and arrack (liquor) shop-keepers, and the poorer members extract toddy from the palm-trees.
The Kāpus of the Nellore district employ Gamallas as their cooks and domestic servants, and all menial service and cooking are done by Gamallas in the houses of Kāpus on the occasion of festivals and marriages.
Concerning the origin of the Gamallas, the following legend is current. A Rishi was doing penance by standing on his head, and, like the chamæleon, living on light and air, instead of food. According to some, the Rishi was Kaumandla, while others do not know his name. An Īdiga girl passed by the Rishi, carrying a pot filled with toddy, which polluted the air, so that the Rishi could not continue the penance. Being struck with the girl's beauty, he followed her to her home, and pointed out to her that she was the cause of his mishap. He asked her to become his wife, but she announced that she was already married. Eventually, however, they became secretly united, and, in consequence, the whole town caught fire. The girl's husband, returning home with some toddy, was amazed at the sight, and she, to protect him, hid the Rishi in a vat. Into this vat the husband poured the toddy, which made the Rishi breathe hard, so that the toddy, for the first time on record, began to foam. Noticing this, the husband found a lingam, into which the Rishi had been transformed. This lingam was worshipped by the Gamandlas, and they are at the present day Saivites.
Like other Telugu castes, the Gamallas have exogamous septs, such as parvathāla (hills), kudumalu (a cake), annam (cooked rice), and pandhi (pig). Among gōtras, the following may be noted: — kavundinya, kārunya, vāchalya, and surāpāndēsvara (surā pānda, toddy pot).
