Note 13 — V
Reading edition
The Valaiyans are devoted to devil worship, and, at Orattanādu in the Tanjore district, every Valaiyan backyard is said to contain an odiyan (Odina Wodier) tree, in which the devil is supposed to live.13 It is noted by Mr. W. Francis14 that “certain of the Valaiyans who live at Ammayanāyakkanūr are the hereditary pūjāris to the gods of the Sirumalai hills. Some of these deities are uncommon, and one of them, Pāppārayan, is said to be the spirit of a Brāhman astrologer whose monsoon forecast was falsified by events, and who, filled with a shame rare in unsuccessful weather prophets, threw himself off a high point on the range.”