Note 35 — P (Continued)

Opinions are divided as to whether the Pandārams are Lingāyats or not. The opinion held by F. W. Ellis, the well-known Tamil scholar and translator of the Kural of Tiruvalluvar, is thus summarised by Colonel Wilks.35 “Mr. Ellis considers the Jangam of the upper countries, and the Pandāram of the lower, to be of the same sect, and both deny in the most unequivocal terms the doctrine of the metempsychosis. A manuscript in the Mackenzie collection ascribes the origin of the Pandārams as a sacerdotal order of the servile caste to the religious disputes, which terminated in the suppression of the Jain religion in the Pāndian (Madura) kingdom, and the influence which they attained by the aid which they rendered to the Brāhmans in that controversy, but this origin seems to require confirmation. In a large portion, perhaps in the whole of the Brāhmanical temples dedicated to Siva in the provinces of Arcot, Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madura and Tinnevelly, the Pandāram is the highest of the temple, and has the entire direction of the revenues, but allows the Brāhmans to officiate in the ceremonial part according to their own good pleasure, as a concern altogether below his note. He has generally the reputation of an irreproachable life, and is treated by the Brāhmans of the temple with great reverence, while on his part he looks with compassion at the absurd trifles which occupy their attention. These facts seem to point to some former revolution, in which a Jangam government obtained a superiority over the Brāhmanical establishments, and adopted this mode of superseding the substantial part of their authority. It is a curious instance of the Sooder (Sūdra) being the spiritual lord of the Brāhman, and is worthy of further historical investigation.” Dr. Wilson36 also thinks that the Pandārams are Lingāyats. Mr. H. A. Stuart37 says that they are a class of priests who serve the non-Brāhman castes. They have returned 115 sub-divisions, of which only two are sufficiently large to require mention, Āndi of Tinnevelly and Malabar, and Lingadāri of Chingleput and Tinnevelly. Āndi is a quasi-caste of beggars recruited from all castes, and the Lingadāri Pandārams are the same as Jangams. Pandāram is, in fact, a class name rather than the name of a caste, and it consists of priests and beggars. Mr. C. P. Brown38 thinks that the Pandārams are not Lingāyats. ‘The Saiva worshippers among the Tamils are called Pandārams: these are not Vira Saivas, nor do they wear the linga or adore Basava. I name them here chiefly because they are often mentioned as being Vira Saivas, whereas in truth they are (like the Smartas) Purva Saivas, and worship the image of Siva in their houses.’ It must be remarked that Mr. Brown appears to have had a confused idea of Pandārams. Pandārams wear the linga on their bodies in one of the usual modes, are priests to others professing the Lingāyat religion, and are fed by them on funeral and other ceremonial occasions. At the same time, it must be added that they are—more especially the begging sections—very lax as regards their food and drink. This characteristic distinguishes them from the more orthodox Lingāyats. Moreover, Lingāyats remarry their widows, whereas the Pandārams, as a caste, will not.