called Karaiyān, or sea-shore people. Some Karaiyāns have, at times of census, returned themselves as Taccha (carpenter) Karaiyāns.
Pattanavan means literally a dweller in a town or pattanam, which word occurs in the names of various towns on the sea-coast, e.g., Nāgapattanam (Negapatam), Chennapattanam (Madras). The Pattanavans have two main divisions, Periya (big) and Chinna (small), and, in some places, for example, at Nadukuppam in the Nellore district, exogamous septs, e.g., Gengananga, Pēyananga, Kathananga (children of Ganga, Pēyan, and Kathanar), and Kullananga (children of dwarfs). In the Telugu country, they go by the name of Pattapu or Tūlivāndlu.
Some Pattanavans give themselves high-sounding caste titles, e.g., Āriyar, Ayyayiraththalaivar (the five thousand chiefs), Āriya Nāttu Chetti (Chettis of the Ariyar country), Acchu Vellala, Karaiturai (sea-coast) Vellāla, Varunakula Vellāla or Varunakula Mudali after Varuna, the god of the waters, or Kurukula vamsam after Kuru, the ancestor of the Kauravas. Some Pattanavans have adopted the title Pillai.
The Pattanavans are said to be inferior to the Sembadavans, who will not accept food at their hands, and discard even an earthen pot which has been touched by a Pattanavan.
Concerning the origin of the caste, there is a legend that the Pattanavans were giving silk thread to Siva, and were hence called Pattanavar, a corruption of Pattanaivor, meaning knitters of silk thread. They were at the time all bachelors, and Siva suggested the following method of securing wives for them. They were told to go out fishing in the sea, and make of their catch as many heaps as there were bachelors. Each of them
