Pandāram is, in fact, a class name rather than the name of a caste, and it consists of priests and beggars. Mr. C. P. Brown*[1] thinks that the Pandārams are not Lingāyats. 'The Saiva worshippers among the Tamils are called Pandārams: these are not Vira Saivas, nor do they wear the linga or adore Basava. I name them here chiefly because they are often mentioned as being Vira Saivas, whereas in truth they are (like the Smartas) Purva Saivas, and worship the image of Siva in their houses.' It must be remarked that Mr. Brown appears to have had a confused idea of Pandārams. Pandārams wear the linga on their bodies in one of the usual modes, are priests to others professing the Lingāyat religion, and are fed by them on funeral and other ceremonial occasions. At the same time, it must be added that they are — more especially the begging sections — very lax as regards their food and drink. This characteristic distinguishes them from the more orthodox Lingāyats. Moreover, Lingāyats remarry their widows, whereas the Pandārams, as a caste, will not.
"Pandārams speak Tamil. They are of two classes, the married and celibate. The former are far more numerous than the latter, and dress in the usual Hindu manner. They have the hind-lock of hair known as the kudumi, put on sacred ashes, and paint the point between the eyebrows with a sandal paste dot. The celibates wear orange-tawny cloths, and daub sacred ashes all over their bodies. They allow the hair of the head to become matted. They wear sandals with iron spikes, and carry in their hands an iron trisūlam (the emblem of Siva), and a wooden baton called dandāyudha (another emblem of Siva). When they go about the
- ↑ * Madras Journ. Lit, and Science, XI, 1840.
