the Mūssads or Mūttatus, Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar states that they are known as Mūttatus or Mūssatus in Travancore and Cochin, and Potuvāls (or Poduvāls) or Akapotuvāls in North Malabar. Potuvāl means a common person, i.e., the representative of a committee, and a Mūttatu's right to this name accrues from the fact that, in the absence of the Nambūtiri managers of a temple, he becomes their agent, and is invested with authority to exercise all their functions. The work of an Akapotuvāl always lies within the inner wall of the shrine, while that of the Purappotuvāl, or Potuvāl proper, lies outside. From Travancore, Poduvān or Potuvān is recorded as a synonym or sub-division of Mārāns, who are employed at funerals by various castes.
It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that "Pura Pothuvāls are of two classes, Chenda Pothuvāls or drum Pothuvāls, and Māla Pothuvāls or garland Pothuvāls, the names of course referring to the nature of the service which they have to render in the temple. The Chenda Pothuvāls would appear to be closely connected with the Mārārs or Mārayārs, who are also drummers. Māla Pothuvāls follow marumakkattāyam (inheritance in the female line), their women having sambandham (alliance) with men of their own caste or with Brāhmans, while the men can have sambandham in their own caste, or with Nāyar women of any of the sub-divisions below Kiriyattil. Their women are called Pothuvārassiar or Pothuvāttimar." It is further recorded *[1] that, in some cases, for instance among Māla Pothuvāls and Mārārs in South Malabar, a fictitious consummation is an incident of the tāli-kettu; the girl and manavālan (bridegroom)
- ↑ *ibid.
