be distinguished from the Mārāns proper, with whom they have absolutely nothing in common.
Many families of the higher division of the Mārāns regard themselves as Ambalavāsis, though of the lowest type, and abstain from flesh and liquor. Some Mārāns are engaged in the practice of sorcery, while others are agriculturists. Drinking is a common vice, sanctioned by popular opinion owing to the notion that it is good for persons with overworked lungs.
In their ceremonies the Mārāns resemble the Nāyars, as they do also in their caste government and religious worship. The annaprasana, or first food-giving ceremony, is the only important one before marriage, and the child is taken to the temple, where it partakes of the consecrated food. The Nāyars, on the contrary, generally perform the ceremony at home. Purification by a Brāhman is necessary to release the Mārān from death pollution, which is not the case with the Nāyars. In Travancore, at any rate, the Nāyars are considered to be higher in the social scale than the Mārāns.
In connection with asu and pāni, which have been referred to in this note, I gather that, in Malabar, the instruments called maram (wood), timila, shanku, chengulam, and chenda, if played together, constitute pani kottugu, or playing pāni. Asu and maram are the names of an instrument, which is included in pāni kottugu. Among the occasions when this is indispensable, are the dedication of the idol at a newly built temple, the udsavam pūram and Sriveli festivals, and the carrying of the tadambu, or shield-like structure, on which a miniature idol (vigraham) is borne outside the temple.
Marāsāri. — Marāsāri or Marapanikkan, meaning carpenter or worker in wood, is an occupational sub-division of Malayālam Kammālas.
