cremation of his dead mother by the Nambūtiri Brāhmans, he is believed to have sought in despair the help of one of these temple servants, with whose aid the corpse was divided into eight parts, and deposited in the pit. For undertaking this duty, which the Nambūtiris repudiated from a sense of offended religious feeling, the particular Mārān was thrown out of his caste by the general community, and a compromise had to be effected by the sage with the rest of the caste, who returned in a body on the day of purification along with the excommunicated man, and helped Sankarāchārya to bring to a close his mother's death ceremonies. In recognition of this timely help, Sankara is believed to have declared the Mārān to be an indispensable functionary at the death ceremonies of Nambūtiris and Ambalavāsis. It has even been suggested that the original form of Mārān was Mūrān, derived from mur (to chop off), in reference to the manner in which the remains of Sankara's mother were disposed of.

The traditional occupation of the Mārāns is sounding or playing on the panchavadya or five musical instruments used in temples. These are the sankh or conch-shell, timila, chendu, kaimani, and maddalam. The conch, which is necessary in every Hindu temple, is loudly sounded in the early morning, primarily to wake the deity, and secondarily to rouse the villagers. Again,when the temple service commences, and when the nivedya or offering is carried, the music of the conch is heard from the northern side of the temple. On this