Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7 — Story, Setting & Ideas

karacharya was refused assistance in the cremation of his dead mother by the Nambutiri Brahmans, he is believed to have sought in despair the help of one of these temple servants, with whose aid the corpse was divided into eight parts, and deposited in the pit. For undertaking this duty, which the Nambutiris repudiated from a sense of offended religious feeling, the particular Maran was thrown out of his caste by the general community, and a compromise had to be effected by the sage with the rest of the caste, who returned in a body on the day of purification along with the excommunicated man, and helped Sankaracharya to bring to a close his mother's death ceremonies. In recognition of this timely help, Sankara is believed to have declared the Maran to be an indispensable functionary at the death ceremonies of Nambutiris and Ambalavasis. It has even been suggested that the original form of Maran was Muran, derived from mur (to chop off), in reference to the manner in which the remains of Sankara's mother were disposed of.

The traditional occupation of the Marans is sounding or playing on the panchavadya or five musical instruments used in temples. These are the sankh or conch-shell, timila, chendu, kaimani, and maddalam. The conch, which is necessary in every Hindu temple, is loudly sounded in the early morning, primarily to wake the deity, and secondarily to rouse the villagers. Again, when the temple service commences, and when the nivedya or offering is carried, the music of the conch is heard from the northern side of the temple. On this account, many Marans call themselves Vadakkupurattu, or belonging to the northern side. The asu and pani are sounded by the highest dignitaries among them. The beating of the pani is the accompaniment of expiatory offerings to the Saptamata, or seven mothers of Hindu religious writings, viz., Brahmi, Mahesvari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani, and Chamunda. Offerings are made to these divine mothers during the daily sribali procession, and in important temples also during the sribhutabali hours, and on the occasion of the utsavabali at the annual utsava of the temple. There are certain well-established rules prescribing the hymns to be recited, and the music to be played. So religiously have these rules to be observed during the utsavabali, that the priest who makes the offering, the Variyar who carries the light before him and the Marans who perform the music all have to fast, and to dress themselves in orthodox Brahmanical fashion, with the uttariya or upper garment worn in the manner of the sacred thread. It is sincerely believed that the smallest violation of the rules would be visited with dire consequences to the delinquents before the next utsava ceremony.

In connection with the musical instrument called the timila, the following legend is current. There was a timila in the Sri Padmanabha temple made of kuruntotti, and there was a Maran attached to the temple, who was such an expert musician that the priest was unable to adjust his hymn recitation to the music of the Maran's drum, and was in consequence the recipient of the divine wrath. It was contrived to get a Brahman youth to officiate as priest, and, as he could not recite the hymns in consonance with the sounds produced by the drum, a hungry spirit lifted him up from the ground to a height of ten feet. The father of the youth, hearing what had occurred, hastened to the temple, and cut one of his fingers, the blood of which he offered to the spirit. The boy was then set free, and the old man, who was more than a match for the Maran, began to recite the hymns. The spirits, raising the Maran on high, sucked away his blood, and vanished. The particular timila has since this event never been used by any Maran.

The higher classes of Marans claim six privileges, called pano, koni, tirumuttam, natumuttam, velichchor, and puchchor. Koni means literally a ladder, and refers to the stretcher, made of bamboo and kusa grass or straw, on which the corpses of high caste Hindus are laid. Tirumuttam is sweeping the temple courtyard, and natumuttam the erection of a small pandal (booth) in the courtyard of a Nambutiri's house, where oblations are offered to the departed spirit on the tenth day after death. Velichchor, or sacrificial rice, is the right to retain the remains of the food offered to the manes, and puchchor the offering made to the deity, on whom the priest throws a few flowers as part of the consecration ceremony.