The name, probably, of a clan or family. Mention is made of a market town (nigama) belonging to them in Kosala, which was called Kesaputta. The discourse taught by the Buddha on his visit to Kesaputta is justly famous (A.i.188 ff). The Kālāmas were Khattiyas (AA.i.418). Among members of this family specially mentioned by name are Bharaṇḍu-Kālāma, who was once a co-disciple of the Bodhisatta, and Āḷāra Kālāma, the teacher of Gotama before his Enlightenment.