Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Nirpūsi

by Edgar Thurston

Nirpūsi (wearers of sacred ashes). — Recorded, at times of census, as a sub-division of Pāndya Vellālas. Nīrpūsi Vellala is described, in the Gazetteer of the South Arcot district, as a name current in the South Arcot district meaning Vellālas who put on holy ash, in reference to certain Jains, who formerly became Saivites, taking off their sacred threads, and putting holy ashes on their foreheads.