Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Singamu-vāru

by Edgar Thurston

Singamu-vāru.——Singam is described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a class of beggars, who beg only from Sālēs. They are, however, described by Mr.C. Hayavadana Rao as a class of itinerant mendicants attached to the Dēvāngas. "The name," he writes, "is a variant of Simhamu-vāru, or lion-men, i.e., as valourous as a lion. They are paid a small sum annually by each Dēvānga village for various services which they render, such as carrying fire before a Dēvānga corpse to the burial-ground, acting as caste messengers, and cleaning the weaving instruments."