Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Pagati Vēsham

by Edgar Thurston

Pagati Vēsham.— A class of Telugu beggars, who put on disguises (vēsham) while begging.*^[1] At the annual festival at Tirupati in honour of the goddess Gangamma, custom requires the people to appear in a different disguise every morning and evening. These disguises include those of a Bairāgi, serpent, etc.†^[2]

1. * Madras Census Report, 1901.
2. † See Manual of the North Arcot district, I, 187.