William Crooke

The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India (Vol. 1&2)


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shrines. Some villagers will say that these represent the equipage (sawârî) of the deity; others explain them by the fact that a person in distress vows a horse or an elephant to the god, and when his wishes are realized, offers as a substitute this trumpery donation. It was a common practice to offer substitutes of this kind. Thus when an animal could not be procured for sacrifice, an image of it in dough or wax was prepared and offered as a substitute.26 We shall meet later on other examples of substitution of the same kind. On the same principle women used to give cakes in the form of a phallus to a Brâhman.27 At these shrines are also found curious little clay bowls with short legs which are known as kalsa. The kalsa or water jar is always placed near the pole of the marriage shed, and the use of these beehive-shaped vessels at village shrines is found all along the hills of Central India.28 On the neighbouring trees are often hung miniature cots, which commemorate the recovery of a patient from small-pox or other infectious disease.

      The non-Brâhmanic character of the worship is still further marked by the fact that no special direction from the homestead is prescribed in selecting the site for the shrine. No orthodox Hindu temple can be built south of the village site, as this quarter is regarded as the realm of Yama, the god of death; here vagrant evil spirits prowl and consume or defile the offerings made to the greater gods. In the more Hinduized jungle villages some attempt is occasionally made to conform to this rule, and sometimes, as in the case of the more respectable Hindu shrines, the door faces the east. But this rule is not universal, and the site of the shrine is often selected under some suitable tree, whatever may be its position as regards the homestead, and it very often commemorates some half-forgotten tragedy, where a man was carried off by a tiger or slain or murdered, where he fell from a tree or was drowned in a watercourse. Here some sort of shrine is generally erected with the object of appeasing the angry spirit of the dead man.

      These shrines have no idol, no bell to scare vagrant ghosts and awake the godling to partake of the offerings or listen to the prayers of his votaries. If he is believed to be absent or asleep, a drum is beaten to awaken or recall him, and this answers the additional purpose of scaring off intruding spirits, who are always hungry and on the watch to appropriate the offerings of the faithful. Here are also none of the sacrificial vessels, brazen lamps and cups, which are largely used in respectable fanes for waving a light before the deity as part of the service, or for cooling the idol with libations of water, and the instrument used for sacrificing the victim is only the ordinary axe which the dweller in the jungle always carries.

      There is one special implement which is very commonly found in the village shrines of the hill country south of the Ganges. This is an iron chain with a heavy knob at the end, to which a strap, like a Scotch tawse, is often attached. The chain is ordinarily three and a half feet long, the tawse two feet, and the total weight is about seven pounds. This is known as the Gurda; it hangs from the roof of the shrine, and is believed to be directly under the influence of the deity, so that it is very difficult to procure a specimen. The Baiga priest, when his services are required for the exorcism of a disease ghost, thrashes himself on the back and loins with his chain, until he works himself up to the proper degree of religious ecstasy.

      Identification of the Local Godling.

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      But it is with the local godlings that the founder of a new settlement has most concern. The speciality of this class of godlings is that they frequent only particular places. Each has his separate jurisdiction, which includes generally one or sometimes a group of villages. This idea has doubtless promoted the rooted disinclination of the Hindu to leave his home and come into the domain of a fresh set of godlings with whom he has no acquaintance, who have never received due propitiation from him or his forefathers, and who are hence in all probability inimical to him. But people to whom the local godling of their village has shown his hostility by bringing affliction upon them for their neglect of his service, can usually escape from his malignity by leaving his district. This habit of emigration to escape the malignity of the offended godling doubtless accounts for many of the sites of deserted villages, which are scattered all over the country. We say that they were abandoned on account of a great famine or a severe epidemic, but to the native mind these afflictions are the work of the local deity, who could have warded them off had he been so disposed. Hence when a settlement is being founded it is a matter of prime necessity that the local godling or group of godlings should be brought under proper control and carefully identified, so as to ensure the safety and prosperity of the settlement. The next and final stage is the establishment of a suitable shrine and the appointment of a competent priest.