Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/189

Rh have as many as four wives, and he does not shave when any of them is in an interesting condition, he sometimes has a long beard. A marked difference observed between the Nambūtiri and those allied to him, and the lower races, is this. The former have whiskers in the shape of a full growth of hair on the cheeks, while in the latter this is scanty or entirely absent. Also, while the Nambūtiris have very commonly a hairy chest, the others have little or no hair on the chest. So, too, in the case of hair on the arms and legs. One Nambūtiri examined had hair all over the body, except over the ribs.

In connection with a hypothesis that the Todas of the Nīlgiris are an offshoot of one of the races now existing in Malabar, Dr. W. H. R. Rivers writes as follows.* "Of all the castes or tribes of Malabar, the Nambūtiris perhaps show the greatest number of resemblances to the customs of the Todas, and it is therefore interesting to note that Mr. Fawcett describes these people as the hairiest of all the races of Malabar,and especially notes that one individual he examined was like a Toda."

It is noted by Mr. Subramani Aiyar that "the Nambūutiris are passionate growers of finger-nails, which are sometimes more than a foot long, and serve several useful purposes. As in everything else, the Nambūtiri is orthodox even in the matter of dress. Locally-manufactured cloths are alone purchased, and Indian publicists who deplore the crushing of indigenous industries by the Importation of foreign goods may congratulate the Kerala Brāhmans on their protectionist habits. Silk and coloured cloths are not worn by either sex. The style of dress is peculiar. That of the males is known as