The community mainly inhabits Meenachil taluk of Kottayam district and Thodupuzha taluk of Idukki district. Since long, they have been transformed to settled agriculture, It is seen that a sizable portion of their land holdings have been converted to rubber plantations. Commercial crops like pepper, tapioca, etc are replaced by paddy.
The community has four exogamous illams (clans) viz., Vala illam, Enna illam, Mundillam and Puthani illam. The matrilineal rule of succession has now been replaced by a patrilineal system. In the past, their traditional tribal council was headed by the Ponamban (Muppan). The Poonjar Raja used to confer the title Ponamban and give a silver headed cane to the head. Each settlement has its own ritual healer, when required calls on the hill, which means the resident of spirit.
The ritual healer invokes the spirit in the case of sickness. They have some sacred groves, where they will not fire a gun or speak above a breath. They also worship Sastha. Conversion of a section of Mala Arayan to Christianity was initiated as early as 1835.
The population is 34784 (Male 17384 and Female 17400). As per report on socio economic status of Scheduled Tribe Development, their population is 29,399 consisting of 14716 males and 14683 females.