labour under the same difficulty. Those who encouraged the higher classes of Nāyars with ritualistic functions became Onnam Parisha or the first party of Ilayatus, the remainder being grouped in another class known as Randām or second party. The latter are lower in the social scale than the former. The two sections do not intermarry, and interdining is restricted to the male sex.
The Ilayatus generally have a dejected appearance, and their poverty is proverbial. Most of them earn only a scanty living by their traditional occupation, and yet it is notorious that other walks of life have absolutely no attraction for them. Not only is English education not welcomed, but even the study of Sanskrit finds only a few steadfast votaries. The Ilayatus are, however, a naturally clever, and intelligent community, and, under favourable conditions, are found to take a more prominent place in society.
The house of an Ilayatu is, like that of a Nambūtiri, called illam. It is generally large, being the gift of some pious Nāyar. Every Ilayatu house possesses a serpent grove, where periodical offerings are made. The dress and ornaments of the Ilayatus are exactly like those of the Nambūtiris. The wedding ornament is called kettu-tāli. Children wear a ring tied to a thread round the neck from the moment of the first feeding ceremony. The Ilayatus are strict vegetarians, and, though in some of their temples they have to make offerings of liquor to the deity, they are strictly forbidden by caste rules from partaking thereof.
The chief occupation of the Ilayatus is the priesthood of the Nāyars. The first division perform this service only for the Ilakkar or highest class of Nāyars, while the second division do not decline to be the priests of any section of that community. In performing such services,
