Note 103 — P (Continued) (continued 3)

Poduvāl.—Defined by Mr. Wigram103 as one of the Ambalavāsi castes, the members of which are as a rule employed as temple watchmen. Writing concerning the Mūssads or Mūttatus, Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar states that they are known as Mūttatus or Mūssatus in Travancore and Cochin, and Potuvāls (or Poduvāls) or Akapotuvāls in North Malabar. Potuvāl means a common person, i.e., the representative of a committee, and a Mūttatu’s right to this name accrues from the fact that, in the absence of the Nambūtiri managers of a temple, he becomes their agent, and is invested with authority to exercise all their functions. The work of an Akapotuvāl always lies within the inner wall of the shrine, while that of the Purappotuvāl, or Potuvāl proper, lies outside. From Travancore, Poduvān or Potuvān is recorded as a synonym or sub-division of Mārāns, who are employed at funerals by various castes.