# Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Parivāram

​Parivāram.— It is noted, in the Census Report, 1891, that "this is a caste, which presents some difficulty. Parivāram means 'an army, a retinue,' and it is alleged that the people of this caste were formerly soldiers. Parivāram is found as a sub-division of Maravan and Agamudaiyan, and the Parivāras of Madura and Tinnevelly are probably either a sub-division or an offshoot of the Maravans. In Coimbatore, the only other district in which the Parivāras are numerous, they seem to be a sub-division of Toreyas, a fishing caste, and Mr. Rice, in his Gazetteer (of Mysore), says that Parivāra is a synonym of Besta." Further, in the Census Report, 1901, it is stated that "the word Parivāram means 'a retinue,' and was probably originally only an occupational term. It is now-a-days applied to the domestic servants and the Tottiya zamindars in the districts of Coimbatore, Trichinopoly, Madura, and Tinnevelly, who are recruited from several castes, but have come to form a caste by themselves. The Kōtaris of South Canara are a somewhat parallel case, and probably in time the Paiks among the Oriyas, and the Khāsas, who are servants to the Telugu zamindars, will similarly develop into separate castes. The caste is said to require all its members of both sexes to do such service for its masters as they may require. Persons of any caste above the Paraiyas are admitted into its ranks, and the men in it may marry a woman of any other caste with the permission of the zamindar under whom they serve. They do not habitually employ Brāhmans as priests, and in places the head of the Tottiyan caste ​conducts their ceremonies. Their titles are Maniyagāran and Sērvaigāran. The latter is also used by the Agamudaiyans."
The title Sērvaigāran or Sērvaikāran indicates that members of the caste do servai, or service, and the further title ūliyakkāran is a sign that they do ūliyam, or menial work. Sērvaikāran is also a title of the Tamil Ambalakārans, Agamudaiyans, Kallans, and Maravans, and the Canarese Toreyas, some of whom have settled in the Tamil districts of Madura and Coimbatore. It also occurs as a synonym of the Canarese Kōtēgaras.
The illegitimate offspring of Maravans, Kallans, and Agamudaiyans, are said to become members of the mixed Parivāram caste.
It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Madura district, that the Parivāram caste "is divided into two endogamous sections; the Chinna Ūliyam (little services) who are palanquin-bearers, and have the title Tēvan, and the Periya Ūliyam (big services), who are called Maniyakāran. The Kōmbai Parivārams, who are the servants of the Kāppiliyan Zamindars of Kōmbai and Tēvāram in the Periyakulam tāluk, are a separate community, and do not intermarry with the others. When a girl attains maturity, she is kept for sixteen days in a hut, which is guarded at night by her relations. This is afterwards burnt down, and the pots she used are broken into very small pieces, as there is an idea that, if rain-water collects in any of them, the girl will be childless. Some of the ceremonies at weddings are unusual. On the first day, a man takes a big pot of water with a smaller empty pot on top of it, and marches three times round the open space in front of the bride's house. With him march the happy couple carrying a bamboo, to which are tied in a turmeric-coloured cloth ​the nine kinds of grain. After the third journey round, these things are put down at the north-east corner, and the marriage pandal is made by bringing three more poles of the same size. Afterwards the wrists of the couple are tied together, and bridegroom's brother carries the pair a short distance. They plunge their hands into a bowl of salt. Next the husband takes an ordinary stone rolling-pin, wraps it in a bit of cloth, and gives it to his wife, saying 'Take the child; I am going to the palace.' She takes it, replying 'Yes, give me the child, the milk is ready.' This has to be repeated three times in a set formula. Several other odd rites are observed. Brāhmans officiate, and the bridegroom's sister, as usual, ties the tāli. Divorce is allowed to both sides. Adultery within the caste, or with the Zamindar, is tolerated. The husbands accept as their own any children their wives may bear to the Zamindar. Such children are called Chinna Kambalattar, and may marry with Tottiyans. But adultery outside the caste is most rigorously prohibited, and sternly punished with excommunication. A mud image of the girl who so offends is made, two thorns are poked into its eyes, and it is thrown away outside the village."