Note 29 — V

The Vannāns of Malabar are also called Mannān or Bannān. They are, Mr. Francis writes,29 “a low class of Malabar washermen, who wash only for the polluting castes, and for the higher castes when they are under pollution following births, deaths, etc. It is believed by the higher castes that such pollution can only be removed by wearing clothes washed by Mannāns, though at other times these cause pollution to them. The washing is generally done by the women, and the men are exorcists, devil-dancers and physicians, even to the higher castes. Their women are midwives, like those of the Velakkatalavan and Vēlan castes. This caste should not be confused with the Mannān hill tribe of Travancore.”