Paraiyans of Malabar, Cochin and Travancore.--For the following note on the Paraiyans or Paraiyas of Cochin I am indebted to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar. [69] Paraiyas belong to a very low caste of the agrestic serfs of Cochin, next to Pulayas in order of social precedence. They will eat at the hands of all castes, save Ulladans, Nayadis, and Pulayas. But orthodox Pulayas have to bathe five times, and let blood flow, in order to be purified from pollution if they touch a Paraiya. In rural parts, a Paraiya's hut may be seen far away on the hill-side. At the approach of a member of some higher caste, the inmates run away to the forest. They cannot walk along the public roads, or in the vicinity of houses occupied by the higher castes. It is said that they at times steal the children of Nayars, and hide them in the forest, to bring them up as their own. They are extremely filthy in person and habits. They very rarely bathe, or wash their bodies, and a cloth, purchased at harvest time, is worn till it falls to pieces. They will eat the flesh of cattle, and are on this account despised even by the Pulayas. They are their own barbers and washermen. A legend runs to the effect that Vararuchi, the famous astrologer, and son of a Brahman named Chandragupta and his Brahman wife, became the King of Avanthi, and ruled till Vikramaditya, the son of Chandragupta by his Kshatriya wife, came of age, when he abdicated in his favour. Once, when he was resting under an ashwastha tree (Ficus religiosa), invoking the support of the deity living therein, he overheard the conversation of two Gandarvas on the tree, to the effect that he would marry a Paraiya girl. This he prevented by requesting the king to have her enclosed in a box, and floated down a river with a nail stuck into her head. The box was taken possession of by a Brahman, who was bathing lower down, and, on opening it, he found a beautiful girl, whom he considered to be a divine gift, and regarded as his own daughter. One day the Brahman, seeing Vararuchi passing by, invited him to mess with him, and his invitation was accepted on condition that he would prepare eighteen curries, and give him what remained after feeding a hundred Brahmans. The Brahman was puzzled, but the maiden, taking a long leaf, placed thereon a preparation of ginger corresponding to eighteen curries, and with it some boiled rice used as an offering at the Vaiswadeva ceremony, as the equivalent of the food for Brahmans. Knowing this to be the work of the maiden, Vararuchi desired to marry her, and his wish was acceded to by the Brahman. One day, while conversing with his wife about their past lives, he chanced to see a nail stuck in her head, and he knew her to be the girl whom he had caused to be floated down the stream. He accordingly resolved to go on a pilgrimage with his wife, bathing in rivers, and worshipping at temples. At last they came to Kerala, where