The following account of the Wynadan or Wynaadan Chettis is given in the Gazetteer of the Nilgiris. "They speak Malayalam, and follow marumakkatayam (inheritance in the female line). They say they were originally Vellalas from Coimbatore, followed makkatayam (inheritance from father to son), spoke Tamil, and wore the Tamil top-knot. In proof of this, they point out that at their weddings they still follow certain Tamil customs, the bridegroom wearing a turban and a red cloth with a silver girdle over it and being shaved, and the woman putting on petticoats and nose-rings. They have headmen called Kolapallis, subordinate to whom are Mantiris, but these are liable to be overruled by a nad council. No wedding may take place without the headman's leave. Two forms of marriage are recognised. In one, the couple exchange garlands after the Tamil fashion, and the father (a relic of the makkatayam system) conducts the ceremony. Preliminaries are arranged by go-betweens, and the chief of the numerous rites is the placing of a bracelet on the girl's upper arm under a pandal (booth) before the priest and the assembled relatives. The other form is simpler. The bridegroom goes to the girl's house with some men friends, and, after a dinner there, a go-between puts on the bangle. Before marriage, a tali-kettu ceremony resembling that of the Nayars is often gone through, all the girls of a family who are of marriageable age having talis tied round their necks on the same day by a maternal uncle. Married women are allowed intimacy with their husbands' brothers. Widows are permitted to marry again. The dead are usually burnt, but those who have met their deaths by accidents and epidemics are buried. Water from a vessel containing rice and a gold coin is poured into a dying person's mouth. Should the spirit of the dead disturb the dreams of the relatives, a hut for it is built under an astrologer's directions close to the house, and in this lights are lit morning and evening, and periodical offerings of food are made. The Wynaadan Chettis reverence the deities in the Ganapati, Mahamari and Kalimalai Tambiran temples near Sultan's Battery, Airu Billi of the Kurumbas, and one or two others. The women wear in their distended ear-lobes gold discs which are so characteristic of the Nayars, and many necklaces. They wear two white cloths, tying one round the waist and another across their breasts."