After the cremation or burial of a corpse, a rope is held by two of the relations between the dead person's remains and the karta (chief mourner), and cut in two, as if to indicate that all connection between the karta and the deceased has ceased. This is called bandham aruppu, or severing of connection. Pollution lasts for sixteen days among all sections of the barbers, except the Tamils, who regain their purity after a death in the family on the eleventh day.
Ambojala (lotus: Nelumbium).--A house-name of Korava.
Amma (mother).--A sub-division of Pallan and Paraiyan. It is also the title of the various goddesses, or mothers, such as Ellamma, Mariamma, etc., which are worshipped as Grama Devatas (village deities) at the temples known as Amman-koil.
Ammukkuvan.--A sub-division of Katalarayan. [60] (See Valan.)
Anapa (Dolichos Lablab).--A gotra of Komati.
Anchu (edge or border).--A gotra of Kurni.
Andara (pandal or booth).--A sept of Kuruba.
Ande.--Ande (a pot) as a division of the Kurubas refers to the small bamboo or wooden vessel used when milking goats. It further denotes a division of the Koragas, who used to wear a pot suspended from their necks, into which they were compelled to spit, so as not to defile the highway.
Anderaut.--Recorded, in the Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Kurumba. Probably a form of Ande Kuruba. Raut is frequently a title of headmen among Lingayats.
Andi.--In a note on Andis in the Madras Census Report, 1901, Mr. W. Francis writes that "for a Brahman or an ascetic, mendicancy was always considered an honourable profession, to which no sort of shame attached. Manu says 'a Brahman should constantly shun worldly honour, as he would shun poison, and rather constantly seek disrespect as he would seek nectar'; and every Brahman youth was required to spend part of his life as a beggar. The Jains and Buddhists held the same views. The Hindu Chattrams [61] and Uttupuras, the Jain Pallis, and the Buddhist Viharas owe their origin to this attitude, they being originally intended for the support of the mendicant members of these religions. But persons of other than the priestly and religious classes were expected to work for their living, and were not entitled to relief in these institutions. Begging among such people--unless, as in the case of the Pandarams and Andis, a religious flavour attaches to it--is still considered disreputable. The percentage of beggars in the Tamil districts to the total population is .97, or more than twice what it is in the Telugu country, while in Malabar it is as low as .09. The Telugus are certainly not richer as a class than the Tamils, and the explanation of these differences is perhaps to be found in the fact that the south is more religiously inclined than the north, and has more temples and their connected charities (religion and charity go hand in hand in India), and so offers more temptation to follow begging as a profession. Andis are Tamil beggars. They are really inferior to Pandarams, but the two terms are in practice often indiscriminately applied to the same class of people. Pandarams are usually Vellalas by caste, but Andis are recruited from all classes of Sudras, and they consequently have various sub-divisions, which are named after the caste to which the members of each originally belonged, such as the Jangam Andis, meaning beggars of the Jangam caste, and the Jogi Andis, that is, Andis of the Jogi caste. They also have occupational and other divisions, such as the Kovil Andis, meaning those who do service in temples, and the Mudavandis or the lame beggars. Andi is in fact almost a generic term. All Andis are not beggars however; some are bricklayers, others are cultivators, and others are occupied in the temples. They employed Brahman priests at their ceremonies, but all of them eat meat and drink alcohol. Widows and divorcées may marry again. Among the Tinnevelly Andis, the sister of the bridegroom ties the tali (marriage badge) round the bride's neck, which is not usual."