Travancore, Cochin, Malabar, and part of South Canara."
Kērē (tank). — A gōtra of Kurni.
Kēsari (lion). — A gōtra of Kurni.
Kēthaki (Pandanus fascicularis). — An exogamous sept of Stānika.
Kethri. — See Khatri.
Kēvuto.— It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that "the Kēvutas are the fisherman caste of Ganjam, and they are said to be the descendants of the Kaibartas, a fishing caste of Bengal. Besides fishing in rivers, canals and lakes, they ply boats and catamarans, and some are also traders. Uriya Brāhmans and Bairāgis are their priests. From the fifth day after child-birth till the twenty-first, the Uriya Brāhmans read the Bhāgavata Purāna in the house, and on the last day they give a name to the child. The married girls and widows put a veil over their faces whenever they go out of doors."
The Kēvutos are low in the social scale, but not a polluting caste. They apparently recognise the following endogamous sub-divisions: — Bhettiya, Bilva, Jonka, Khottia, Koibarto or Dasa, Liyāri, Chuditiya, and Thossa. Of these the Thossas are cultivators, the Liyāris make a preparation of fried rice (liya), and the Chudityas are engaged in parching grain (chuda, parched rice). By reason of their change of occupation, the Liyāris and Chudityas have practically become distinct castes, and some deny that there is any connection between them and the Kēvutos. Telugu people sometimes call the Chuditiyas Neyyalu, and I am told that there is a street in Parlakimedi almost wholly inhabited by Kēvutos, who say that they are of the Neyyalu caste.
