Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Vairāvi

by Edgar Thurston

Vairāvi.———The equivalent of Bairāgi or Vairāgi. Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as "a sub-caste of Pandāram. They are found only in the Tinnevelly district, where they are measurers of grain, and pūjāris in village temples." In the Madura district, Vairāvis are members of the Mēlakkāran caste, who officiate as servants at the temples of the Nāttukōttai Chettis.