Paravan.--Concerning the origin of the Parava fishing community of the south-east coast, the following legends are current. [73] The author of the Historia Ecclesiastica (published in Tamil at Tranquebar in 1735) identifies them with the Parvaim of the Scriptures, and adds that, in the time of Solomon, they were famous among those who made voyages by sea; but it does not appear that there is any solid foundation for this hypothesis. It is the general belief among the Paravas that their original country was Ayodhya, or Oudh; and it appears that, previously to the war of Mahabharata, they inhabited the territory bordering on the river Yamuna or Jumna. At present they are chiefly found in the seaport towns of the Tinnevelly district in the south of India, and also in some of the provinces on the north-west coast of Ceylon. With regard to their origin, there is a variety as well as discordancy of opinions. Some of the Tantras represent them to be descended from a Brahman by a Sudra woman, while the Jatibedi Nul (a work of some celebrity among the Tamils) states them to be the offspring of a Kurava (or basket-maker) begotten clandestinely on a female of the Chetty (or merchant) tribe. But the Paravas have among themselves quite a different tradition concerning their origin, which is founded on mythological fable. They relate that their progenitors were of the race Varuna (god of the sea), and on the occasion, when Siva had called Kartikeya (god of arms) into existence, for destroying the overwhelming power of the Asuras (evil spirits), they sprang up with him from the sacred lake Sarawana, and were like him nursed by the constellation Kartika. At the close of the last kalpa, when the whole earth was covered with a deluge, they constructed a dhoni or boat, and by it escaped the general destruction; and, when dry land appeared, they settled on the spot where the dhoni rested; hence it is called Dhonipura, or the city of the boat. The Paravas were once a very powerful people, and no doubt derived much of their ascendancy over other tribes from their knowledge of navigation. They had a succession of kings among them, distinguished by the title of Adiyarasen, some of whom seem to have resided at Uttara Kosamangay, called at that time the city of Mangay, a famous place of Hindu pilgrimage in the neighbourhood of Ramnad. In the Purana entitled Valevisu Puranam we meet with the following fable. Parvati, the consort of Siva, and her son Kartikeya, having offended the deity by revealing some ineffable mystery, were condemned to quit their celestial mansions, and pass through an infinite number of mortal forms, before they could be re-admitted to the divine presence. On the entreaty of Parvati, however, they were allowed, as a mitigation of the punishment, each to undergo but one transmigration. And, as about this time, Triambaka, King of the Paravas, and Varuna Valli his consort were making tapas (acts of devotion) to obtain issue,