Veyyi Kannula Ammavāru, or the goddess of a thousand eyes, represented by a pot pierced with holes, in which a gingelly (Sesamum) oil light is burnt. She attends to the general welfare of the fisher folk.
Jāli (Acacia arabica).—A gōtra of Kurni.
Jalli.—Jalli, meaning palm tassels put round the neck and horns of bulls, occurs as an exogamous sept of Jōgi. The name occurs further as a sub-division of Kevuto.
Jāmbava.—A synonym of the Mādigas, who claim descent from the rishi Audi Jāmbavādu.
Jambu (Eugenia Jambolana).—An exogamous sept of Oddē.
Jāmbuvar (a monkey king with a bear’s face).—An exogamous sept of Kondaiyamkottai Maravan.
Jamkhānvāla (carpet-maker).—An occupational name for Patnūlkārans and Patvēgars.
Jammi (Prosopis spicigera).—A gōtra of Gollas, members of which may not use the tree. It is further a gōtra of Chembadis. Children of this caste who are named after the caste god Gurappa or Gurunāthadu are taken, when they are five, seven, or nine years old, to a jammi tree, and shaved after it has been worshipped with offerings of cooked food, etc. The jammi or sami tree is regarded as sacred all over India. Some orthodox Hindus, when they pass it, go round it, and salute it, repeating a Sanskrit verse to the effect that “the sami tree removes sins; it is the destroyer of enemies; it was the bearer of the bows and arrows of Arjuna, and the sight of it was very welcome to Rāma.”
Janappan.—The Janappans, Mr. W. Francis writes,[22] “were originally a section of the Balijas, but they have now developed into a distinct caste. They seem to have been called Janappan, because they manufactured gunny-bags of hemp (janapa) fibre. In Tamil they are called Saluppa Chettis, Saluppan being the Tamil form of Janappan. Some of them have taken to calling themselves Dēsāyis or Dēsādhīpatis (rulers of countries), and say they are Balijas. They do not wear the sacred thread. The caste usually speaks Telugu, but in Madura there is a section, the women of which speak Tamil, and also are debarred from taking part in religious ceremonies, and, therefore, apparently belonged originally to some other caste.”
In a note on the Janappans of the North Arcot district[23] Mr. H. A. Stuart states that Janappan is “the name of a caste, which engages in trade by hawking goods about the towns and villages. Originally they were merely manufacturers of gunny-bags out of hemp (janapa, Crotalaria juncea), and so obtained their name. But they are now met with as Dāsaris or religious beggars, sweetmeat-sellers, and hawkers of English cloths and other goods. By the time they have obtained to the last honourable profession, they assume to be Balijas. Telugu is their vernacular, and Chetti their usual caste name. According to their own tradition, they sprung from a yāgam (sacrificial rite) made by Brahma, and their remote ancestor thus produced was, they say, asked by the merchants of the country to invent some means for carrying about their wares. He obtained some seeds from the ashes of Brahma’s yāgam, which he sowed, and the plant which sprang up was the country hemp, which he manufactured into a gunny-bag. The Janapa Chettis are enterprising men in their way, and are much employed at the fairs at Gudiyāttam and other places as cattle-brokers.”