The Chembrambakam Lingayats appear to join the other villagers in the performance of the annual puja (worship) to the village deity, Namamdamma, who is worshipped in order to ward off cholera and cattle disease. One mode of propitiating her is by sacrificing a goat, collecting its entrails and placing them in a pot, with its mouth covered with goat skin, which is taken round the village, and buried in a corner. The pot is called Bali Setti, and he who comes in front of it while it is being carried through the streets, is supposed to be sure to suffer from serious illness, or even die. The sacrifice, filling of the pot, and its carriage through the streets, are all performed by low class Occhans and Vettiyans. The Chembrambakam Lingayats assert that the cholera goddess has given a promise that she will not attack any of their community, and keeps it faithfully, and none of them die even during the worst cholera epidemics.
Kappala (frog).--An exogamous sept of Madiga, and sub-division of Yanadis, who are said to be frog-eaters. It is also a gotra of Janappans, who have a legend that, when some of their family were fishing, they caught a haul of big frogs instead of fish. Consequently, members of this gotra will not injure frogs. I have seen frogs hanging up for sale in the Cochin bazar.
Kappiliyan.--The Kappiliyans, or Karumpuraththals, as they are sometimes called, are Canarese-speaking farmers, who are found chiefly in Madura and Tinnevelly. It is noted, in the Manual of the Madura district, that "a few of the original Poligars were Canarese; and it is to be presumed that the Kappiliyans immigrated under their auspices. They are a decent and respectable class of farmers. Their most common agnomen is Koundan (or Kavandan)."
Some Kappiliyans say that they came south six or seven generations ago, along with the Urumikkarans, from the banks of the Tungabhadra river, because the Tottiyans tried to ravish their women. According to another tradition, similar to that current among the Tottiyans, "the caste was oppressed by the Musalmans of the north, fled across the Tungabhadra, and was saved by two pongu (Pongamia glabra) trees bridging an unfordable stream, which blocked their escape. They travelled, says the legend, through Mysore to Conjeeveram, thence to Coimbatore, and thence to the Madura district. The stay at Conjeeveram is always emphasised, and is supported by the fact that the caste has shrines dedicated to Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal." [103]