Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Puchcha

by Edgar Thurston

Puchcha.— Puccha or Puchcha Kāya (fruit of Citrullus Colocynthis) is the name of a gōtra or sept of Bōyas, Kōmatis, and Vīramushtis, who are a class of mendicants attached to the Kōmatis. The same name, or picchi kāya, denoting the water-melon Citrullus vulgaris, occurs as a sept or house-name of Panta Reddis and Sēniyans (Dēvāngas), the members of which may not eat the fruit. The name Desimarada has been recently substituted by the Sēniyans for picchi kāya.