"The Panans give, as the traditional account of their origin, a distorted version of the tradition as to the origin of the Izhuvans, which is found in the Mackenzie Manuscripts. The Panan version of the story is as follows. One day a washerman of Cheraman Perumal chanced to wash his dress very clean. On being asked by the Perumal as to the cause of it, the washerman said that it was due to the suggestion of a handsome carpenter girl, who saw him while washing. The Perumal, pleased with the girl, desired her to be married to his washerman. The parents of the girl were duly consulted, and they could not refuse the offer, as it came from their sovereign. But his fellow carpenters resented it, for, if the proposal was accepted, and the marriage celebrated, it might not only place the members of her family under a ban, but would also bring dishonour to the castemen. To avert the contemplated union, they resorted to the following device. A pandal (marriage booth) was erected and tastefully decorated. Just at the auspicious hour, when the bridegroom and his party were properly seated on mats in the pandal, the carpenters brought a puppet exactly resembling the bride, and placed it by his side, when suddenly, by a clever artifice, the carpenters caused the building to tumble down, and thereby killed all those who were in it. They immediately left the Perumal's country, and took refuge in the island of Ceylon. The ruler was much embarrassed by the disaster to the washerman, and by the flight of the carpenters, for he had none in his country to build houses. A few Panans were sent for, and they brought the carpenters back. On their return, they were given some fruit of the palmyra palm, which they ate. They sowed the seeds in their own places, and these grew into large fruit-bearing palms. The Panans possessed the privilege of keeping these trees as their own, but subsequently made them over to the Izhuvans, who, in memory of this, give even to-day two dishes of food to the Panans on all ceremonial occasions in their houses. They have been, on that account, called by the Izhuvans nettaries, for their having originally planted these trees.