Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Tirumudi
Tirumudi (holy knot). — Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as "bricklayers, whose women are usually prostitutes ; found chiefly in Salem and Coimbatore. They are either Vēttuvans or Kaikōlans. Kaikōlan women, when they are dedicated to the temple, are supposed to be united in wedlock with the deity.