is presided over by at least two or three Pattakkārans, the caste god being represented by some āvaram flowers, a pot of water, and margosa (Melia Azadirachta) leaves. If acquitted, the accused is made to touch the water pot in token of his innocence. If he is convicted, both he and the complainant are fined, the latter for the purification of his house, if it has been polluted by the offence. The purification is performed by a man of the Marudūr Nādu called Rettai Vilakkukāran (man of two lights), who eats a meal in the polluted house, with his hands held behind his back."
It was recently noted that the Uppāras are, as a rule, uneducated, and their ignorance of the three R's often leads to bitter disputes among themselves and with their employers in disbursing their wages. Some years ago, one of the Madras Missions opened a school for the benefit of this backward caste. In 1906, the Hindu Educational Mission of Madras started a night and day school, Upparapālaiyam Ārya Pāthasāla, in the Upparapālaiyam quarter of Madras.
There is a Telugu proverb to the effect that one is ruined both ways, like an Uppara who has turned Sanyāsi (ascetic), in reference to the fact that he neither follows his ancestral occupation, nor is tolerated in his new calling. The usual caste title is Chetti.
Uppāra occurs as a synonym of Kūsa Holeya.
Uppu (salt). — A sub-division of Balijas and Koravas, who trade in salt, which they carry about the country in panniers on donkeys or bullocks. It is also an occupational sub-division of Kōmati. The equivalent Uppa is an exogamous sept of Kēlasi. Uppukōttei occurs as a division of Maravan, Upputholuvāru (salt-carriers) as an exogamous sept of Oddē, and Uppiri (salt-earth) as a sept of Kuruba.
