Edgar Thurston

“ It is a good omen for the day if, when he gets up in the morning, a man sees any of the following:—his wife’s face, the lines on the palm of his right hand, his face in a mirror, the face of a rich man, the tail of a black cow, the face of a black monkey, or his rice fields. There is a legend that Sīta used to rise early, and present herself, bathed and well dressed, before her lord Rāma, so that he might gaze on her face, and be lucky during the day. ”

“ Take it and beg, and you will prosper.’ Among beggars, the Budubudukala has constituted himself a superior beggar, to whom the handful of rice usually doled out is not acceptable. His demand, in which more often than not he succeeds, is for clothes of any description, good, bad or indifferent, new or old, torn or hole. For, in the plenitude of his wisdom, he has realised that a cloth is a marketable commodity, which, when exchanged for money, fetches more than the handful of rice. The Budubudukala is continually on the tramp, and regulates his movements according to the seasons of the year. ”

“ The piteous cries and death throes of the poor devoted creatures greatly intensify the horror of the scene. The stench emanating from the blood mixing with the nauseating smell of arrack renders the occasion all the more revolting. One other higher and more acceptable kind of offering requires more than a passing mention. When a man is taken ill of any infectious disease, his relations generally pray to this goddess for his recovery, solemnly covenanting to perform what goes by the name of a thulabharum ceremony. ”

“ The old grey-beards, plodding slowly round the ring, and stamping on the soil with their aged feet, presented a great contrast to the younger and wilder men, who capered and pranced about, sometimes outside the circle, waving their tanghis in the air, and every now and then leaping up to the slain buffalo, and dipping their axes into its blood, and then back again, dancing more wildly than ever, round and round from west to east, till the eye ached to behold the perpetual motion of this animated wheel. ”

“ In the villages, especially those inhabited by the Kallans in Madura and Tinnevelly, the maiden chooses as her husband him who has safely untied and brought to her the cloth tied to the horn of the fiercest bull. The animals are let loose with their horns containing valuables, amidst the din of tom-tom and harsh music, which terrifies and bewilders them. They run madly about, and are purposely excited by the crowd. A young Kalla will declare that he will run after such and such a bull—and this is sometimes a risky pursuit—and recover the valuables tied to its horn. ”

“ The burden of the chant is invariably stereotyped, and purports to have been gleaned from the warble of the feathered songsters of the forest. It prognosticates peace, plenty and prosperity to the house, the birth of a son to the fair, lotus-eyed house-wife, and worldly advancement to the master, whose virtues are as countless as the stars, and have the power to annihilate his enemies. It also holds out a tempting prospect of coming joy in an unknown shape from an unknown quarter, and concludes with an appeal for a cloth. ”

“ Thenceforward the novice becomes a Dāsari, and lives by begging from door to door. The profession is almost hereditary in some families. The five insignia of a Dāsari are the conch shell, which he blows to announce his arrival; the gong which he strikes as he goes his rounds; the tall iron lamp (with a cocoanut to hold the oil for replenishing it) which he keeps lighted as he begs; the brass or copper vessel (sometimes with the nāmam painted on it) suspended from his shoulder, in which he places the alms received; and the small metal image of Hanumān, which he hangs round his neck. ”

“ The general use nowadays of German mission-made tiles is bringing about, alas! a metamorphosis in the architecture of Hindu temples and Māppilla mosques, the picturesqueness disappearing altogether, and in a few years it may be difficult to find one of the old style. The mosque, though it may be little better than a hovel, is always as grand as the community can make it, and once built it can never be removed, for the site is sacred ever afterwards. Every Māppilla would shed his blood, rather than suffer any indignity to a mosque. ”

“ The bodies of the performers stoop and move in time with the music, and the arms are swung from side to side as in the act of placing the rice seedlings in their rows. To see a long line of Paniyan women, up to their knees in the mud of a rice field, bobbing up and down and putting on the pace as the music grows quicker and quicker, and to hear the wild yells of Hou! ”

“ Water from a vessel containing rice and a gold coin is poured into a dying person’s mouth. Should the spirit of the dead disturb the dreams of the relatives, a hut for it is built under an astrologer’s directions close to the house, and in this lights are lit morning and evening, and periodical offerings of food are made. ”

“ Among the throng of men, women and children, most of the former more than slightly elevated by drinking copious draughts of a kind of beer made from the kuhari grain, were three Khonds carrying long poles surmounted by huge bunches of peacock feathers that blazed in the sunlight like emeralds and sapphires. The funeral dance now commenced. The dance itself is simple in the extreme, for, when the right spot was reached, old men and young began gyrating round and round in a large circle, a perfect human merry-go-round. ”

“ Fire is made in a hole in front of the sacred stone, a fine cock brought in, decapitated amidst the music of horn and drum and the blood made to drip on the fire. The head of the fowl ought to be severed at one blow, as this is a sign of the satisfaction of the god for the past, and of further protection for the future. ”

“ May you live long and happy with your husband and children. May the sky protect thy back; may Vāyu strengthen your thighs; and the Aswins your breast. May Savitri look after thy suckling sons. Until the garment is put on, may Brihaspathi guard them, and the Viswedēvas afterwards. Oh! Varuna, make me strong and healthy. Do not steal away years from our ages. All those who offer oblations pray for the same. Oh! you all-pervading Agni, pacify Varuna; you who blaze forth into flames to receive oblations, be friendly towards us. Be near us, and protect us. ”

“ After the performance of the usual ceremonies, the intended victim is fastened to the proboscis of the elephant, and, amidst the shouts and yells of the excited multitude of Khonds, is rapidly whirled round, when, at a given signal by the officiating Zanee or priest, the crowd rush in, seize the Meriah, and with their knives cut the flesh off the shrieking wretch so long as life remains. ”

“ Become firm as a rock, firm as an axe, pure as gold. Thou art the Vēda called a son; live thou a hundred years. May Indra bestow on thee his best treasures. May Sāvitri, may Sarasvati, may the Asvins grant thee wisdom.”
At the Nāmakaranam, or naming ceremony, the parents of the child pronounce its name close to its ear, and repeat the Vēdic prayer to Indra and Agni “May Indra give you lustre, and Indra semen, wisdom, and children.” ”

“ The crowd sways violently to and fro in various directions in frantic efforts to escape being knocked over; the air is filled with shouts, screams, and laughter; and the bullocks thunder over the plain as fiercely as if blood and slaughter were their sole occupation. ”