(maila) cloths, from which was born a little boy. This boy was engaged as a cattle-herd in the house of Paramēshvarudu. Parvati received strict injunctions from her lord that she should on no account allow the little Māla to taste cream. One day, however, the boy discovered some cream which had been scraped from the inside of the pot sticking to a wall. He tasted it, and found it good. Indeed, so good was it that he came to the conclusion that the udder from which it came must be even better still. So one day, in order to test his theory, he killed the cow. Then came Paramēshvarudu in great anger, and asked him what he had done, and, to his credit be it said, the boy told the truth. Then Paramēshvarudu cursed the lad and all his descendants, and said that from henceforth cattle should be the meat of the Mālas — the unclean."
The Mālas have, in their various sub-divisions, many exogamous septs, of which the following are examples: —
| Avuka, marsh. | Kātika, collyrium. |
| Bandi, cart. | Naththalu, snails. |
| Bommala, dolls. | Paida, money or gold. |
| Bejjam, holes. | Pilli, cat. |
| Dakku, fear. | Rāyi, stone. |
| Dhidla, platform or back-door. | Samūdrala, ocean. |
| Dhōma, gnat or mosquito. | Sīlam, good conduct. |
| Gēra, street. | Thanda, bottom of a ship. |
| Kaila, measuring grain in | |
| threshing-floor. |
| Allam, ginger. | Mailāri, washerman. |
| Dara, stream of water. | Parvatha, mountain. |
| Gādi, cart. | Pindi, flour-powder. |
| Gōne, sack. | Pasala, cow. |
| Gurram, horse. | Thummala, sneezing. |
| Maggam, loom. |
