[1] The Panar are classified as scheduled caste by the government of Karnataka.
[2][3] They are Kannada-speaking and show expertise in singing paddanas (folk songs), mainly in their native Kannada, and also in Tulu languages.
[4] The Panar community are specialised in performing a religious cult devoted to Chikku, a group of spirits, by singing folk songs combined with dance, which are spirits widely believed and prayed to by common people in coastal districts.
[1] They also perform bhootha nruthya which is similar to the "spiritual dance" practiced by the Panan community of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
[5] In Tamil Nadu, the women bards and dancers belonging to the "panar" community were called "viraliyar" as mentioned in Sangam literature.