Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 6 of 7

CASTES AND TRIBES OF SOUTHERN INDIA
CASTES AND TRIBES OF SOUTHERN INDIA
BY EDGAR THURSTON, c.i.e. , Superintendent, Madras Government Museum; Correspondant Étranger, Société d’Anthropologie de Paris; Socio Corrispondante, Societa, Romana di Anthropologia. ASSISTED BY K. RANGACHARI, m.a. , of the Madras Government Museum.
VOLUME VI—P TO S GOVERNMENT PRESS, MADRAS 1909.

Palli or Vanniyan.— Writing concerning this caste the Census Superintendent, 1871, records that “a book has been written by a native to show that the Pallis (Pullies or Vanniar) of the south are descendants of the fire races (Agnikulas) of the Kshatriyas, and that the Tamil Pullies were at one time the shepherd kings of Egypt.” At the time of the census, 1871, a petition was submitted to Government by representatives of the caste, praying that they might be classified as Kshatriyas, and twenty years later, in connection with the census, 1891, a book entitled ‘Vannikula Vilakkam: a treatise on the Vanniya caste,’ was compiled by Mr. T. Aiyakannu Nayakar, in support of the caste claim to be returned as Kshatriyas, for details concerning which claim I must refer the reader to the book itself. In 1907, a book entitled Varuna Darpanam (Mirror of Castes) was published, in which an attempt is made to connect the caste with the Pallavas.
Kulasēkhara, one of the early Travancore kings, and one of the most renowned Ālwars reverenced by the Srī Vaishnava community in Southern India, is claimed by the Pallis as a king of their caste. Even now, at the Parthasārathi temple in Triplicane (in the city of Madras), which according to inscriptions is a Pallava temple, Pallis celebrate his anniversary with great éclat. The Pallis of Kōmalēsvaranpettah in the city of Madras have a Kulasēkhara Perumāl Sabha, which manages the celebration of the anniversary. The temple has recently been converted at considerable cost into a temple for the great Ālwar. A similar celebration is held at the Chintādripettah Ādikēsava Perumāl temple in Madras. The Pallis have the right to present the most important camphor offering of the Mylapore Siva temple. They allege that the temple was originally theirs, but by degrees they lost their hold over it until this bare right was left to them. Some years ago, there was a dispute concerning the exercise of this right, and the case came before the High Court of Madras, which decided the point at issue in favour of the Pallis. One of the principal gōpuras (pyramidal towers) of the Ēkāmranātha temple at Big Conjeeveram, the ancient capital of the Pallavas, is known as Palligōpuram. The Pallis of that town claim it as their own, and repair it from time to time. In like manner, they claim that the founder of the Chidambaram temple, by name Swēta Varman, subsequently known as Hiranya Varman (sixth century A.D.) was a Pallava king. At Pichavaram, four miles east of Chidambaram, lives a Palli family, which claims to be descended from Hiranya Varman. A curious ceremony is even now celebrated at the Chidambaram temple, on the steps leading to the central sanctuary. As soon as the eldest son of this family is married, he and his wife, accompanied by a local Vellāla, repair to the sacred shrine, and there, amidst crowds of their castemen and others, a hōmam (sacrificial fire) is raised, and offerings are made to it. The couple are then anointed with nine different kinds of holy water, and the Vellāla places the temple crown on their heads. The Vellāla who officiates at this ceremony, assisted by the temple priests, is said to belong to the family of a former minister of a descendant of Hiranya Varman. It is said that, as the ceremony is a costly one, and the expenses have to be paid by the individual who undergoes it, it often happens that the eldest son of the family has to remain a bachelor for half his lifetime. The Pallis who reside at St. Thomé in the city of Madras allege that they became Christians, with their King Kandappa Rāja, who, they say, ruled over Mylapore during the time of the visit of St. Thomas. In 1907, Mr. T. Varadappa Nayakar, the only High Court Vakil (pleader) among the Palli community practising in Madras, brought out a Tamil book on the history of the connection of the caste with the ancient Pallava kings.