Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Nettikōtala

Nettikōtala. — In a note on the Nettikōtalas or Neththikōtalasi, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes that they correspond to the Kalladi Siddhans of the Tamil country. The name means those who cut their foreheads. They are mendicants who beg from Gavara Kōmatis, whom they are said to have assisted in days of old by delaying the progress of Rāja Vishnu Vardhana. (See Kōmati.) When their dues are not promptly paid, they make cuts in their foreheads and other parts of the body, and make blood flow.