In the Gazetteer of the Madura district, it is recorded that "Podunattu (Pudunattu?) Idaiyans have a tradition that they originally belonged to Tinnevelly, but fled to this district secretly one night in a body in the time of Tirumala Nayakkan, because the local chief oppressed them. Tirumala welcomed them, and put them under the care of the Kallan headman Pinnai Devan, decreeing that, to ensure that this gentleman and his successors faithfully observed the charge, they should always be appointed by an Idaiyan. That condition is observed to this day. In this sub-division a man has the same right to marry his paternal aunt's daughter as is possessed by the Kallans. But, if the woman's age is much greater than the boy's, she is usually married instead to his cousin, or some one else on that side of the family. A Brahman officiates at weddings, and the sacred fire is used, but the bridegroom's sister ties the tali (marriage badge). Divorce and the remarriage of widows are prohibited. The dead, except infants, are burnt. Caste affairs are settled by a headman called the Nattanmaikaran, who is assisted by an accountant and a peon. All three are elected. The headman has the management of the caste fund, which is utilised in the celebration of festivals on certain days in some of the larger temples of the district. Among these Podunattus, an uncommon rule of inheritance is in force. A woman who has no male issue at the time of her husband's death has to return his property to his brother, father, or maternal uncle, but is allotted maintenance, the amount of which is fixed by a caste panchayat (council). Among the Valasu and Pendukkumekki sub-divisions, another odd form of maintenance subsists. A man's property descends to his sons-in-law, who live with him, and not to his sons. The sons merely get maintenance until they are married." In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Pondan or Pogandan is recorded as a sub-caste of Idaiyans, who are palanquin-bearers to the Zamorin of Calicut. In this connection, it is noted by Mr. K. Kannan Nayar [174] that "among the Konar (cowherds) of Poondurai near Erode (in the Coimbatore district), who, according to tradition, originally belonged to the same tribe as the Gopas living in the southern part of Kerala, and now forming a section of the Nayars, the former matrimonial customs were exactly the same as those of the Nayars. They, too, celebrated tali-kettu kalyanam, and, like the Nayars, did not make it binding on the bride and bridegroom of the ceremony to live as husband and wife. They have now, however, abandoned the custom, and have made the tying of the tali the actual marriage ceremony."