Gamalla.--The Gamallas are a class of toddy-drawers, and distillers and vendors of arrack in the Telugu country and are supposed to be Idigas who have bettered themselves, and separated from that caste. Both Gamallas and Idigas worship the deity Kattamayya. At the census, 1891, some returned Idiga as their sub-division. In the Cuddapah district some toddy-drawers style themselves Asilivandlu. Possibly the Idiga, Gamalla, and Asili toddy-drawing classes only represent three endogamous sections of a single caste. In the Nellore district, the toddy-drawers style themselves Gamandla or Gavandlavandlu, and say that they have one gotra Kaumandlapu or Gaumandlapu. It is probable that the name Gamandla or Gavandla has been coined by Brahman purohits, to connect the caste with Kaumandala Maharishi of the Puranas. The Gamallas say that they were created to draw toddy by the sage Kavundinya, and that they belong to the Gaundla varnam (caste). I am informed that a Puranam, called Gamandla or Gamudi Puranam, has been created. In the social scale, the toddy-drawers appear to occupy a higher position in the Telugu than in the Tamil country, and they are sometimes said to be Telagas or Balijas, who have adopted toddy-drawing as a profession. The more prosperous members of the community are toddy and arrack (liquor) shop-keepers, and the poorer members extract toddy from the palm-trees. The Kapus of the Nellore district employ Gamallas as their cooks and domestic servants, and all menial service and cooking are done by Gamallas in the houses of Kapus on the occasion of festivals and marriages. Concerning the origin of the Gamallas, the following legend is current. A Rishi was doing penance by standing on his head, and, like the chamæleon, living on light and air, instead of food. According to some, the Rishi was Kaumandla, while others do not know his name. An Idiga girl passed by the Rishi, carrying a pot filled with toddy, which polluted the air, so that the Rishi could not continue the penance. Being struck with the girl's beauty, he followed her to her home, and pointed out to her that she was the cause of his mishap. He asked her to become his wife, but she announced that she was already married. Eventually, however, they became secretly united, and, in consequence, the whole town caught fire. The girl's husband, returning home with some toddy, was amazed at the sight, and she, to protect him, hid the Rishi in a vat. Into this vat the husband poured the toddy, which made the Rishi breathe hard, so that the toddy, for the first time on record, began to foam. Noticing this, the husband found a lingam, into which the Rishi had been transformed. This lingam was worshipped by the Gamandlas, and they are at the present day Saivites.