occupation is, like that of Idigas, toddy-drawing.
Pallicchan.--A sub-division of Nayars, the hereditary occupation
of which is palanquin-bearing. In the Cochin Census Report, the
Pallicchans are recorded as being palanquin-bearers for Brahmans.
Pallikkillam.--An exogamous sept or illam of Tamil Panikkans.
Palua.--A sub-division of Badhoyi.
Pambaikkaran.--An occupational name for Paraiyans, who play on a drum
called pambai.
Pambala.--The Pambalas, or drum (pamba) people, are Malas who act
as musicians at Mala marriages and festivals in honour of their
deities. They also take part in the recitation of the story of Ankamma,
and making muggu (designs on the floor) at the peddadinamu death
ceremony of the Gamallas.
Pammi (a common lamp).--An exogamous sept of Devanga.
Pamula (snake people).--A name for snake-charming Koravas, and Jogis,
who, in the character of itinerant showmen, exhibit snakes to the
public. The name also occurs as an exogamous sept of Mala and Yanadi.
Panam (palmyra palm: Borassus flabellifer.)--A sub-division of
Shanan. It also occurs as a branch or kothu of Kondaiyamkotti Maravans.
Panan.--The Tamil Panans are said, in the Census Report, 1901, to be
also called Mestris. They are "tailors among Tamils in Madura and
Tinnevelly. They employ Brahmans and Vellalas as purohits. Though
barbers and washermen will not eat food prepared by them, they are
allowed to enter Hindu temples." The Malayalam Panans are described
in the same report as "exorcists and devil-dancers. The men also
make umbrellas, and the women act as midwives. In parts they are
called Malayans, and they may be descendants of that hill tribe who
have settled in the plains." In the South Canara Manual, the Panans
are said to be "the Malayalam caste corresponding to the Nalkes and
Pombadas. They are numerous in Malabar, where they are also known by
the name of Malayan. The devils whom they personify are supposed to
have influence over crops, and at the time of harvest the Panans go
about begging from house to house, dancing with umbrellas in their
hands. On such occasions, however, it is only boys and girls who
personify the demons." "The village magician or conjurer," Mr. Gopal
Panikkar writes, [26] "goes by different names, such as Panan, Malayan,
etc. His work consists in casting out petty devils from the bodies of
persons (chiefly children) possessed, in writing charms for them to
wear, removing the pernicious effects of the evil eye, and so on." On
certain ceremonial occasions, the Panan plays on an hour-glass shaped
drum, called thudi.
In an account of the funeral ceremonies of the Tiyans, Mr. Logan
writes [27] that "early on the morning of the third day after death,
the Kurup or caste barber adopts measures to entice the spirit of
the deceased out of the room in which he breathed his last. This is
done by the nearest relative bringing into the room a steaming pot
of savoury funeral rice. It is immediately removed, and the spirit,
after three days' fasting, is understood greedily to follow the odour
of the tempting food. The Kurup at once closes the door, and shuts out
the spirit. The Kurup belongs to the Panan caste. He is the barber of
the polluting classes above Cherumans, and by profession he is also
an umbrella maker. But, curiously enough, though an umbrella maker, he
cannot make the whole of an umbrella. He may only make the framework;
the covering of it is the portion of the females of his caste. If
he has no female relative of his own capable of finishing off his
umbrellas, he must seek the services of the females of other families
in the neighbourhood to finish his for him. The basket-makers are
called Kavaras. Nothing will induce them to take hold of an umbrella,
as they have a motto, Do not take hold of Panan's leg."
In an account of a ceremonial at the Pishari temple near Quilandy in
Malabar, Mr. F. Fawcett writes [28] that "early on the seventh and last
day, when the morning procession is over, there comes to the temple a
man of the Panan caste. He carries a small cadjan (palm leaf) umbrella
which he has made himself, adorned all round the edges with a fringe
of the young leaves of the cocoanut palm. The umbrella should have a
long handle, and with this in his hand he performs a dance before the
temple. He receives about 10 lbs. of raw rice for his performance." It
is further recorded by Mr. Fawcett that, when a Tiyan is cremated, a
watch is kept at the burning-ground for five days by Panans, who beat
drums all night to scare away the evil spirits which haunt such spots.
The following account of the Panans is given in the Gazetteer of
Malabar. "The name is perhaps connected with pan, music. They follow
the makkattayam family system (of inheritance from father to son),
and practice fraternal polyandry. In South Malabar there are said to
be four sub-divisions, called Tirurengan, Kodaketti (umbrella tying),
Minpidi (fish catching), and Pulluvan, of which the last named is
inferior in status to the other three. They are also divided into
exogamous illams or kiriyams. They worship Kali, and inferior deities
such as Parakutti, Karinkutti, Gulikan, and Kutti Chattan. Their
methods of exorcism are various. If any one is considered to be
possessed by demons, it is usual, after consulting the astrologer,
to ascertain what Murti (lit. form) is causing the trouble, to call
in Panans, who perform a ceremony called Teyattam, in which they
wear masks, and, so attired, sing, dance, tom-tom, and play on rude
and strident pipes. Other of their ceremonies for driving out devils
called Ucchaveli seem to be survivals of imitations of human sacrifice,
or instances of sympathetic magic. One of these consists of a mock
living burial of the principal performer, who is placed in a pit
which is covered with planks, on the top of which a sacrifice (homam)
is performed with a fire kindled with jack (Artocarpus integrifolia)
branches. In another variety, the Panan cuts his left forearm, and
smears his face with the blood thus drawn. Panans also take part
with Mannans in various ceremonies at Badrakali and other temples, in
which the performers personate, in suitable costumes, some of the minor
deities or demons, and fowls are sacrificed, while a Velicchapad dances
himself into a frenzy, and pronounces oracles." It is further noted,
in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that "to constitute a valid divorce,
the husband pulls a thread from his cloth, and gives it to his wife's
brother, saying 'Your parisha is over.' It is a traditional duty
of the Panans to furnish a messenger to announce to an Izhuvan (or
Tandan) girl's mother or husband (according to where she is staying)
that she has attained puberty."
In the Census Report, 1901, Anjuttan (men of the five hundred) and
Munnuttan (men of the three hundred) are returned as sub-castes of
the Malayalan Panans.
For the following account of the Panans of Travancore, I am indebted
to Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar. The word is of Tamil origin, and means
a tailor. The title taken by them is Panikkan, the usual honorific
appellation of most of the industrial castes of Malabar. They are
supposed to be one with the Panans of the Tamil country, though much
below them in the social scale. They observe a pollution distance
of thirty-six feet, but keep Mannans and Vedans at a distance of
eight, and Pulayas and Paraiyas at a distance of thirty-two feet from
them. They are their own barbers and washermen. They will eat food
prepared by Kammalans, of whom there is a tradition that they are a
degraded branch. Tiruvarangan, one of the popular sages of Malabar,
who are reputed to be the descendants of a Paraiya woman, is said
to have been a Panan, and the Panans pay him due reverence. In the
Keralolpatti, the traditional occupation of the Panans is said to be
exorcism, and in British Malabar this occupation seems to be continued
at the present day. Umbrella-making is a secondary occupation for
the men. In Travancore, however, the only occupation pursued by the
Panans is tailoring. The tali-kettu celebration takes place before
the girl attains puberty. If this ceremony is intended to signify
a real marriage, the girl is taken to her husband's house on the
fourth day of the first menstrual period, and they remain thenceforth
man and wife. Otherwise a sambandham ceremony has to be performed
either by the tali-tier or some one else, to establish conjugal
relations. Inheritance is mostly paternal. The dead are buried,
and death pollution lasts for sixteen days. The spirits of deceased
ancestors are appeased once a year by the offering of cooked food on
the new-moon day in the month of Karkatakam (July-August). Ancestors
who died from some untoward accident are propitiated in the month of
Avani (August-September) by offerings of flesh and liquor. The latter
ceremonial is termed vellamkuli or water drinking. Small earthen sheds,
called gurusalas or kuriyalas and matams, are erected in memory of
some ancestors.
The following account of the Panans of the Cochin State is extracted
from a note by Mr. L. K. Ananta Krishna Aiyar. [29]
"The Panans give, as the traditional account of their origin, a
distorted version of the tradition as to the origin of the Izhuvans,
which is found in the Mackenzie Manuscripts. The Panan version of the
story is as follows. One day a washerman of Cheraman Perumal chanced
to wash his dress very clean. On being asked by the Perumal as to the
cause of it, the washerman said that it was due to the suggestion of
a handsome carpenter girl, who saw him while washing. The Perumal,
pleased with the girl, desired her to be married to his washerman. The
parents of the girl were duly consulted, and they could not refuse
the offer, as it came from their sovereign. But his fellow carpenters
resented it, for, if the proposal was accepted, and the marriage
celebrated, it might not only place the members of her family under
a ban, but would also bring dishonour to the castemen. To avert the
contemplated union, they resorted to the following device. A pandal
(marriage booth) was erected and tastefully decorated. Just at the
auspicious hour, when the bridegroom and his party were properly
seated on mats in the pandal, the carpenters brought a puppet exactly
resembling the bride, and placed it by his side, when suddenly, by a
clever artifice, the carpenters caused the building to tumble down,
and thereby killed all those who were in it. They immediately left
the Perumal's country, and took refuge in the island of Ceylon. The
ruler was much embarrassed by the disaster to the washerman, and by
the flight of the carpenters, for he had none in his country to build
houses. A few Panans were sent for, and they brought the carpenters
back. On their return, they were given some fruit of the palmyra
palm, which they ate. They sowed the seeds in their own places,
and these grew into large fruit-bearing palms. The Panans possessed
the privilege of keeping these trees as their own, but subsequently
made them over to the Izhuvans, who, in memory of this, give even
to-day two dishes of food to the Panans on all ceremonial occasions in
their houses. They have been, on that account, called by the Izhuvans
nettaries, for their having originally planted these trees.
"There are no titles among the Panans, but one, who was brought for
examination at Trichur, told me that one of his ancestors got the
title of Panikkan, and that he had the privilege of wearing a gold
ear-ring, carrying a walking-stick lined with silver, and using
a knife provided with a style. Kapradan is a title given to the
headman in the Palghat taluk. In Palghat, when the Kapradan dies,
the Raja is informed, and he sends to the chief mourner (the son)
a sword, a shield, a spear, a few small guns with some gunpowder,
a silver bangle, and a few necklaces. As the dead body is taken to
the burial ground, the chief mourner, wearing the ornaments above
mentioned, goes behind it. In front go a few persons armed with the
weapons referred to. Three discharges are made (1) when the dead body
is removed from the house, (2) when it is placed on the ground, (3)
when it is burnt. The next day, the chief mourner pays his respects
to the Raja, with an umbrella of his own making, when the Raja bestows
upon him the title of Kapradan.
"There are magicians and sorcerers among the Panans, who sometimes,
at the request even of the high-caste men, practice the black
art. Some of the Panans, like the Parayans, engage in magical
rites of a repulsive nature, in order to become possessors of a
powerful medicine, the possession of which is believed to confer
the power of obtaining anything he wishes. They also believe in
the existence of a demoniacal hierarchy. Changili Karuppan, Pechi,
Oodara Karuppan, Kali, Chotala Karuppan, Chotala Bhadrakali, Yakshi,
Gandharvan, and Hanuman are the names of the chief demons whom they
profess to control with the aid of mantrams (consecrated formulæ)
and offerings. They also profess that they can send one or more of
these demons into the bodies of men, and cast them out when persons
are possessed of them. They profess to cure all kinds of diseases in
children with the aid of magic and medicines, and all the castemen
believe that harm or even death may be caused to men with the aid of
sorcerers. In such cases, an astrologer is consulted, and, according
to his calculations, the aid of a magician is sought for. When a
person is suffering from what are believed to be demoniacal attacks,
he is relieved by the performance of the following ceremony, called
pathalahomam. A pit about six feet in length, three feet in depth,
and a foot or two in breadth, is dug. A Panan, covered with a new
piece of cloth, is made to lie in the pit, which is filled in with
earth, leaving a small hole for him to breathe. Over the middle of
his body, the earth is raised and made level. A sacred fire (homam)
is made over this with the branches of a jack tree. Near it a large
square is drawn with sixty-four small divisions, in each of which
a small leaf, with some paddy (unhusked rice), rice, flour, and
lighted torches, is placed. Gingelly (Sesamum) seeds, mustard seeds,
grains of chama (Panicum miliaceum), horse gram (Dolichos biflorus),
eight fragrant things, the skin of snakes, dung of the elephant,
milk of the pala tree, twigs of the banyan tree, dharba grass, nila
narakam (Naregamia alata) oil, and ghee (clarified butter) are put
into it until it burns bright. The sick man is brought in front of
it, and the sorcerer authoritatively asks him--or rather the demon
residing in his body--to take these things. The sorcerer puts the
above mentioned substances into the fire, muttering all the while
his mantrams invoking the favour of Vira Bhadra or Kandakaruna. The
significance of these is 'Oh! Kandakaruna, the King of the Devas,
I have no body, that is, my body is getting weaker and weaker, and
am possessed of some demon, which is killing me, kindly help me, and
give me strength.' This done, another operation is begun. A fowl is
buried, and a small portion of the earth above it is raised and made
level. The figure of a man is drawn by the side of it. Three homams
(sacred fires) are raised, one at the head, one in the middle, and
one at the feet. The above mentioned grains, and other substances,
are put into the fire. A large square with sixty-four smaller squares
in it is drawn, in each of which a leaf, with grains of paddy, rice,
and flowers, is placed. Another mantram in praise of the demons already
mentioned is uttered, and a song is sung. After finishing this, a
small structure in the form of a temple is made. A small plantain tree
is placed by the side of it. A padmam is drawn, and a puja (worship)
is performed for the Paradevatha, the queen of demons. The sorcerer
makes offerings of toddy, beaten rice, plantains, and cocoanuts, and
soon turns oracle, and, as one inspired, tells what the deity wishes,
and gives information as regards the departure of the demons from the
body. It is now believed that the patient is free from all demoniacal
attacks. The buried man is exhumed, and allowed to go home.
"In the Palghat taluk, the following form of sorcery is practiced,
which is believed to relieve persons from demoniacal attacks and
disease. If, in the house of any casteman, it is suspected that some
malign influence is being exercised by demons, a Panan is sent for,
who comes in the evening with his colleagues. A homam is lighted with
the branches of the trees already mentioned, and into it are thrown
six kinds of grains, as well as oil and ghee. As this is being done,
Kallatikode Nili, the presiding archdemon, is propitiated with songs
and offerings. The next part of the ceremony consists in bringing
a bier and placing a Panan on it, and a measure of rice is placed
at his head. He is, as in the case of a dead body, covered with a
piece of new cloth, and a small plantain tree is placed between the
thighs. At his head a sheep and at his feet a fowl are killed. He
pretends gradually to recover consciousness. In this state he is
taken outside the compound. The Panan, lying on the bier, evidently
pretends to be dead, as if killed by the attack of some demon. The
propitiation with songs and offerings is intended to gratify the
demons. This is an instance of sympathetic magic.
"Some among the Panans practice the oti (or odi) cult, like
the Parayas. The following medicines, with the aid of magic,
are serviceable to them in enticing pregnant women from their
houses. Their preparation is described as follows. A Panan, who is
an adept in the black art, bathes early in the morning, dresses in a
cloth unwashed, and performs puja to his deity, after which he goes
in search of a Kotuveli plant (Manihot utilissima). When he finds
such a one as he wants, he goes round it three times every day,
and continues to do so for ninety days, prostrating himself every
day before it. On the last night, which must be a new-moon night, at
twelve o'clock he performs puja to the plant, burning camphor, and,
after going round it three times, prostrates himself before it. He
then places three small torches on it, and advances twenty paces in
front of it. With his mouth closed, and without any fear, he plucks
the plant by the root, and buries it in the ashes on the cremation
ground, on which he pours the water of seven green cocoanuts. He
then goes round it twenty-one times, muttering all the while certain
mantrams, after which he plunges himself in the water, and stands
erect until it extends to his mouth. He takes a mouthful of water,
which he empties on the spot, and then takes the plant with the root,
which he believes to possess peculiar virtues. When it is taken to the
closed door of a house, it has the power to entice a pregnant woman,
when the foetus is removed (cf. article Parayan). It is all secretly
done on a dark midnight. The head, hands and legs are cut off, and
the trunk is taken to a dark-coloured rock, on which it is cut into
nine pieces, which are all burned until they are blackened. At this
stage, one piece boils, and is placed in a new earthen pot, with the
addition of the water of nine green cocoanuts. The pot is removed
to the burial-ground. The Panan performs a puja here in favour of
his favourite deity. Here he fixes two poles deep in the earth,
at a distance of thirty feet from each other.
The poles are connected by a strong wire, from which is suspended
the pot to be heated and boiled. Seven fire-places are made, beneath
the wire. The branches of bamboo, katalati (Achyranthes Emblica),
conga (Bauhinea variegata), cocoanut palm, jack tree (Artocarpus
integrifolia), and pavatta (Pavatta indica), are used in forming a
bright fire. The mixture in the pot soon boils and becomes oily, at
which stage it is passed through a fine cloth. The oil is preserved,
and a mark made with it on the forehead enables the possessor to
realise anything that is thought of. The sorcerer must be in a state
of vow for twenty-one days, and live on a diet of chama kanji. The
deity, whose aid is necessary, is propitiated with offerings.
"One of the ceremonies which the Panans perform is called Thukil
Onarthuka (waking thukil, a kind of drum). In the month of Karkadakam
(July-August), a Panan, with his wife, provided with a drum and
kuzhithalam (circular bell-metal cymbals), goes to the houses of
Brahmans and Nayars after midnight, and sings sacred songs. During the
week, they sing standing underneath a banyan tree near the western
gate of the Trichur temple. From the temple authorities they get
five measures of paddy, half a measure of rice, some gingelly oil,
and a cocoanut. For their services in other houses, they receive a
similar remuneration. This is intended to drive evil spirits, if any,
from houses. Another of their festivals is known as Panan Kali. The
traditional account therefor is as follows. Once, when a Panan and
his wife went to a forest to bring bamboos for the manufacture of
umbrellas, they missed their way, night approached, and they could not
return. They began to be frightened by the varieties of noise heard
by them in the wilderness. They collected pieces of dry bamboo and
leaves of trees, and burned them. In the presence of the light thus
obtained, the woman caught hold of a creeper hanging from a tree,
and danced in honour of Bhagavathi, while her husband sang songs
praising her. The day dawned at last, and they found their way home
in safety. In memory of this incident, the Panans organise a party
for a regular play. There are ten male and two female actors, and
the play is acted during the whole night.
"The religion of the Panans consists of an all-pervading
demonology. Their chief gods are Mukkan, Chathan, Kappiri,
Malankorathi, and Kali. Pujas are performed to them on the first of
Medom (April-May), Karkadakam (July-August), Desara, and on Tuesday
in Makaram (January-February). These deities are represented by stones
placed under a tree. They are washed with water on the aforesaid days,
and offerings of sheep and fowls, malar (parched rice), plantains,
cocoanuts, and boiled rice are made to them. Their belief is that
these deities are ever prone to do harm to them, and should therefore
be propitiated with offerings. The Panans also worship the spirits
of their ancestors, who pass for their household gods, and whose
help they seek in all times of danger. They fast on new-moon nights,
and on the eleventh night after full-moon or new-moon.
"The Panan is the barber of the polluting castes above Cherumans. By
profession he is an umbrella-maker. Panans are also engaged in all
kinds of agricultural work. In villages, they build mud walls. Their
women act as midwives.
"As regards social status, the Panans eat at the hands of Brahmans,
Nayars, Kammalans, and Izhuvans. They have to stand at a distance of
thirty-two feet from Brahmans. Panans and Kaniyans pollute one another
if they touch, and both bathe should they happen to do so. They are
their own barbers and washermen. They live in the vicinity of the
Izhuvans, but cannot live in the Nayar tharas. Nor can they take water
from the wells of the Kammalans. They cannot approach the outer walls
of Brahman temples, and are not allowed to enter the Brahman streets
in Palghat."
In the Census Report, 1891, Panan occurs as a sub-division of the
Paraiyans. Their chief occupation as leather-workers is said to be
the manufacture of drum-heads. [30]