| Panans
Panans are known for their melodious music. The Panan and his wife Patti,
visit the village houses at dawn and sing 'tuyilunarttu pattu' (awakening
song) to the accompaniment of a percussion instrument called maddalam.
The Patti joins him in singing and keeps the beats with a bell metal vessel
and with a knife. They were known for making umbrellas with the leaves
of the Palmyra tree in the past. Their women used to serve as midwives.
They are the descendants of Malayans, the hill tribe, and they go about
at the time of harvest from house to house to exorcise evil spirits from
the bodies of children. Shiva and Parvathi are their favourite gods who
are said to have bestowed boons on their predecessors to earn their lively
hood by adopting music as their profession. They used to receive gifts
like paddy, coconut, salt, oil, cloth from the village houses.
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