sentences:  This claim is supported by the fact that, unlike other subsects of Iyers, some Vadama pay oblations in their daily Sandhyavandanam to the river Narmada in Central India.However, what is not certain is whether 'North' refers to northern Tamil Nadu/Southern Deccan, or regions farther north.Other scholars are of the opinion that rather than the superficial indication of a northern origin for the people, the term ""vadama"" would rather refer to proficiency in Sanskrit and Vedic ritual, generally associated with the north prior to the first millennium A. D.
  
  Vadamas are further sub-divided into five categories
  
  
  Intermarriage with other Iyer sects has been increasing in recent times, while earlier, most marriages were arranged only within the same subsect of Vadama.