Note 68 — V (continued 2)

It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that “the Vēttuvans of Chirakkal taluk are a low caste of jungle cultivators and basket makers, distinguished by the survival amongst their women of the custom of dressing in leaves, their only clothing being a kind of double fan-shaped apron of leaves tied round the waist with a rolled cloth. They live in huts made of split bamboo and thatched with elephant grass, called kudumbus. The Vēttuvans are divided into fourteen illams, which seem to be named after the house names of the janmis (landlords) whom they serve. Their headmen, who are appointed by their janmis, are called Kirān, or sometimes Parakutti (drummer). Amongst the Vēttuvans, when labour begins, the woman is put in a hole dug in a corner of the hut, and left there alone with some water till the cry of the child is heard.” For the following note on the Vēttuvans of the Cochin State, I am indebted to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar.68