once more emigrated in a body, and reached the village of Onkarakudi on a Friday (the constellation Astham being in the ascendant on that day). They were allowed to settle in the tract of country north of the river Vaigai, east of the Piranmalai, and south of Vellar. Those from the east street settled at Ilayaththukudi, those from the west street at Ariyur, and those from the south street at Sundarapattanam. Thus the Chettis became divided into three endogamous sections, of which the Ilayaththukudi and Sundarapattanam are found at the present day in the Madura district. The members of the Ariyur section migrated to the west coast on the destruction of their village. The members of the Ilayaththukudi section became the Nattukottais. They, not being satisfied with only one place of worship, requested the king to give them more temples. Accordingly, temples were provided for different groups at Maththur, Vairavanpatti, Iraniyur, Pillayarpatti, Nemam, Iluppaikudi, Suraikudi, and Velangkudi. At the present day, the Nattukottai Chettis are divided into the following divisions (kovils or temples) and exogamous sub-divisions:-- 1. Ilayaththukudi kovil-- Okkurudaiyar. Pattanasamiar. Perumaruthurudaiyar. Kazhanivasakkudaiyar. Kinkinikkudaiyar. Perasendurudaiyar. Siruseththurudaiyar. 2. Maththur kovil-- Uraiyur. Arumbakur. Manalur. Mannur. Kannur. Karuppur. Kulaththur. 3. Vairavan kovil-- Sirukulaththur. Kazhanivasal. Marudendrapuram. 4. Iraniyur kovil. 5. Pillayarpatti kovil. 6. Nemam kovil. 7. Iluppaikudi kovil. 8. Suraikudi kovil. 9. Velangkudi kovil. When Nattukottai Chettis adopt children, they must belong to the same temple division. An adopted son is called Manjanir Puthiran, or turmeric-water son, because, at the ceremony of adoption, the lad has to drink turmeric-water. [113] In villages where their main temples are situated, the temple manager is obliged to give food to stranger Chettis, and charge for it if they belong to another temple division. According to a variant of the story relating to the origin of the Nattukottai Chettis, "they were formerly merchants at the court of the Chola kings who ruled at Kaveripattanam, at one time a flourishing sea-port at the mouth of the Cauveri, from which they emigrated in a body on being persecuted by one of them, and first settled at Nattarasankottai, about three miles north-east of Sivaganga."