Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Perumāl

by Edgar Thurston

Perumāl.—Perumāl is a synonym of Vishnu, and the name is taken by some Pallis who are staunch Vaishnavites. A class of mendicants, who travel about exhibiting performing bulls in the southern part of the Madras Presidency, is known as Perumāl Mādukkāran or Perumāl Erudukkāran. Perumalathillom, meaning apparently big mountain house, is an exogamous sept or illom of the Kānikars of Travancore.