Vannan.--The Vannans are washermen in the Tamil and Malayalam countries. The name Vannan is, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [112] "derived from vannam, beauty. There is a tradition that they are descendants of the mythological hero Virabadra, who was ordered by Siva to wash the clothes of all men, as an expiation of the sin of putting many people to death in Daksha's Yaga. Hence the Tamil washermen are frequently called Virabadran. Having to purify all the filthy linen of the villagers, they are naturally regarded as a low, unclean class of Sudras, and are always poor. They add to their income by hiring out the clothes of their customers to funeral parties, who lay them on the ground before the pall-bearers, so that these may not step upon the ground, and by letting them out on the sly to persons wishing to use them without having to purchase for themselves. In social standing the Vannans are placed next below the barbers. They profess to be Saivites in the southern districts, and Vaishnavites in the north. The marriage of girls generally takes place after puberty. Widow remarriage is permitted among some, if not all, sub-divisions. Divorce may be obtained by either party at pleasure on payment of double the bride-price, which is usually Rs. 10-8-0. They are flesh-eaters, and drink liquor. The dead are either burned or buried. The Pothara (or Podora) Vannans are of inferior status, because they wash only for Paraiyans, Pallans, and other inferior castes." It is noted, in the Madura Manual, that those who have seen the abominable substances, which it is the lot of the Vannans to make clean, cannot feel any surprise at the contempt with which their occupation is regarded. In the Tanjore Manual, it is recorded that, in the rural parts of the district, the Vannans are not allowed to enter the house of a Brahman or a Vellala; clothes washed by them not being worn or mixed up with other clothes in the house until they have undergone another wash by a caste man. It is on record that, on one occasion, a party of Europeans, when out shooting, met a funeral procession on its way to the burial-ground. The bier was draped in many folds of clean cloth, which one of the party recognised by the initials as one of his bed-sheets. Another identified as his sheet the cloth on which the corpse was lying. He cut off the corner with the initials, and a few days later the sheet was returned by the washerman, who pretended ignorance of the mutilation, and gave as an explanation that it must have been done, in his absence, by one of his assistants. On another occasion, a European met an Eurasian, in a village not far from his bungalow, wearing a suit of clothes exactly similar to his own, and, on close examination, found they were his. They had been newly washed and dressed.