Variyar.--For the following note on the Variyar section of the Ambalavasis, I am indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar. The name is believed to be derived from Parasava, which, according to Yajnavalkya and other law-givers, is the name given to the son of a Brahman begotten on a Sudra woman, and suggests the fact that the Variyar is no Brahman, though the blood of the latter may course through his veins, and though such marriages were regarded as sacraments in early days. This is the derivation given by Pachumuttalu in his Keralaviseshamahatmya, who adds that the chief occupation of the Variyars is to sweep the floor of the temples. In some of the Asauchavidhis (works on pollution) of Kerala, the commentator explains the word Parasava as Variya. Many Variyars add the title Parasava to their name, when writing in Sanskrit. Some derive the word from varija or one born of water, in accordance with a tradition that Parasurama created from water a class of persons for special service in temples, and to take the place of Sudras, who, being meat-eaters, were ineligible for the same. Others again, like the late Professor Sundaram Pillay, would take Variyar as being derived from varuka, to sweep. Recently, some ingenuity has been displayed in splitting the word into two words, giving it a meaning equivalent to pseudo-Aryan. The title Asan, or teacher, is possessed by certain families, whose members have held the hereditary position of tutors in noblemen's houses. In mediæval times, many Variyar families received royal edicts, conferring upon them the privileges of being tutors and astrologers. These special rights are even now possessed by them.