The Konga Vellalas are split into two endogamous divisions, viz., the Konga Vellalas proper, and the Tondan or Ilakanban-kuttam (servant or inferior sub-division). The latter are admittedly the offspring of illegitimate intercourse with outsiders by girls and widows of the caste, who have been expelled in consequence of their breach of caste rules.
The Kongas proper have an elaborate caste organisation. Their country is divided into twenty-four nadus, each comprising a certain number of villages, and possessing recognised head-quarters, which are arranged into four groups under the villages of Palayakottai, Kangayam, Pudur and Kadayur, all in the Coimbatore district. Each village is under a Kottukkaran, each nadu under a Nattu-kavundan or Periyatanakkaran, and each group under a Pattakkaran. The last is treated with considerable respect. He wears gold toe-rings, is not allowed to see a corpse, and is always saluted with clasped hands. He is only occasionally called in to settle caste disputes, small matters being settled by the Kottukkarans, and matrimonial questions by the Nattukavundan. Both the Kongas proper, and the Tondans have a large number of exogamous septs, the names of which generally denote some article, the use of which is taboo, e.g., kadai (quail), pannai (Celosia argentea, a pot-herb). The most desirable match for a boy is his maternal uncle's daughter. To such an extent is the preference for such unions carried out, that a young boy is often married to a grown-up woman, and it is admitted that, in such cases, the boy's father takes upon himself the duties of a husband until his son has reached maturity, and that the wife is allowed to consort with any one belonging to the caste whom she may fancy, provided that she continues to live in her husband's house. With widows, who are not allowed to remarry, the rules are more strict. A man convicted of undue intimacy with a widow is expelled from the caste, unless she consents to his leaving her and going back to the caste, and he provides her with adequate means to live separately. The form of consent is for the woman to say that she is only a mud vessel, and has been broken because polluted, whereas the man is of bell-metal, and cannot be utterly polluted. The erring man is readmitted to the caste by being taken to the village common, where he is beaten with an erukkan (arka: Calotropis gigantea) stick, and by providing a black sheep for a feast to his relatives.