In seeking for omens, Natives consult the so-called
science of omens or science of the five birds, and are guided by them.
Selected omens are always included in native calendars or
panchāngams.
To the quivering and throbbing of various parts of the body as
omens, repeated reference is made in the Hindu classics. Thus, in
Kalidāsa’s Sakuntala, King Dushyanta says: “This
hermitage is tranquil, and yet my arm throbs. Whence can there be any
result from this in such a place? But yet the gates of destiny are
everywhere.” Again, Sakuntala says: “Alas! why does my
right eye throb?” to which Gautami replies: “Child, the
evil be averted. May the tutelary deities of your husband’s
family confer happy prospects!” In the Raghuvamsa, the statement
occurs that “the son of Paulastya, being greatly incensed, drove
an arrow deep into his right arm, which was throbbing, and which,
therefore, prognosticated his union with Sīta.” A quivering
sensation in the right arm is supposed to indicate marriage with a
beautiful woman; in the right eye some good luck. [14]
During a marriage among the Telugu Tottiyans, who have settled in
the Tamil country, a red ram without blemish is sacrificed. It is first
sprinkled with water, and, if it shivers, this is considered a good
omen. It is recorded,1 in connection with the legends of
the Badagas of the Nīlgiris, that “in the heart of the
Banagudi shola (grove), not far from the Doddūru group of
cromlechs, is an odd little shrine to Karairāya, within which are
a tiny cromlech, some sacred water-worn stones, and sundry little
pottery images representing a tiger, a mounted man, and some dogs.
These keep in memory, it is said, a Badaga who was slain in combat with
a tiger; and annually a festival is held, at which new images are
placed there, and vows are paid. A Kurumba (jungle tribe) makes fire by
friction, and burns incense, throws sanctified water over the numerous
goats brought to be sacrificed, to see if they will shiver in the
manner always held necessary in sacrificed victims, and then slays, one
after the other, those which have shown themselves duly
qualified.”
In many villages, during the festival to the village deity, water is
poured over a sheep’s back, and it is accepted as a good sign if
it shivers. “When the people are economical, they keep on pouring
water till it does shiver, to avoid the expense of providing a second
victim for sacrifice. But, where they are more scrupulous, if it does
not shiver, it is taken as a sign that the goddess will not accept it,
and it is taken away.”2
Before the thieving Koravas set out on a predatory expedition, a
goat is decorated, and taken to a shrine. It is then placed before the
idol, which is asked whether the expedition will be successful. If the
body of the [15]animal quivers, it is regarded as an answer in the
affirmative; if it does not, the expedition is abandoned.
If, in addition to quivering, the animal urinates, no better sign
could be looked for. Thieves though they are, the Koravas make it a
point of honour to pay for the goat used in the ceremony. It is said
that, in seeking omens from the quivering of an animal, a very liberal
interpretation is put on the slightest movement. It is recorded by
Bishop Whitehead3 that, when an animal has been sacrificed to
the goddess Nukalamma at Coconada, its head is put before the shrine,
and water poured on it. If the mouth opens, it is accepted as a sign
that the sacrifice is accepted.
At the death ceremonies of the Idaiyans of Coimbatore, a cock is
tied to a sacrificial post, to which rice is offered. One end of a
thread is tied to the post, and the other end to a new cloth. The
thread is watched till it shakes, and then broken. The cock is then
killed.
Of omens, both good and bad, in Malabar, the following comprehensive
list is given by Mr Logan4:—
“Good.—Crows, pigeons, etc., and beasts as
deer, etc., moving from left to right, and dogs and jackals moving
inversely, and other beasts found similarly and singly; wild crow,
ruddy goose, mungoose, goat, and peacock seen singly or in couples
either at the right or left. A rainbow seen on the right and left, or
behind, prognosticates good, but the reverse if seen in front.
Buttermilk, raw rice, puttalpira (Trichosanthes anguina,
snake-gourd), priyangu flower, honey, ghī (clarified butter); red
cotton juice, antimony sulphurate, metal mug, bell ringing, lamp,
lotus, karuka grass, raw fish, flesh, flour, ripe fruits, sweetmeats,
gems, sandalwood, elephants, pots filled with water, a virgin, a couple
of Brāhmans, Rājas, [16]respectable men, white flower, white
yak tail,5 white cloth, and white horse. Chank shell
(Turbinella rapa), flagstaff, turban, triumphal arch, fruitful
soil, burning fire, elegant eatables or drinkables, carts with men in,
cows with their young, mares, bulls or cows with ropes tied to their
necks, palanquin, swans, peacock and crane warbling sweetly. Bracelets,
looking-glass, mustard, bezoar, any substance of white colour, the
bellowing of oxen, auspicious words, harmonious human voice, such
sounds made by birds or beasts, the uplifting of umbrellas, hailing
exclamations, sound of harp, flute, timbrel, tabor, and other
instruments of music, sounds of hymns of consecration and Vēdic
recitations, gentle breeze all round at the time of a journey.
“Bad.—Men deprived of their limbs, lame or blind, a
corpse or wearer of a cloth put on a corpse, coir (cocoanut fibre),
broken vessels, hearing of words expressive of breaking, burning,
destroying, etc.; the alarming cry of alas! alas! loud screams,
cursing, trembling, sneezing, the sight of a man in sorrow, one with a
stick, a barber, a widow, pepper, and other pungent substances. A
snake, cat, iguana (Varanus), blood-sucker (lizard), or monkey
passing across the road, vociferous beasts such as jackals, dogs, and
kites, loud crying from the east, buffalo, donkey, or temple bull,
black grains, salt, liquor, hide, grass, dirt, faggots, iron, flowers
used for funeral ceremonies, a eunuch, ruffian, outcaste, vomit,
excrement, stench, any horrible figure, bamboo, cotton, lead, cot,
stool or other vehicle carried with legs upward, dishes, cups, etc.,
with mouth downwards, vessels filled with live coals, which are broken
and not burning, broomstick, ashes, winnow, hatchet.”
In the category of good omens among the Nāyars of Travancore,
are placed the elephant, a pot full of water, sweetmeats, fruit, fish,
and flesh, images of gods, kings, a cow with its calf, married women,
tied bullocks, gold [17]lamps, ghī, and milk. In the list of bad
omens come a donkey, broom, buffalo, untied bullock, barber, widow,
patient, cat, washerman. The worst of all omens is to allow a cat to
cross one’s path. An odd number of Nāyars, and an even
number of Brāhmans, are good omens, the reverse being particularly
bad. On the Vinayakachaturthi day in the month of Avani, no man is
allowed to look at the rising moon, on penalty of incurring unmerited
obloquy.
By the Pulayas of Travancore, it is considered lucky to see another
Pulaya, a Native Christian, an Izhuva with a vessel in the hand, a cow
behind, or a boat containing sacks of rice. On the other hand, it is
regarded as a very bad omen to be crossed by a cat, to see a fight
between animals, a person with a bundle of clothes, or to meet people
carrying steel instruments.
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. This
custom is carried out by all good housewives in Hindu families. A fair
skinned Paraiyan, or a dark skinned Brāhman, should not, in
accordance with a proverb, be seen the first thing in the morning.
Hindus are very particular about catching sight of some auspicious
object on the morning of New Year’s Day, as the effects of omens
seen on that occasion are believed to last throughout the year. Of the
Vishu festival, held in celebration of the New Year in Malabar, the
following account is given by Mr Gopal Panikkar.6 [18]
“Being the commencement of a new year, native superstition
surrounds it with a peculiarly solemn importance. It is believed that a
man’s whole prosperity in life depends upon the nature,
auspicious or otherwise, of the first things that he happens to fix his
eyes upon on this particular morning. According to Nair, and even
general Hindu mythology, there are certain objects which possess an
inherent inauspicious character. For instance, ashes, firewood, oil,
and a lot of similar objects, are inauspicious ones, which will render
him who chances to notice them first fare badly in life for the whole
year, and their obnoxious effects will be removed only on his seeing
holy things, such as reigning princes, oxen, cows, gold, and such like,
on the morning of the next new year. The effects of the sight of these
various materials are said to apply even to the attainment of objects
by a man starting on a special errand, who happens for the first time
to look at them after starting. However, with this view, almost every
family religiously takes care to prepare the most sightworthy objects
on the new year morning. Therefore, on the previous night, they prepare
what is known as a kani. A small circular bell-metal vessel is taken,
and some holy objects are arranged inside it. A grandha or old book
made of palmyra leaves, a gold ornament, a new-washed cloth, some
‘unprofitably gay’ flowers of the konna tree (Cassia
Fistula), a measure of rice, a so-called looking-glass made of
bell-metal, and a few other things, are all tastefully arranged in the
vessel, and placed in a prominent room inside the house. On either side
of this vessel, two brass or bell-metal lamps, filled with cocoanut oil
clear as diamond sparks, are kept burning, and a small plank of wood,
or some other seat, is placed in front of it. At about five
o’clock in the morning of the day, some one who has got up first
wakes the inmates, both male and female, of the house, and takes them
blindfolded, so that they may not gaze at anything else, to the seat
near the kani. The members are seated, one after another, in the seat,
and are then, and not till then, [19]asked to open their eyes, and
carefully look at the kani. Then each is made to look at some venerable
member of the house, or sometimes a stranger even. This over, the
little playful urchins of the house fire small crackers which they have
bought for the occasion. The kani is then taken round the place from
house to house, for the benefit of the poor families, which cannot
afford to prepare such a costly adornment.”
I gather further, in connection with the Vishu festival, that it is
the duty of every devout Hindu to see the village deity the first of
all things in the morning. For this purpose, many sleep within the
temple precincts, and those who sleep in their own houses are escorted
thither by those who have been the first to make their obeisance. Many
go to see the image with their eyes shut, and sometimes bound with a
cloth.7
If a person places the head towards the east when sleeping, he will
obtain wealth and health; if towards the south, a lengthening of life;
if towards the west, fame; if towards the north, sickness. The last
position, therefore, should be avoided.8 In the Telugu
country, when a child is roused from sleep by a thunderclap, the
mother, pressing it to her breast, murmurs, “Arjuna
Sahādēva.” The invocation implies the idea that thunder
is caused by the Mahābhārata heroes, Arjuna and
Sahādēva.9 To dream of a temple car in motion, foretells
the death of a near relative. Night, but not day dreams, are considered
as omens for good or evil. Among those which are auspicious, may be
mentioned riding on a cow, bull, or elephant, entering a temple or
palace, a golden horse, climbing a mountain or tree, drinking liquor,
eating flesh, curds and rice, [20]wearing white cloths, or jewelry set
with precious stones, being dressed in white cloths, and embracing a
woman, whose body is smeared with sandal paste. A person will be cured
of sickness if he dreams of Braāhmans, kings, flowers, jewels,
women, or a looking-glass. Wealth is ensured by a dream that one is
bitten in the shade by a snake, or stung by a scorpion. One who dreams
that he has been bitten by a snake is considered to be proof against
snake-bite; and if he dreams of a cobra, his wife or some near relative
is believed to have conceived. Hindu wives believe that to tell their
husband’s name, or pronounce it even in a dream, would bring him
to an untimely end. If a person has an auspicious dream, he should get
up and not go to sleep again. But, if the dream is of evil omen, he
should pray that he may be spared from its ill effects, and may go to
sleep again.
The arrival of a guest is foreshadowed by the hissing noise of the
oven, the slipping of a winnow during winnowing, or of a measure when
measuring rice. If one dines with a friend or relation on Monday,
Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday, it is well; if on a Tuesday,
ill-feeling will ensue; if on a Thursday, endless enmity; if on a
Sunday, hatred. While eating, one should face east, west, south, or
north, according as one wishes for long life, fame, to become
vainglorious, or for justice or truth. Evil is foreshadowed if a light
goes out during meals, or while some auspicious thing, such, for
example, as a marriage, is being discussed. A feast given to the jungle
Paliyans by some missionaries was marred at the outset by the
unfortunate circumstance that betel and tobacco were placed by the side
of the food, these articles being of evil omen as they are placed in
the grave with the dead. Chewing a single areca nut, along with betel
[21]leaf secures vigour, two nuts are inauspicious,
three are excellent, and more bring indifferent luck. The basal portion
of the betel leaf must be rejected, as it produces disease; the apical
part, as it induces sin; and the midrib and veins, as they destroy the
intellect. A leaf on which chunam (lime) has been kept, should be
avoided, as it may shorten life.
Before the Koyis shift their quarters, they consult the omens, to
see whether the change will be auspicious or not. Sometimes the
hatching of a clutch of eggs provides the answer, or four grains of
four kinds of seed, representing the prosperity of men, cattle, sheep,
and land, are put on a heap of ashes under a man’s bed. Any
movement among them during the night is a bad omen.10
When a Kondh starts on a shooting expedition, if he first meets an
adult female, married or unmarried, he will return home, and ask a
child to tell the females to keep out of the way. He will then make a
fresh start, and, if he meets a female, will wave his hand to her as a
sign that she must keep clear of him. The Kondh believes that, if he
sees a female, he will not come across animals in the jungle to shoot.
If a woman is in her menses, her husband, brothers, and sons living
under the same roof, will not go out shooting for the same reason.
It is noted by Mr F. Fawcett11 that it is considered
unlucky by the Koravas, when starting on a dacoity or housebreaking,
“to see widows, pots of milk, dogs urinating, a man leading a
bull, or a bull bellowing. On the other hand, it is downright lucky
when a bull bellows at the scene of the criminal operation. To see a
man goading a bull is a good omen when starting, and a bad one at the
scene. The eighteenth day of the Tamil month, [22]Avani,
is the luckiest day of all for committing crimes. A successful criminal
exploit on this day ensures good luck throughout the year. Sundays,
which are auspicious for weddings, are inauspicious for crimes.
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are unlucky until noon for starting
out from home. So, too, is the day after new moon.” Fridays are
unsuitable for breaking into the houses of Brāhmans or
Kōmatis, as they may be engaged in worshipping Ankalamma, to whom
the day is sacred.
Some Bōyas in the Bellary district enjoy inām (rent free)
lands, in return for propitiating the village goddesses by a rite
called bhūta bali, which is intended to secure the prosperity of
the village. The Bōya priest gets himself shaved at about
midnight, sacrifices a sheep or buffalo, mixes its blood with rice, and
distributes the rice thus prepared in small balls throughout the
village. When he starts on this business, all the villagers bolt their
doors, as it is not considered auspicious to see him then.
When a student starts for the examination hall, he will, if he sees
a widow or a Brāhman, retrace his steps, and start again after the
lapse of a few minutes. Meeting two Brāhmans would indicate good
luck, and he would proceed on his way full of hope.
If, when a person is leaving his house, the head or feet strike
accidentally against the threshold, he should not go out, as it
forebodes some impending mischief. Sometimes, when a person returns
home from a distance, especially at night, he is kept standing at the
door, and, after he has washed his hands and feet, an elderly female or
servant of the house brings a shallow plate full of water mixed with
lime juice and chunam (lime), with some chillies and pieces of charcoal
floating on it. The plate is carried three times round the person, and
the contents are then thrown into the street without being seen by the
man. He then enters the house. If a person knocks at [23]the door
of a house in the night once, twice, or thrice, it will not be opened.
If the knock is repeated a fourth time, the door will be opened without
fear, for the evil spirit is said to knock only thrice.
A tickling sensation in the sole of the right foot foretells that
the person has to go on a journey. The omens are favourable if any of
the following are met with by one who is starting on a journey, or
special errand:—
- Married woman.
- Virgin.
- Prostitute.
- Two Brāhmans.
- Playing of music.
- One carrying musical instruments.
- Money.
- Fruit or flowers.
- A light, or clear blazing fire.
- Umbrella.
- Cooked food.
- Milk or curds.
- Cow.
- Deer.
- Corpse.
- Two fishes.
- Recital of Vēdas.
- Sound of drum or horn.
- Spirituous liquor.
|
- Bullock.
- Mutton.
- Precious stones.
- One bearing a silver armlet.
- Sandalwood.
- Rice.
- Elephant.
- Horse.
- Pot full of water.
- Married woman carrying a water-pot from a tank.
- Pot of toddy.
- Black monkey.
- Dog.
- Royal eagle.
- Parrot.
- Honey.
- Hearing kind words.
- A Gāzula Balija with his pile of bangles on his back.
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If, on similar occasions, a person comes across any of the
following, the omens are unfavourable:—
- Widow.
- Lightning.
- Fuel.
- Smoky fire.
- Hare.
- Crow flying from right to left.
- Snake.
- New pot.
- Blind man.
- Lame man.
- Sick man.
- Salt.
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- Tiger.
- Pot of oil.
- Leather.
- Dog barking on a housetop.
- Bundle of sticks.
- Buttermilk.
- Empty vessel.
- A quarrel.
- Man with dishevelled hair.
- Oilman.
- Leper.
- Mendicant.
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[24]
Sometimes people leave their house, and sleep elsewhere on the night
preceding an inauspicious day, on which a journey is to be made.
Unlucky days for starting on a journey are vāra-sūlai, or
days on which Siva’s trident (sūla) is kept on the ground.
The direction in which it lies, varies according to the day of the
week. For example, Sunday before noon is a bad time to start towards
the west, as the trident is turned that way. It is said to be unlucky
to go westward on Friday or Sunday, eastward on Monday or Saturday,
north on Tuesday or Wednesday, south on Thursday. A journey begun on
Tuesday is liable to result in loss by thieves or fire at home. Loss,
too, is likely to follow a journey begun on Saturday, and sickness a
start on Sunday. Wednesday and Friday are both propitious days, and a
journey begun on either with a view to business will be lucrative. The
worst days for travelling are Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday.12
On more than one occasion, a subordinate in my office overstayed his
leave on the ground that his guru (spiritual preceptor) told him that
the day on which he should have returned was an unlucky one for a
journey.
If a traveller sees a hare on his way, he may be sure that he will
not succeed in the object of his journey. If, however, the hare touches
him, and he does not at once turn back and go home, he is certain to
meet with a great misfortune. There is an authority for this
superstition in the Rāmayana. After Rāma had recovered
Sīta and returned to Ayodha, he was informed that, whilst a
washerman and his wife were quarrelling, the former had exclaimed that
he was not such a fool as the king had been to take back his wife after
she had been carried away by a stranger. Rāma thought this over,
and resolved to [25]send his wife into the forest. His brother,
Lutchmana, was to drive her there, and then to leave her alone. On
their way they met a hare, and Sīta, who was ignorant of the
purpose of the journey, begged Lutchmana to return, as the omen was a
bad one.13
If a dog scratches its body, a traveller will fall ill; if it lies
down and wags its tail, some disaster will follow. To one proceeding on
a journey, a dog crossing the path from right to left is auspicious.
But, if it gets on his person or his feet, shaking its ears, the
journey will be unlucky.
A person should postpone an errand on which he is starting, if he
sees a cobra or rat-snake. In a recent judicial case, a witness gave
evidence to the effect that he was starting on a journey, and when he
had proceeded a short way, a snake crossed the road. This being an evil
omen, he went back and put off his journey till the following day. On
his way he passed through a village in which some men had been arrested
for murder, and found that one of two men, whom he had promised to
accompany and had gone on without him, had been murdered.
Sneezing once is a good sign; twice, a bad sign. When a child
sneezes, those near it usually say “dirgāyus” (long
life), or “sathāyus” (a hundred years). The rishi or
sage Markandēya, who was remarkable for his austerities and great
age, is also known as Dirgāyus. Adults who sneeze pronounce the
name of some god, the common expression being
“Srimadrangam.” When a Badaga baby is born, it is a good
omen if the father sneezes before the umbilical cord has been cut, and
an evil one if he sneezes after its severance. In the Teluga country it
is believed that a child who sneezes on a [26]winnowing fan, or on the
door-frame, will meet with misfortune unless balls of boiled rice are
thrown over it; and a man who sneezes during his meal, especially at
night, will also be unlucky unless water is sprinkled over his face,
and he is made to pronounce his own name, and that of his birthplace
and his patron deity.14
Gaping is an indication that evil spirits have effected an entrance
into the body. Hence many Brāhmans, when they gape, snap their
fingers as a preventive.15 When a great man yawns, his sleep
is promoted by all the company with him snapping their fingers with
great vehemence, and making a singular noise. It was noted by
Alberuni16 that Hindus “spit out and blow their noses
without any respect for the elder ones present, and crack their lice
before them. They consider the crepitus ventris as a good omen,
sneezing as a bad omen.” In Travancore, a courtier must cover the
mouth with the right hand, lest his breath should pollute the king or
other superior. Also, at the temples, a low-caste man must wear a
bandage over his nose and mouth, so that his breath may not pollute the
idols.17 A Kudumi woman in Travancore, at the menstrual
period, should stand at a distance of seven feet, closing her mouth and
nostrils with the palm of her hand, as her breath would have a
contaminating effect. Her shadow, too, should not fall on any one.
A Kumbāra potter, when engaged in the manufacture of the pot or
household deity for the Kurubas, should cover his mouth with a bandage,
so that his breath may not defile it. The Koragas of South Canara are
said to be regarded with such intense loathing that, up to quite
[27]recent times, one section of them called Ande or
pot Kurubas, continually wore a pot suspended from their necks, into
which they were compelled to spit, being so utterly unclean as to be
prohibited from even spitting on the highway.18 In a note on
the Paraiyans (Pariahs), Sonnerat, writing in the eighteenth
century,19 says that, when drinking, they put the cup to
their lips, and their fingers to their mouths, in such a way that they
are defiled with the spittle. A Brāhman may take snuff, but he
should not smoke a cheroot or cigar. When once the cheroot has touched
his lips, it is defiled by the saliva, and, therefore, cannot be
returned to his mouth.20
At the festivals of the village deities in the Telugu country, an
unmarried Mādiga (Telugu Pariah) woman, called
Mātangi21 (the name of a favourite goddess) spits upon the
people assembled, and touches them with her stick. Her touch and saliva
are believed to purge all uncleanliness of body and soul, and are said
to be invited by men who would ordinarily scorn to approach her. At a
festival called Kathiru in honour of a village goddess in the Cochin
State, the Pulayans (agrestic slaves) go in procession to the temple,
and scatter packets of palm-leaves containing handfuls of paddy
(unhusked rice) rolled up in straw among the crowds of spectators along
the route. “The spectators, both young and old, scramble to
obtain as many of the packets as possible, and carry them home. They
are then hung in front of the houses, for it is believed that their
presence will help to promote the prosperity of the family, until the
festival comes round [28]again next year. The greater the number of
trophies obtained for a family by its members, the greater, it is
believed, will be the prosperity of the family.”22
In a note on the Kulwādis or Chalavādis of the Hassan
district in Mysore, Captain J. S. F. Mackenzie writes23 as
follows:—
“Every village has its Holigiri—as the
quarters inhabited by the Holiars (formerly agrestic serfs) is
called—outside the village boundary hedge. This, I thought, was
because they are considered an impure race, whose touch carries
defilement with it. Such is the reason generally given by the
Brāhman, who refuses to receive anything directly from the hands
of a Holiar, and yet the Brāhmans consider great luck will wait
upon them if they can manage to pass through the Holigiri without being
molested. To this the Holiars have a strong objection, and, should a
Brāhman attempt to enter their quarters, they turn out in a body
and slipper him, in former times it is said to death. Members of the
other castes may come as far as the door, but they must not enter the
house, for that would bring the Holiar bad luck. If, by chance, a
person happens to get in, the owner takes care to tear the
intruder’s cloth, tie up some salt in one corner of it, and turn
him out. This is supposed to neutralise all the good luck which might
have accrued to the trespasser, and avert any evil which might have
befallen the owner of the house.”
The Telugu Tottiyans, who have settled in the Tamil country, are
said by Mr F. R. Hemingway not to recognise the superiority of
Brāhmans. They are supposed to possess unholy powers, especially
the Nalla (black) Gollas, and are much dreaded by their neighbours.
They do [29]not allow any stranger to enter their villages
with shoes on, or on horseback, or holding up an umbrella, lest their
god should be offended. It is believed that, if any one breaks this
rule, he will be visited with illness or some other punishment.
I am informed by Mr S. P. Rice that, when smallpox breaks out in a
Hindu house, it is a popular belief that to allow strangers or unclean
persons to go into the house, to observe festivals, and even to permit
persons who have combed their hair, bathed in oil, or had a shave, to
see the patient, would arouse the anger of the goddess, and bring
certain death to the sick person. Strangers, and young married women
are not admitted to, and may not approach the house, as they may have
had sexual intercourse on the previous day.
It is believed that the sight or breath of Muhammadans, just after
they have said their prayers at a mosque, will do good to children
suffering from various disorders. For this purpose, women carry or take
their children, and post themselves at the entrance to a mosque at the
time when worshippers leave it. Most of them are Hindus, but sometimes
poor Eurasians may be seen there. I once received a pathetic appeal
from a Eurasian woman in Malabar, imploring me to lay my hands on the
head of her sick child, so that its life might be spared.
In teaching the Grāndha alphabet to children, they are made to
repeat the letter “ca” twice quickly without pausing, as
the word “ca” means “die.” In Malabar, the
instruction of a Tiyan child in the alphabet is said by Mr F. Fawcett
to begin on the last day of the Dasara festival in the fifth year of
its life. A teacher, who has been selected with care, or a lucky
person, holds the child’s right hand, and makes it trace the
letters of the [30]Malayālam alphabet in rice spread on a plate.
The forefinger, which is the one used in offering water to the souls of
the dead, and in other parts of the death ceremonies, must not be used
for tracing the letters, but is placed above the middle finger, merely
to steady it. For the same reason, a doctor, when making a pill, will
not use the forefinger. To mention the number seven in Telugu is
unlucky, because the word (yēdu) is the same as that for weeping.
Even a treasury officer, who is an enlightened university graduate, in
counting money, will say six and one. The number seven is, for the same
reason, considered unlucky by the Koravas, and a house-breaking
expedition should not consist of seven men. Should this, however, be
unavoidable, a fiction is indulged in of making the house-breaking
implement the eighth member of the gang.24 In Tamil the
word ten is considered inauspicious, because, on the tenth day after
the death of her husband, a widow removes the emblems of married life.
Probably for this reason, the offspring of Kallan polyandrous marriages
style themselves the children of eight and two, not ten fathers.
Lābha is a Sanskrit word meaning profit or gain, and has its
equivalent in all the vernacular languages. Hindus, when counting,
commence with this word instead of the word signifying one. In like
manner, Muhammadans use the word Bismillah or Burketh, apparently as an
invocation like the medicinal ℞ (Oh! Jupiter, aid us). When the
number a hundred has been counted, they again begin with the substitute
for one, and this serves as a one for the person who is keeping the
tally. Oriya merchants say labho (gain) instead of eko (one), when
counting out the seers of rice for the elephants’ rations. The
people of the Oriya Zemindaris often use, not the year of the
[31]Hindu cycle or Muhammadan era, but the year of the
reigning Rāja of Puri. The first year of the reign is called, not
one, but labho. The counting then proceeds in the ordinary course, but,
with the exception of the number ten, all numbers ending with seven or
nothing are omitted. This is called the onko. Thus, if a Rāja has
reigned two and a half years, he would be said to be in the
twenty-fifth onko, seven, seventeen and twenty being omitted.25
For chewing betel, two other ingredients are necessary, viz., areca
nuts and chunam (lime). For some reason, Tamil Vaishnavas object to
mentioning the last by name, and call it moonavadu, or the third.
At a Brāhman funeral, the sons and nephews of the deceased go
round the corpse, and untie their kudumi (hair knot), leaving part
thereof loose, tie up the rest into a small bunch, and slap their
thighs. Consequently, when children at play have their kudumi partially
tied, and slap their thighs, they are invariably scolded owing to the
association with funerals. Among all Hindu classes it is considered as
an insult to the god to bathe or wash the feet on returning home from
worship at a temple, and, by so doing, the punyam (good) would be lost.
Moreover, washing the feet at the entrance to a home is connected with
funerals, inasmuch as, on the return from the burning-ground, a mourner
may not enter the house until he has washed his feet. The Badagas of
the Nīlgiris hold an agricultural festival called devvē,
which should on no account be pronounced duvvē, which means
burning-ground.
A bazaar shop-keeper who deals in colours will not sell white paint
after the lamps have been lighted. In like manner, a cloth-dealer
refuses to sell black cloth, [32]and the dealer in hardware to sell
nails, needles, etc., lest poverty should ensue. Digging operations
with a spade should be stopped before the lamps are lighted. A
betel-vine cultivator objects to entering his garden or plucking a leaf
after the lighting of the lamps; but, if some leaves are urgently
required, he will, before plucking them, pour water from a pot at the
foot of the tree on which the vine is growing.
Arrack (liquor) vendors consider it unlucky to set their measures
upside down. Some time ago, the Excise Commissioner informs me, the
Madras Excise Department had some aluminium measures made for measuring
arrack in liquor shops. It was found that the arrack corroded the
aluminium, and the measures soon leaked. The shop-keepers were told to
turn their measures upside down, in order that they might drain. This
they refused to do, as it would bring bad luck to their shops. New
measures with round bottoms, which would not stand up, were evolved.
But the shop-keepers began to use rings of indiarubber from soda-water
bottles, to make them stand. An endeavour was then made to induce them
to keep their measures inverted by hanging them on pegs, so that they
would drain without being turned upside down. The case illustrates how
important a knowledge of the superstitions of the people is in the
administration of their affairs. Even so trifling an innovation as the
introduction of a new arrangement for maintaining tension in the warp
during the process of weaving gave rise a few years ago to a strike
among the hand-loom weavers at the Madras School of Arts.
When a Paidi (agriculturists and weavers in Ganjam) is seriously
ill, a male or female sorcerer (bejjo or bejjano) is consulted. A
square divided into sixteen compartments is drawn on the floor with
rice flour. In each compartment [33]are placed a leaf-cup of
Butea frondosa, a quarter-anna piece, and some food. Seven small
bows and arrows are set up in front thereof in two lines. On one side
of the square, a big cup filled with food is placed. A fowl is
sacrificed, and its blood poured thrice round this cup. Then, placing
water in a vessel near the cup, the sorcerer or sorceress throws into
it a grain of rice, giving out at the same time the name of some god or
goddess. If the rice sinks, it is believed that the illness is caused
by the anger of the deity, whose name has been mentioned. If the rice
floats, the names of various deities are called out, until a grain
sinks. When selecting a site for a new dwelling hut, the Māliah
Savaras place on the proposed site as many grains of rice in pairs as
there are married members in the family, and cover them over with a
cocoanut shell. They are examined on the following day, and, if they
are all there, the site is considered auspicious. Among the Kāpu
Savaras, the grains of rice are folded up in leaflets of the bael tree
(Ægle Marmelos), and placed in a split bamboo.
It is recorded by Gloyer26 that “when a Dōmb
(Vizagapatam hill tribe) house has to be built, the first thing is to
select a favourable spot, to which few evil spirits (dūmas)
resort. At this spot they put, in several places, three grains of rice
arranged in such a way that the two lower grains support the upper one.
To protect the grains, they pile up stones round them, and the whole is
lightly covered with earth. When, after some time, they find on
inspection that the upper grain has fallen off, the spot is regarded as
unlucky, and must not be used. If the position of the grains remains
unchanged, the omen is regarded as auspicious. They drive in the first
post, which must have a certain length, say of [34]five,
seven, or nine ells, the ell being measured from the tip of the middle
finger to the elbow. The post is covered on the top with rice straw,
leaves, and shrubs, so that birds may not foul it, which would be an
evil omen.”
In Madras, a story is current with reference to the statue of Sir
Thomas Munro, that he seized upon all the rice depôts, and
starved the people by selling rice in egg-shells, at one shell for a
rupee. To punish him, the Government erected the statue in an open
place without a canopy, so that the birds of the air might insult him
by polluting his face. In the Bellary district, the names Munrol and
Munrolappa are common, and are given in hope that the boy may attain
the same celebrity as the former Governor of Madras. (I once came
across a Telugu cultivator, who rejoiced in the name of Curzon). One of
Sir Thomas Munro’s good qualities was that, like Rāma and
Rob Roy, his arms reached to his knees, or, in other words, he
possessed the quality of an Ajanubahu, which is the heritage of kings,
or those who have blue blood in them.
In a case of dispute between two Koravas,27 “the
decision is sometimes arrived at by means of an ordeal. An equal
quantity of rice is placed in two pots of equal weight, having the same
quantity of water, and there is an equal quantity of fire-wood. The
judges satisfy themselves most carefully as to quantity, weights, and
so on. The water is boiled, and the man whose rice boils first is
declared to be the winner of the dispute. The loser has to recoup the
winner all his expenses. It sometimes happens that both pots boil at
the same time; then a coin is to be picked out of a pot containing
boiling oil.”
At one of the religious ceremonies of the Koravas, offerings of
boiled rice (pongal) are made to the deity, [35]Polēramma, by fasting women. The manner in
which the boiling food bubbles over from the cooking-pot is eagerly
watched, and accepted as an omen for good or evil. A festival called
Pongal is observed by Hindus on the first day of the Tamil month Tai,
and derives its name from the fact that rice boiled in milk is offered
to propitiate the Sun God.
Before the ceremony of walking through fire28 (burning
embers) at Nidugala on the Nīlgiris, the omens are taken by
boiling two pots of milk, side by side, on two hearths. If the milk
overflows uniformly on all sides, the crops will be abundant for all
the villages. But, if it flows over on one side only, there will be
plentiful crops for villages on that side only. For boiling the milk, a
light obtained by friction must be used. After the milk-boiling
ceremonial, the pūjāri (priest), tying bells on his legs,
approaches the fire-pit, carrying milk freshly drawn from a cow, which
has calved for the first time, and flowers of Rhododendron,
Leucas, or jasmine. After doing pūja (worship), he throws
the flowers on the embers, and they should remain unscorched for a few
seconds. He then pours some of the milk over the embers, and no hissing
sound should be produced. The omens being propitious, he walks over the
glowing embers, followed by a Udaya29 and the crowd of celebrants,
who, before going through the ordeal, count the hairs on their feet. If
any are singed, it is a sign of approaching ill-fortune, or even
death.
It is recorded by the Rev. J. Cain30 that, when the
[36]Koyis of the Godaāvari district determine to
appease the goddess of smallpox or cholera, they erect a pandal (booth)
outside their village under a nīm tree (Melia Azadirachta).
They make the image of a woman with earth from a white-ant hill, tie a
cloth or two round it, hang a few peacock’s feathers round its
neck, and place it under the pandal on a three-legged stool made from
the wood of the silk-cotton tree (Cochlospermum Gossypium). They
then bring forward a chicken, and try to persuade it to eat some of the
grains which they have thrown before the image, requesting the goddess
to inform them whether she will leave their village or not. If the
chicken picks up some of the grains, they regard it as a most
favourable omen; but, if not, their hearts are filled with dread of the
continued anger of the goddess. At the Bhūdēvi Panduga, or
festival of the earth goddess, according to Mr F. R. Hemingway, the
Koyis set up a stone beneath a Terminalia tomentosa tree, which
is thus dedicated to the goddess Kodalamma. Each worshipper brings a
cock to the priest, who holds it over grains of rice, which have been
sprinkled before the goddess. If the bird pecks at the rice, good luck
is ensured for the coming year, whilst, if perchance the bird pecks
three times, the offerer of that particular bird can scarcely contain
himself for joy. If the bird declines to touch the grains, ill-luck is
sure to visit the owner’s house during the ensuing year.
Concerning a boundary oath in the Mulkangiri tāluk of
Vizagapatam, Mr C. A. Henderson writes to me as follows:—
“The pūjāri (priest) levelled a piece
of ground about a foot square, and smeared it with cow-dung. The
boundary was marked with rice-flour and turmeric, and a small heap of
rice and cow-dung was left in the middle. A sword was laid across the
heap. The pūjāri touched the rice-flour [37]line
with the tips of his fingers, and then pressed his knuckles on the same
place, thus leaving an exit on the south side. He then held a chicken
over the central heap, and muttered some mantrams. The chicken pecked
at the rice, and an egg was placed on the heap. The chicken then pecked
at the rice again. The ceremony then waited for another party, who
performed a similar ceremony. There was some amusement because their
chickens would not eat. The chickens were decapitated, and their heads
placed in the square. The eggs were then broken. It was raining, and
there was a resulting puddle of cow-dung, chicken’s blood, egg,
and rice, of which the representatives of each party took a portion,
and eat it, or pretended to do so, stating to whom the land belonged.
There is said to be a belief that, if a man swears falsely, he will
die.”
Though not bearing on the subject of omens, some further boundary
ceremonies may be placed under reference. At Sāttamangalam, in the
South Arcot district, the festival of the goddess Māriamma is said
to be crowned by the sacrifice at midnight of a goat, the entrails of
which are hung round the neck of the Toti (scavenger), who then goes,
stark naked, save for this one adornment, round all the village
boundaries.31
It is recorded by Bishop Whitehead32 that, in some
parts of the Tamil country, e.g., in the Trichinopoly district,
at the ceremony for the propitiation of the village boundary goddess, a
priest carries a pot containing boiled rice and the blood of a lamb
which has been sacrificed to the boundary stone, round which he runs
three times. The third time he throws the pot over his shoulder on to
another smaller stone, which stands at the foot of the boundary stone.
The pot is dashed to pieces, and [38]the rice and blood scatter over
the two stones and all round them. The priest then goes away without
looking back, followed by the crowd of villagers in dead silence. In
the Cuddapah district, when there is a boundary dispute in a village,
an image of the goddess Gangamma is placed in the street, and left
there for two days. The head of a buffalo and several sheep are offered
to her, and the blood is allowed to run into the gutter. The goddess is
then worshipped, and she is implored to point out the correct
boundary.33 In Mysore, if there is a dispute as to the village
boundaries, the Holeya34 Kuluvādi is believed to be
the only person competent to take the oath as to how the boundary ought
to run. The old custom for settling such disputes is thus described by
Captain J. S. F. Mackenzie:35
“The Kuluvādi, carrying on his head a ball
made of the village earth, in the centre of which is placed some earth,
passes along the boundary. If he has kept the proper line, everything
goes well, but, should he, by accident even, go beyond his own proper
boundary, then the ball of earth, of its own accord, goes to pieces.
The Kuluvādi is said to die within fifteen days, and his house
becomes a ruin. Such is the popular belief.”
Some years ago Mr H. D. Taylor was called on to settle a boundary
dispute between two villages in Jeypore under the following
circumstances. As the result of a panchāyat (council meeting), the
men of one village had agreed to accept the boundary claimed by the
other party if the head of their village walked round the boundary and
eat earth at intervals, provided that no harm came to him within six
months. The man accordingly perambulated [39]the boundary eating
earth, and a conditional order of possession was given. Shortly
afterwards the man’s cattle died, one of his children died of
smallpox, and finally he himself died within three months. The other
party then claimed the land on the ground that the earth-goddess had
proved him to have perjured himself. It was urged in defence that the
man had been made to eat earth at such frequent intervals that he
contracted dysentery, and died from the effects of
earth-eating.36
When the time for the annual festival of the tribal goddess of the
Kuruvikkārans (Marāthi-speaking beggars) draws nigh, the
headman or an elder piles up Vigna Catiang seeds in five small
heaps. He then decides in his mind whether there is an odd or even
number of seeds in the majority of heaps. If, when the seeds are
counted, the result agrees with his forecast, it is taken as a sign of
the approval of the goddess, and arrangements for the festival are
made. Otherwise it is abandoned for the year.
At the annual festival of Chaudēswari, the tribal goddess of
Dēvānga weavers, the priest tries to balance a long sword on
its point on the edge of the mouth of a pot. A lime fruit is placed in
the region of the navel of the idol, who should throw it down
spontaneously. A bundle of betel leaves is cut across with a knife, and
the cut ends should unite. If the omens are favourable, a lamp made of
rice-flour is lighted, and pongal (boiled rice) offered to it.
It is recorded by Canter Visscher37 that, in the building of a
house in Malabar, the carpenters open three or four cocoanuts, spilling
the juice as little as possible, and put some tips of betel leaves into
them. From the way these float on the liquid they foretell whether the
house will [40]be lucky or unlucky, whether it will stand for a
long or short period, and whether another will ever be erected on its
site.
Korava women, if their husbands are absent on a criminal expedition
long enough to arouse apprehension of danger, pull a long piece out of
a broom, and tie to one end of it several small pieces dipped in oil.
If the stick floats in water, all is well; but, should it sink, two of
the women start at once to find the men.38
In the village of Chakibunda in the Cuddapah district, there is a
pool of water at the foot of a hill. Those who are desirous of getting
children, wealth, etc., go there and pour oil into the water. The oil
is said not to float as is usual in greasy bubbles, but to sink and
never rise. They also offer betel leaves, on which turmeric and
kunkumam have been placed. If these leaves sink, and after some time
reappear without the turmeric and kunkumam, but with the marks of nails
upon them, the person offering them will gain his wishes. The contents
of the leaves, and the oil, are supposed to be consumed by some divine
being at the bottom of the pool.39 At Madicheruvu, in the
Cuddapah district, there is a small waterfall in the midst of a jungle,
which is visited annually by a large number of pilgrims. Those who are
anxious to know if their sins are forgiven stand under the fall. If
they are acceptable the water falls on their heads, but, if they have
some great guilt weighing on them, the water swerves on one side, and
refuses to be polluted by contact with the sinner.40
Among the Vādas (Telugu fishermen) the Mannāru is an
important individual who not only performs worship, but is consulted on
many points. If a man does not [41]secure good catches of fish, he
goes to the Mannāru to ascertain the cause of his bad luck. The
Mannāru holds in his hand a string on which a stone is tied, and
invokes various gods and goddesses by name. Every time a name is
mentioned, the stone either swings to and fro like a pendulum, or
performs a circular movement. If the former occurs, it is a sign that
the deity whose name has been pronounced is the cause of the
misfortune, and must be propitiated in a suitable manner.
The Nomad Bauris or Bāwariyas, who commit robberies and
manufacture counterfeit coin, keep with them a small quantity of wheat
and sandal seeds in a tin or brass case, which they call
dēvakadana or god’s grain, and a tuft of peacock’s
feathers. They are very superstitious, and do not embark on any
enterprise without first ascertaining by omens whether it will be
attended with success or not. This they do by taking at random a small
quantity of grains out of the dēvakadana, and counting the number
thereof, the omen being considered good or bad according as the number
is odd or even.41 A gang of Donga Dāsaris, before starting
on a thieving expedition, proceed to the jungle near their village in
the early part of the night, worship their favourite goddesses,
Huligavva and Ellamma, and sacrifice a sheep or fowl before them. They
place one of their turbans on the head of the animal as soon as its
head falls on the ground. If the turban turns to the right it is
considered a good sign, the goddess having permitted them to proceed on
the expedition; if to the left they return home. Hanumān (the
monkey god) is also consulted as to such expeditions. They go to a
Hanumān temple, and, after worshipping him, garland him with a
wreath of flowers. The garland hangs [42]on both sides of the
neck. If any of the flowers on the right side drop down first, it is
regarded as a permission granted by the god to start on a plundering
expedition; and, conversely, an expedition is never undertaken if any
flower happens to drop from the left side first.42 The Kallans
are said by Mr F. S. Mullaly43 to consult the deity before
starting on depredations. Two flowers, the one red and the other white,
are placed before the idol, a symbol of their god Kalla Alagar. The
white flower is the emblem of success. A child of tender years is told
to pluck a petal of one of the two flowers, and the success of the
undertaking rests upon the choice made by the child. The Pulluvan
astrologers of Malabar sometimes calculate beforehand the result of a
project in which they are engaged, by placing before the god two
bouquets of flowers, one red, the other white, of which a child picks
out one with its eyes closed. Selection of the white bouquet predicts
auspicious results, of the red the reverse. In the same way, when the
Kammālans (Tamil artisans) appoint their Anjivīttu
Nāttāmaikkāran to preside over them, five men selected
from each of the five divisions meet at the temple of the caste
goddess, Kāmākshi Amman. The names of the five men are
written on five slips of paper, which, together with some blank slips,
are thrown before the shrine of the goddess. A child, taken at random
from the assembled crowd, is made to pick up the slips, and he whose
name turns up first is proclaimed Anjivīttu
Nāttāmaikkāran.
Eclipses are regarded as precursors of evil, which must, if
possible, be averted. Concerning the origin thereof, according to
tradition in Malabar, Mr Gopal Panikkar writes as follows44:— [43]
“Tradition says that, when an eclipse takes
place, Rāhu the huge serpent is devouring the sun or moon, as the
case may be. An eclipse being thus the decease of one of those heavenly
bodies, people must, of necessity, observe pollution for the period
during which the eclipse lasts. When the monster spits out the body,
the eclipse is over. Food and drink taken during an eclipse possess
poisonous properties, and people therefore abstain from eating and
drinking until the eclipse is over. They bathe at the end of the
eclipse, so as to get rid of the pollution. Any one shutting himself up
from exposure may be exempted from this obligation to take a
bath.”
Deaths from drowning are not unknown in Madras at times of eclipse,
when Hindus bathe in the sea, and get washed away by the surf. It is
said45 that, before an eclipse, the people prepare their
drums, etc., to frighten the giant, lest he should eat up the moon
entirely. Images of snakes are offered to the deity on days of eclipse
by Brāhmans on whose star day the eclipse falls, to appease the
wrath of the terrible Rāhu. It is noted by Mr S. M. Natesa
Sastri46 that “the eclipse must take place on some
asterism or other, and, if that asterism happens to be that in which
any Hindu was born, he has to perform some special ceremonies to
absolve himself from impending evil. He makes a plate of gold or
silver, or of palm leaf, according to his means, and ties it on his
forehead with Sanskrit verses inscribed on it. He sits with this plate
for some time, performs certain ceremonies, bathes with the plate
untied, and presents it to a Brāhman with some fee, ranging from
four annas to several thousands of rupees. The belief that an eclipse
is a calamity to the sun or moon is such a strong Hindu belief, that no
[44]marriage takes place in the month in which an
eclipse falls.”
I gather47 that, “during an eclipse, many of the people
retire into their houses, and remain behind closed doors until the evil
hour has passed. The time is in all respects inauspicious, and no work
begun or completed during this period can meet with success; indeed, so
great is the dread, that no one would think of initiating any important
work at this time. More especially is it fatal to women who are
pregnant, for the evil will fall upon the unborn babe, and, in cases of
serious malformation or congenital lameness, the cause is said to be
that the mother looked on an eclipse. Women, therefore, not only retire
into the house, but, in order that they may be further protected from
the evil, they burn horn shavings. The evils of an eclipse are not
limited to human beings, but cattle and crops also need protection from
the malignant spirits which are supposed to be abroad. In order that
the cattle may be preserved, they are as far as possible taken indoors,
and especially those which have young calves; and, to make assurance
doubly sure, their horns are smeared with chunam (lime). The crops are
protected by procuring ashes from the potter’s field, which seem
to be specially potent against evil spirits. With these ashes images
are made, and placed on the four sides of the field. Comets, too, are
looked upon as omens of evil.”
When a person is about to occupy a new house, he takes particular
care to see that the planet Venus does not face him as he enters it.
With this star before him, he sometimes postpones the occupation, or,
if he is obliged to enter, he reluctantly does so through the
back-door.
On the day of the capture of Seringaptam, which, being the last day
of a lunar month, was inauspicious, [45]the astrologer repeated the
unfavourable omen to Tīpu Sultān, who was slain in the course
of the battle. It is recorded48 that “to different Bramins
he gave a black buffalo, a milch buffalo, a male buffalo, a black
she-goat, a jacket of coarse black cloth, a cap of the same material,
ninety rupees, and an iron pot filled with oil; and, previous to the
delivery of this last article, he held his head over the pot for the
purpose of seeing the image of his face; a ceremony used in Hindostan
to avert misfortune.”
The time at which the address of welcome by the Madras Municipal
Corporation to Sir Arthur Lawley on his taking over the Governorship of
Madras was changed from 12–30 P.M. to 1
P.M. on a Wednesday, as the time originally
fixed fell within the period of Rahukālam, which is an
inauspicious hour on that day.
It is considered by a Hindu unlucky to get shaved for ceremonial
purposes in the months of Ādi, Purattāsi, Margali, and
Māsi, and, in the remaining months, Sunday, Tuesday, and Saturday
should be avoided. Further, the star under which a man was born has to
be taken into consideration, and it may happen that an auspicious day
for being shaved does not occur for some weeks. It is on this account
that orthodox Hindus are sometimes compelled to go about with unkempt
chins. Even for anointing the body, auspicious and inauspicious days
are prescribed. Thus, anointing on Sunday causes loss of beauty, on
Monday brings increase of riches, and on Thursday loss of intellect. If
a person is obliged to anoint himself on Sunday, he should put a bit of
the root of oleander (Nerium) in the oil, and heat it before
applying it. This is supposed to avert the evil influences. Similarly
on Tuesday dry earth, on Thursday roots of Cynodou Dactylon, and
on Friday ashes must be used. [46]
It is considered auspicious if a girl attains puberty on a Monday,
Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, and the omens vary according to the
month in which the first menstrual period occurs. Thus the month of
Vaiyāsi ensures prosperity, Āni male issue, Māsi
happiness, Margali well-behaved children, Punguni long life and many
children. At the first menstrual ceremony of a Tiyan girl in Malabar,
her aunt, or, if she is married, her husband’s sister, pours
gingelly (Sesamum) oil over her head, on the top of which a gold
fanam (coin) has been placed. The oil is poured from a little cup made
from a leaf of the jak tree (Artocarpus integrifolia), flows
over the forehead, and is received with the fanam in a dish. It is a
good omen if the coin falls with the obverse upwards.
If a Brāhman woman loses her tāli (marriage badge), it is
regarded as a bad omen for her husband. As a Dēva-dāsi
(dancing-girl) can never become a widow, the beads in her tāli are
considered to bring good luck to those who wear them. And some people
send the tāli required for a marriage to a Dēva-dāsi,
who prepares the string for it, and attaches to it black beads from her
own tāli. A Dēva-dāsi is also deputed to walk at the
head of Hindu marriage processions. Married women do not like to do
this, as they are not proof against evil omens, which the procession
may come across, and it is believed that Dēva-dāsis, to whom
widowhood is unknown, possess the power of warding off the effects of
unlucky omens. It may be remarked, en passant, that
Dēva-dāsis are not at the present day so much patronised at
Hindu marriages as in former days. Much is due in this direction to the
progress of enlightened ideas, which have of late been strongly put
forward by Hindu social reformers. General Burton narrates49 how a civilian of the old school built a house at
[47]Bhavāni, and established a corps de
ballet, i.e., a set of nautch girls, whose accomplishments extended
to singing God Save the King, and this was kept up by their
descendants, so that, when he visited the place in 1852, he was
“greeted by the whole party, bedizened in all their finery, and
squalling the National Anthem.” With this may be contrasted a
circular from a modern European official, which states that
“during my jamabandy (land revenue settlement) tour, people have
sometimes been kind enough to arrange singing or dancing parties, and,
as it would have been discourteous to decline to attend what had cost
money to arrange, I have accepted the compliment in the spirit in which
it was offered. I should, however, be glad if you would let it be
generally known that I am entirely in accord with what is known as the
anti-nautch movement in regard to such performances.”
It was unanimously decided, in 1905, by the Executive Committee of
the Prince and Princess of Wales’ reception committee, that there
should be no performance by nautch girls at the entertainment to their
Royal Highnesses at Madras.
The marriage ceremonies of Ārē Dammaras
(Marāthi-speaking acrobats) are supervised by an old Basavi woman,
and the marriage badge is tied round the bride’s neck by a Basavi
(public woman dedicated to the deity).
When a marriage is contemplated among the Idaiyans (Tamil shepherds)
of Coimbatore, the parents of the prospective bride and bridegroom go
to the temple, and throw before the idol a red and white flower, each
wrapped in a betel leaf. A small child is then told to pick up one of
the leaves. If the one selected contains the white flower, it is
considered auspicious, and the marriage will be contracted. The
Dēvānga weavers, before settling the marriage of a girl,
consult some village goddess or the [48]tribal goddess Chaudēswari,
and watch the omens. A lizard chirping on the right is good, and on the
left bad. Sometimes, red and white flowers wrapped in green leaves are
thrown in front of the idol, and the omen is considered good or bad,
according to the flower which a child picks up. Among the hill
Urālis of Coimbatore, a flower is placed on the top of a stone or
figure representing the tribal goddess, and, after worship, it is
addressed in the words: “Oh! swāmil (goddess), drop the
flower to the right if the marriage is going to be propitious, and to
the left if otherwise.” Should the flower remain on the image
without falling either way, it is greeted as a very happy omen. When a
marriage is in contemplation among the Agamudaiyans (Tamil
cultivators), some close relations of the young man proceed to some
distance northward, and wait for omens. If these are auspicious, they
are satisfied. Some, instead of so doing, go to a temple, and seek the
omens either by placing flowers on the idol, and watching the
directions in which they fall, or by picking up a flower from a large
number strewn in front of the idol. If the flower picked up, and the
one thought of, are of the same colour, it is regarded as a good omen.
Among the Gudigāras (wood-carvers) of South Canara, the parents of
the couple go to a temple, and receive from the priest some flowers
which have been used in worship. These are counted, and, if their
number is even, the match is arranged. At a marriage among the
Malaiālis of the Kollaimalai hills, the garlands with which the
bridal couple are adorned, are thrown into a well after the tāli
has been tied on the bride’s neck. If they float together, it is
an omen that the two will love each other.
Among the Telugu Janappans (gunny-bag makers), on the day fixed for
the betrothal, those assembled wait silently listening for the chirping
of a lizard, which is [49]an auspicious sign. It is said that the match
is broken off if the chirping is not heard. If the omen proves
auspicious, a small bundle of nine to twelve kinds of pulses and grain
is given by the bridegroom’s father to the father of the bride.
This is preserved, and examined several days after the marriage. If the
pulses and grain are in good condition, it is a sign that the newly
married couple will have a prosperous career. During the marriage
ceremonies of the Muhammadan Daknis or Deccanis, two big pots, filled
with water, are placed near the milk-post. They are kept for forty
days, and then examined. If the water remains sweet, and does not
“teem with vermin,” it is regarded as a good omen. The seed
grains, too, which, as among many Hindu castes, were sown at the time
of the wedding, should by this time have developed into healthy
seedlings. At a Rona (Oriya cultivator) wedding, the Dēsāri
who officiates ties to the ends of the cloths of the bridal couple a
new cloth, to which a quarter-anna piece is attached, betel leaves and
areca nuts, and seven grains of rice. Towards the close of the marriage
rites on the third day, the rice is examined, to see if it is in a good
state of preservation, and its condition is regarded as an omen for
good or evil.
On the occasion of a wedding among the Badagas of the Nīlgiris,
a procession goes before dawn on the marriage day to the forest, where
two sticks of Mimusops hexandra are collected, to do duty as the
milk-posts. The early hour is selected, to avoid the chance of coming
across inauspicious objects. At the close of the Agamudaiyan marriage
ceremonies, the twig of Erythrina indica or Odina wodier,
of which the milk-post was made, is planted. If it takes root and
grows, it is regarded as a favourable omen. At a Palli (Tamil
cultivator) wedding [50]two lamps, called kuda vilakku (pot light)
and alankara vilakku (ornamental light), are placed by the side of the
milk-post. The former consists of a lighted wick in an earthenware tray
placed on a pot. It is considered an unlucky omen if it goes out before
the conclusion of the ceremonial.
Prior to the betrothal ceremony of the Kammas (Telugu cultivators),
a near relation of the future bridegroom proceeds with a party to the
home of the future bride. On the way thither, they look for omens, such
as the crossing of birds in an auspicious direction. Immediately on the
occurrence of a favourable omen, they burn camphor, and break a
cocoanut, which must split in two with clean edges. One half is sent to
the would-be bridegroom, and the other taken to the bride’s
house. When this is reached, she demands the sagunam (omen) cocoanut.
If the first cocoanut does not split properly, others are broken till
the desired result is obtained.
In the Telugu country, the services of a member of the Bōya
caste are required if a Brāhman wishes to perform Vontigadu, a
ceremony by which he hopes to induce favourable auspices, under which
to celebrate a marriage. The story has it that Vontigadu was a
destitute Bōya, who died of starvation. On the morning of the day
on which the ceremony, for which favourable auspices are required, is
performed, a Bōya is invited to the house. He is given a present
of gingelly (Sesamum) oil, wherewith to anoint himself. This
done, he returns, carrying in his hand a dagger, on the point of which
a lime has been stuck. He is directed to the cowshed, and there given a
good meal. After finishing the meal, he steals from the shed, and
dashes out of the house, uttering a piercing yell, and waving his
dagger. He on no account looks behind him. The inmates of the
[51]house follow for some distance, throwing water
wherever he has trodden. By this means, all possible evil omens for the
coming ceremony are done away with.
A curious mock marriage ceremony is celebrated among Brāhmans,
when an individual marries a third wife. It is believed that a third
marriage is very inauspicious, and that the bride will become a widow.
To prevent this mishap, the man is made to marry the arka plant
(Calotropis gigantea), which grows luxuriantly in wastelands,
and the real marriage thus becomes the fourth. The bridegroom,
accompanied by a Brāhman priest and another Brāhman, repairs
to a spot where this plant is growing. It is decorated with a cloth and
a piece of string, and symbolised into the sun. All the ceremonies,
such as making hōmam (sacred fire), tying the tāli (marriage
badge), etc., are performed as at a regular marriage, and the plant is
cut down. On rathasapthami day, an orthodox Hindu should bathe his head
and shoulders with arka leaves in propitiation of Surya (the sun). The
leaves are also used during the worship of ancestors by some
Brāhmans. Among the Tangalān Paraiyans, if a young man dies
before he is married, a ceremony called kannikazhital (removing
bachelorhood) is performed. Before the corpse is laid on the bier, a
garland of arka flowers is placed round its neck, and balls of mud from
a gutter are laid on the head, knees, and other parts of the body. In
some places, a variant of the ceremony consists in the erection of a
mimic marriage booth, which is covered with leaves of the arka plant,
flowers of which are placed round the neck as a garland. Adulterers
were, in former times, seated on a donkey, with their face to the tail,
and marched through the village. The public disgrace was enhanced by
placing a garland of the despised arka leaves on their head.
[52]Uppiliyan women convicted of immorality are said
to be garlanded with arka flowers, and made to carry a basket of mud
round the village. A Konga Vellāla man, who has been found guilty
of undue intimacy with a widow, is readmitted to the caste by being
taken to the village common, where he is beaten with an arka stick, and
by providing a black sheep for a feast. When a Kuruvikkāran man
has to submit to trial by ordeal, seven arka leaves are tied to his
palms, and a piece of red-hot iron is placed thereon. His innocence is
established, if he is able to carry it while he takes seven long
strides. The juice of the arka plant is a favourite agent in the hands
of suicides.
At a Brāhman wedding the bridegroom takes a blade of the sacred
dharba grass, passes it between the eyebrows of the bride and throws it
away saying, “With this grass I remove the influence of any bad
mark thou mayest possess, which is likely to cause
widowhood.”
There is a Tamil proverb relating to the selection of a wife, to the
effect that curly hair gives food, thick hair brings milk, and very
stiff hair destroys a family. As a preliminary to marriage among the
Kurubas (Canarese shepherds), the bridegroom’s father observes
certain curls (suli) on the head of the proposed bride. Some of these
are believed to forebode prosperity, and others misery to the family
into which the girl enters by marriage. They are, therefore, very
cautious in selecting only such girls as possess curls of good fortune.
One of the good curls is the bāshingam on the forehead, and bad
ones are the pēyanākallu at the back of the head, and the
edirsuli near the right temple.50 By the Pallis (Tamil
cultivators) a curl on the forehead is considered as an indication that
the girl will become a widow, and one [53]on the back of the head
portends the death of the eldest brother of her husband. By the Tamil
Maravans, a curl on the forehead resembling the head of a snake is
regarded as an evil omen.
A woman, pregnant for the first time, should not see a temple car
adorned with figures of a lion, or look at it when it is being dragged
along with the image of the god seated in it. If she does, the
tradition is that she will give birth to a monster.
In some places, before a woman is confined, the room in which her
confinement is to take place is smeared with cow-dung, and, in the room
at the outer gate, small wet cow-dung cakes are stuck on the wall, and
covered with margosa (Melia Azadirachta) leaves and cotton
seeds. These are supposed to have a great power in averting evil
spirits, and preventing harm to the newly-born babe or the lying-in
woman.51 In the Telugu country, it is the custom among
some castes, e.g., the Kāpus and Gamallas, to place twigs
of Balanites Roxburghii or Calotropis gigantea (arka) on
the floor or in the roof of the lying-in chamber. Sometimes a garland
of old shoes is hung up on the door-post of the chamber. A fire is
kindled, into which pieces of old leather, hair, nails, horns, hoofs,
and bones of animals are thrown, in the belief that the smoke arising
therefrom will protect the mother and child against evil spirits. Among
some classes, when a woman is pregnant, her female friends assemble,
pile up before her door a quantity of rice-husk, and set fire to it. To
one door-post they tie an old shoe, and to the other a bunch of tulsi
(Ocimum sanctum), in order to prevent the entry of any demon. A
bitch is brought in, painted, and marked in the way that the women
daily mark their own foreheads. Incense is burnt, and an [54]oblation
placed before it. The woman then makes obeisance to it, and makes a
meal of curry and rice, on which cakes are placed. If there is present
any woman who has not been blessed with children, she seizes some of
the cakes, in the hope that, by so doing, she may ere long have a
child.52 In some places, when a woman is in labour, her
relations keep on measuring out rice into a measure close to the
lying-in room, in the belief that delivery will be accelerated thereby.
Sometimes a gun is fired off in an adjacent room with the same object,
and I have heard of a peon (orderly), whose wife was in labour,
borrowing his master’s gun, to expedite matters.
Some Hindus in Madras believe that it would be unlucky for a
newly-married couple to visit the museum, as their offspring would be
deformed as the result of the mother having gazed on the skeletons and
stuffed animals.
Twins are sometimes objects of superstition, especially if they are
of different sexes, and the male is born first. The occurrence of such
an event is regarded as foreboding misfortune, which can only be warded
off by marrying the twins to one another, and leaving them to their
fate in the jungle. Cases of this kind have, however, it is said, not
been heard of within recent times.
There is a proverb that a child born with the umbilical cord round
the body will be a curse to the caste. If a child is born with the cord
round its neck like a garland, it is believed to be inauspicious for
its uncle, who is not allowed to see it for ten days, or even longer,
and then a propitiatory ceremony has to be performed. By the Koravas
the birth of a child with the cord round its neck is believed to
portend the death of the father or maternal uncle. This unpleasant
effect is warded off by [55]the father or the uncle killing a
fowl, and wearing its entrails round his neck, and afterwards burying
them along with the cord. In other castes it is believed that a child
born with the cord round its neck will be a curse to its maternal
uncle, unless a gold or silver string is placed on the body, and the
uncle sees its image reflected in a vessel of oil. If the cord is
entwined across the breast, and passes under the armpit, it is believed
to be an unlucky omen for the father and paternal uncle. In such cases,
some special ceremony, such as looking into a vessel of oil, is
performed. I am informed by the Rev. S. Nicholson that, if a Māla
(Telugu Pariah) child is born with the cord round its neck, a cocoanut
is immediately offered. If the child survives, a cock is offered to the
gods on the day on which the mother takes her first bath. When the cord
is cut, a coin is placed over the navel for luck. The dried cord is
highly prized as a remedy for sterility. The placenta is placed by the
Mālas in a pot, in which are nīm (Melia Azadirachta)
leaves, and the whole is buried in some convenient place, generally the
backyard. If this was not done, dogs or other animals might carry off
the placenta, and the child would be of a wandering disposition.
The birth of a Korava child on a new moon night is believed to augur
a notorious thieving future for the infant. Such children are commonly
named Venkatigādu after the god at Tirupati.53 The birth
of a male child on the day in which the constellation Rohini is visible
portends evil to the maternal uncle; and a female born under the
constellation Moolam is supposed to carry misery with her to the house
which she enters by marriage.
Dōmb children in Vizagapatam are supposed to be [56]born
without souls, and to be subsequently chosen as an abode by the soul of
an ancestor. The coming of the ancestor is signalised by the child
dropping a chicken bone which has been thrust into its hand, and much
rejoicing follows among the assembled relations.
By some Valaiyans (Tamil cultivators), the naming of infants is
performed at the Aiyanar temple by any one who is under the influence
of inspiration. Failing such a one, several flowers, each with a name
attached to it, are thrown in front of the idol. A boy, or the priest,
picks up one of the flowers, and the infant receives the name which is
connected with it. In connection with the birth ceremonies of the Koyis
of the Godāvari district, the Rev. J. Cain writes54 that, on the seventh day, the near relatives and
neighbours assemble together to name the child. Having placed it on a
cot, they put a leaf of the mowha tree (Bassia) in its hand, and
pronounce some name which they think suitable. If the child closes its
hand over the leaf, it is regarded as a sign that it acquiesces, but,
if the child rejects the leaf or cries, they take it as a sign that
they must choose another name, and so throw away the leaf, and
substitute another leaf and name, until the child shows its
approbation.
It is noted,55 in connection with the death ceremonies of
the Kondhs, that, if a man has been killed by a tiger, purification is
made by the sacrifice of a pig, the head of which is cut off with a
tangi (axe) by a Pāno, and passed between the legs of the men in
the village, who stand in a line astraddle. It is a bad omen to him, if
the head touches any man’s legs. According to another account,
the head of the decapitated pig is placed in a [57]stream,
and, as it floats down, it has to pass between the legs of the
villagers. If it touches the legs of any of them, it forebodes that he
will be killed by a tiger.
The sight of a cat, on getting out of bed, is extremely unlucky, and
he who sees one will fail in all his undertakings during the day.
“I faced the cat this morning,” or “Did you see a cat
this morning?” are common sayings when one fails in anything. The
Paraiyans are said to be very particular about omens, and, if, when a
Paraiyan sets out to arrange a marriage with a certain girl, a cat or a
valiyan (a bird) crosses his path, he will give up the girl. I have
heard of a superstitious European police officer, who would not start
in search of a criminal, because he came across a cat.
House dogs should, if they are to bring good luck, possess more than
eighteen visible claws. If a dog scratches the wall of a house, it will
be broken into by thieves; and, if it makes a hole in the ground within
a cattle-shed, the cattle will be stolen. A dog approaching a person
with a bit of shoe-leather augurs success; with flesh, gain; with a
meaty bone, good luck; with a dry bone, death. If a dog enters a house
with wire or thread in its mouth, the master of the house must expect
to be put in prison. A dog barking on the roof of a house during the
dry weather portends an epidemic, and in the wet season a heavy fall of
rain. There is a proverb “Like a dying dog climbing the
roof,” which is said of a person who is approaching his ruin. The
omen also signifies the death of several members of the family, so the
dog’s ears and tail are cut off, and rice is steeped in the
blood. A goat which has climbed on to the roof is treated in like
manner, dragged round the house, or slaughtered. At the conclusion of
the first menstrual ceremony of a Kāppiliyan (Canarese farmer)
girl, some [58]food is placed near the entrance to the house,
which a dog is allowed to eat. While so doing, it receives a severe
beating. The more noise it makes, the better is the omen for the girl
having a large family. If the animal does not howl, it is supposed that
the girl will bear no children.
The sight of a jackal is very lucky to one proceeding on an errand.
Its cry to the east and north of a village foretells something good for
the villagers, whereas the cry at midday means an impending calamity.
If a jackal cries towards the south in answer to the call of another
jackal, some one will be hung; and, if it cries towards the west, some
one will be drowned. A bachelor who sees a jackal running may expect to
be married shortly. If the offspring of a primipara dies, it is
sometimes buried in a place where jackals can get at it. It is believed
that, if a jackal does not make a sumptuous meal off the corpse, the
woman will not be blessed with more children. The corpses of the
Koramas of Mysore are buried in a shallow grave, and a pot of water is
placed on the mound raised over it. Should the spot be visited during
the night by a pack of jackals, and the water drunk by them to slake
their thirst after feasting on the dead body, the omen is accepted as a
proof that the liberated spirit has fled to the realms of the dead, and
will never trouble man, woman, child, or cattle.
When a person rises in the morning, he should not face or see a
cow’s head, but should see its hinder parts. This is in
consequence of a legend that a cow killed a Brāhman by goring him
with its horns. In some temples, a cow is made to stand in front of the
building with its tail towards it, so that any one entering may see its
face. It is said that, if a cow voids urine at the time of purchase, it
is considered a very good omen, but, if she [59]passes
dung, a bad omen. The hill Kondhs will not cut the crops with a sickle
having a serrated edge, such as is used by the Oriyas, but use a
straight-edged knife. The crops, after they have been cut, are threshed
by hand, and not with the aid of cattle. The serrated sickle is not
used, because it produces a sound like that of cattle grazing, which
would be unpropitious. If cattle were used in threshing the crop, it is
believed that the earth-god would feel insulted by the dung and urine
of the animals.
A timber merchant at Calicut in Malabar is said to have spent more
than a thousand rupees in propitiating the spirit of a deceased
Brāhman under the following circumstances. He had built a new
house, and, on the morning after the kutti pūja (house-warming)
ceremony, his wife and children were coming to occupy it. Just as they
were entering the grounds, a cow ran against one of the children, and
knocked it down. This augured evil, and, in a few days, the child was
attacked by smallpox. One child after another caught the disease, and
at last the man’s wife also contracted it. They all recovered,
but the wife was laid up with some uterine disorder. An astrologer was
sent for, and said that the site on which the house was built was once
the property of a Brāhman, whose spirit still haunted it, and must
be appeased. Expensive ceremonies were performed by Brāhmans for a
fortnight. The house was sold to a Brāhman priest for a nominal
price. A gold image of the deceased Brāhman was made, and, after
the purification ceremonies had been carried out, taken to the sacred
shrine at Rāmēsvaram, where arrangements were made to have
daily worship performed to it. The house, in its purified state, was
sold back by the Brāhman priest. The merchant’s wife
travelled by train to Madras, to [60]undergo treatment at the
Maternity Hospital. The astrologer predicted that the displeasure of
the spirit would be exhibited on the way by the breaking of dishes and
by furniture catching fire—a strange prediction, because the bed
on which the woman was lying caught fire by a spark from the engine.
After the spirit had been thus propitiated, there was peace in the
house.
It is noted56 that, in the middle of the threshold of
nearly all the gateways of the ruined fortifications round the Bellary
villages may be noticed a roughly carved cylindrical or conical stone,
something like a lingam. This is the boddu-rāyi, literally the
navel-stone, and so the middle stone. It was planted there when the
fort was first built, and is affectionately regarded as being the
boundary of the village site. Once a year, in May, just before the
sowing season commences, a ceremony takes place in connection with it.
Reverence is first made to the bullocks of the village, and in the
evening they are driven through the gateway past the boddu-rāyi,
with tom-toms, flutes, and other kinds of music. The Barike (village
servant) next does pūja (worship) to the stone, and then a string
of mango leaves is tied across the gateway above it. The villagers now
form sides, one party trying to drive the bullocks through the gate,
and the other trying to keep them out. The greatest uproar and
confusion naturally follow, and, in the midst of the turmoil, some
bullock or other eventually breaks through the guardians of the gate,
and gains the village. If that first bullock is a red one, the red
grains on the red soil will flourish in the coming season. If he is
white, white crops, such as cotton and white cholam, will prosper. If
he is red and white, both kinds will do well. [61]
Various Oriya castes worship the goddess Lakshmi on Thursdays, in
the month of November, which are called Lakshmi varam, or
Lakshmi’s day. The goddess is represented by a basket filled with
grain, whereon some place a hair-ball which has been vomited by a cow.
The ball is called gāya panghula, and is usually one or two inches
in diameter. The owner of a cow which has vomited such a ball, regards
it as a propitious augury for the prosperity of his family. A feast is
held on the day on which the ball is vomited, and, after the ball has
been worshipped, it is carefully wrapped up, and kept in a box, in
which it remains till it is required for further worship. Some people
believe that the ball continues to grow year by year, and regard this
as a very good sign. Bulls are said not to vomit the balls, and only
very few cows do so.
“Throughout India,” Mr J. D. E. Holmes
writes,57 “but more especially in the Southern
Presidency, among the native population, the value of a horse or ox
principally depends on the existence and situation of certain
hair-marks on the body of the animal. These hair-marks are formed by
the changes in the direction in which the hair grows at certain places,
and, according to their shape, are called a crown, ridge, or feather
mark. The relative position of these marks is supposed to indicate that
the animal will bring good luck to the owner and his relatives. There
is a saying that a man may face a rifle and escape, but he cannot avoid
the luck, good or evil, foretold by hair-marks. So much are the people
influenced by these omens that they seldom keep an animal with unlucky
marks, and would not allow their mares to be covered by a stallion
having unpropitious marks.”
It is recorded by Bishop Whitehead58 that
“we went to see the Mahārāja (of Mysore) at his
stables, and [62]he showed us his fine stud of horses. Among them
was the State horse, which is only used for religious ceremonies, and
is ridden only by the Mahārāja himself. It is pure white,
without spot or blemish, and has the five lucky marks. This horse came
from Kathiawar, and is now about twenty years old. The
Mahārāja is trying to get another, to replace it when it
dies. But it is not easy to get one with the unusual points
required.”
Two deaths occurring in a family in quick succession, were once
believed to be the result of keeping an unlucky horse in the stable. I
have heard of a Eurasian police officer, who attributed the theft of
five hundred rupees, his official transfer to an unhealthy district,
and other strokes of bad luck, to the purchase of a horse with unlucky
curls. All went well after he had got rid of the animal.
From a recent note on beliefs about the bull,59 I gather
that “Manu enjoins a grihasta or householder to always travel
with beasts which are well broken in, swift, endowed with lucky marks,
and perfect in colour and form, without urging them much with the goad.
Marks are accounted lucky if they appear in certain forms, and at
certain spots. One of these marks is usually known as sudi in Telugu,
and suli in Tamil. A sudi is nothing but a whorl or circlet of hair, a
properly formed sudi being perfectly round in form, and nearly
resembling the sudivalu, the chakrayudha of Vishnu, which is a short
circular weapon commonly known as the discus of Vishnu. Every ox should
have at least two of these circlets or twists of hair, one on the face,
and one on the back, right about its centre. Two curls may occur on the
face, but they should not be one above the other, in which case they
are known [63]as kodē mel kodē, or umbrella above
umbrella. The purchaser of such a bull, it is believed, will soon have
some mishap in his house. Some, however, hold that this curl is not
really so bad as it is supposed to be. If the curls are side by side,
they are accounted lucky. In that case they are known as damāra
suli, or double kettle-drum circlet, from the kettle-drums placed on
either side of Brāhmani bulls in temple processions. It is
sometimes known as the kalyāna (marriage) suli, because such a
kettle-drum is often used in marriage processions. A curl on the hump
is held to be a very good one, bringing prosperity to the purchaser. It
is known as the kirita suli, or the crown circlet. The dewlaps should
have a curl on either side, or none. A curl on only one side is
described as not lucky. On the back of the animal, a curl must be
perfectly round. If it is elongated, and stretches on one side, it is
known as the pādai suli, or the bier circlet. Kattiri suli, or the
scissor circlet, is found usually in the region of the belly, and is an
unlucky sign. On the body is sometimes found the pūrān suli,
the circlet named after the centipede from its supposed resemblance to
it. On the legs is often found the velangu suli, or chain circlet, from
its being like a chain bound round the legs. Both these are said to be
bad marks, and bulls having them are invariably hard to sell. Attempts
at erasure of unlucky marks are frequently noticed, for the reason that
an animal with a bad mark is scarcely, if ever, sold to advantage. One
of the most common and most effective ways of erasing an unlucky mark
is to brand it pretty deep, so that the hair disappears, and the curl
is no more observable. Animals so branded are regarded with
considerable suspicion, and it is often difficult to secure purchasers
for them.” [64]
The following are some of the marks on horses and cattle recorded by
Mr Holmes:60—
(a) Horses
1. Deobund (having control over evil spirits), also termed
dēvuman or dēvumani, said by Muhammadans to represent the
Prophet’s finger, and by Hindus to represent a temple bell. This
mark is a ridge, one to three inches long, situated between the throat
and counter along the line of the trachea. It is the most lucky mark a
horse can possess. It is compared to the sun, and, therefore, when it
is present, none of the evil stars can shine, and all unlucky omens are
overruled.
2. Khorta-gad (peg-driver), or khila-gad, is a ridge of hair
directed downwards on one or both hind-legs. It is said that no horse
in the stable will be sold, so long as a horse with this mark is
kept.
3. Badi (fetter), a ridge of hair directed upwards on one or both
forearms on the outer side, and said to indicate that the owner of the
animal will be sent to jail.
4. Thanni (teat). Teat-like projections on the sheath of the male
are considered unlucky.
(b) Cattle
5. Bhashicam suli is a crown on the forehead above the line of the
eyes, named after the chaplet worn by bride and bridegroom during the
marriage ceremony. If the purchaser be a bachelor or widower, this mark
indicates that he will marry soon. If the purchaser be a married man,
he will either have the misfortune to [65]lose his wife and marry
again, or the good fortune to obtain two wives.
6. Mukkanti suli. Three crowns on the forehead, arranged in the form
of a triangle, said to represent the three eyes of Siva, of which the
one on the forehead will, if opened, burn up all things within the
range of vision.
7. Pādai suli. Two ridges of hair on the back on either side of
the middle line, indicating that the purchaser will soon need a
coffin.
8. Tattu suli. A crown situated on the back between the points of
the hips, indicating that any business undertaken by the purchaser will
fail.
9. A bullock with numerous spots over the body, like a deer, is
considered very lucky.
The following quaint omen is recorded by Bishop Whitehead.61 At a certain village, when a pig is sacrificed to
the village goddess Angalamman, its neck is first cut slightly, and the
blood allowed to flow on to some boiled rice placed on a plantain leaf,
and then the rice soaked in its own blood is given to the pig to eat.
If the pig eats it, the omen is good, if not, the omen is bad; but, in
any case, the pig has its head cut off by the pūjāri
(priest).
If a Brāhmani kite (Haliastur indus), when flying, is
seen carrying something in its beak, the omen is considered very
auspicious. The sight of this bird on a Sunday morning is also
auspicious, so, on this day, people may be seen throwing pieces of
mutton or lumps of butter to it.62
If an owl takes refuge in a house, the building is at once deserted,
the doors are closed, and the house is [66]not occupied for six
months, when an expiatory sacrifice must be performed. Brāhmans
are fed, and the house can only be re-entered after the proper hour has
been fixed upon. This superstition only refers to a thatched house; a
terraced house need not be vacated.63 Ill-luck will follow,
should an owl sit on the housetop, or perch on the bough of a tree near
the house. One screech forebodes death; two screeches forebode success
in any approaching undertaking; three, the addition of a girl to the
family by marriage; four, a disturbance; five, that the hearer will
travel. Six screeches foretell the coming of guests; seven, mental
distress; eight, sudden death; and nine signify favourable results. A
species of owl, called pullu, is a highly dreaded bird. It is supposed
to cause all kinds of illness to children, resulting in emaciation. At
the sound of the screeching, children are taken into a room, to avoid
its furtive and injurious gaze. Various propitiatory ceremonies are
performed by specialists to secure its good-will. Amulets are worn by
children as a preventive against its evil influences. To warn off the
unwelcome intruder, broken pots, painted with black and white dots, are
set up on housetops. In the Bellary district, the flat roofs of many
houses may be seen decked with rags, fluttering from sticks, piles of
broken pots, and so forth. These are to scare away owls, which, it is
said, sometimes vomit up blood, and sometimes milk. If they sit on a
house and bring up blood, it is bad for the inmates; if milk, good. But
the risk of the vomit turning out to be blood is apparently more feared
than the off chance of its proving to be milk is hoped for, and it is
thought best to be on the safe side, and keep the owl at a
distance.64 The Kondhs [67]believe that, if an owl hoots
over the roof of a house, or on a tree close thereto, a death will
occur in the family at an early date. If the bird hoots close to a
village, but outside it, the death of one of the villagers will follow.
For this reason, it is pelted with stones, and driven off. The
waist-belt of a Koraga, whom I saw at Udipi in South Canara, was made
of owl bones.
Should a crow come near the house, and caw in its usual rapid
raucous tones, it means that calamity is impending. But, should the
bird indulge in its peculiar prolonged guttural note, happiness will
ensue. If a crow keeps on cawing incessantly at a house, it is believed
to foretell the coming of a guest. The belief is so strong that some
housewives prepare more food than is required for the family. There is
also an insect called virunthoo poochee, or guest insect. If crows are
seen fighting in front of a house, news of a death will shortly be
heard. In some places, if a crow enters a house, it must be vacated for
not less than three months, and, before it can be re-occupied, a
purification ceremony must be performed, and a number of Brāhmans
fed. Among the poorer classes, who are unable to incur this expense, it
is not uncommon to allow a house which has been thus polluted to fall
into ruins.65 In Malabar, there is a belief that ill-luck will
result if, on certain days, a crow soils one’s person or clothes.
The evil can only be removed by bathing with the clothes on, and
propitiating Brāhmans. On other days, the omen is a lucky one. On
srādh (memorial) days, pindams (balls of cooked rice) are offered
to the crows. If they do not touch them, the ceremony is believed not
to have been properly performed, and the wishes of the dead man are not
satisfied. If the crows, after repeated trials, fail to eat the rice,
the celebrant makes up his mind [68]to satisfy these wishes, and the
crows are then supposed to relish the balls. On one occasion, my
Brāhman assistant was in camp with me on the Palni hills, the
higher altitudes of which are uninhabited by crows, and he had perforce
to march down to the plains, in order to perform the annual ceremony in
memory of his deceased father. On another occasion, a Brāhman who
was staying on the Palni hills telegraphed to the village of Periakulam
for two crows, which duly arrived confined in a cage. The srādh
ceremony was performed, and the birds were then set at liberty. On the
last day of the death ceremonies of the Oddēs (navvies), some rice
is cooked, and placed on an arka (Calotropis gigantea) leaf as
an offering to the crows. The arka plant, which grows luxuriantly on
waste lands, is, it may be noted, used by Brāhmans for the
propitiation of rishis (sages) and pithrus (ancestors).66 For seven days after the death of a Paniyan of
Malabar, a little rice gruel is placed near the grave by the Chemmi
(priest), who claps his hands as a signal to the evil spirits in the
vicinity, who, in the shape of a pair of crows, are supposed to partake
of the food, which is hence called kāka conji, or crow’s
gruel. On the third day after the death of a Bēdar (Canarese
cultivator), a woman brings to the graveside some luxuries in the way
of food, which is mixed up in a winnowing tray into three portions, and
placed in front of three stones set over the head, abdomen, and legs of
the deceased, for crows to partake of. On the sixth day after the death
of a Korava, the chief mourner kills a fowl, and mixes its blood with
rice. This he places, with betel leaves and areca nuts, near the grave.
If it is carried off by crows, everything is considered to have been
settled satisfactorily. When a jungle Urāli has been
excommunicated from his caste, he must kill a sheep or [69]goat
before the elders, and mark his forehead with its blood. He then gives
a feast to the assembly, and puts part of the food on the roof of his
house. If the crows eat it, he is received back into the caste. A
native clerk some time ago took leave in anticipation of sanction, on
receipt of news of a death in his family at a distant town. His excuse
was that his elder brother had, on learning that his son had seen two
crows in coitu, sent him a post-card stating that the son was
dead. The boy turned out to be alive, but the card, it was explained,
was sent owing to a superstitious belief that, if a person sees two
crows engaged in sexual congress, he will die unless one of his
relations sheds tears. To avert this catastrophe, false news as to the
death are sent by post or telegraph, and subsequently corrected by a
letter or telegram announcing that the individual is alive. A white
(albino) crow, which made its appearance in the city of Madras a
few years
ago, caused considerable interest among the residents of the locality,
as it was regarded as a very good omen.
Among some classes in Mysore, there is a belief that, if a death
occurs in a house on Tuesday or Friday, another death will speedily
follow unless a fowl is tied to one corner of the bier. The fowl is
buried with the corpse. Those castes which do not eat fowls replace it
by the bolt of the door.67 Among the Tamils, if a burial
takes place on a Saturday, a fowl must be buried or burnt, or another
death will shortly occur in the family. There is a Tamil proverb that a
Saturday corpse will not go alone. When a fowl is sacrificed to the deity
by the jungle Paliyans of the Palni hills, the head ought to be severed
at one blow, as this is a sign of the satisfaction of the god for the
past, and of protection for the future. Should the head still hang,
this would be a bad omen, foreboding calamities for the [70]ensuing
year.68 An interesting rite in connection with pregnancy
ceremonies among the Oddēs (navvies) is the presentation of a fowl
or two to the pregnant woman by her maternal uncle. The birds are
tended with great care, and, if they lay eggs abundantly, it is a sign
that the woman will be prolific.
By some it is considered unlucky to keep pigeons about a
dwelling-house, as they are believed, on account of their habit of
standing on one leg, to lead to poverty. The temple or blue-rock pigeon
is greatly venerated by Natives, who consider themselves highly
favoured if the birds build in their houses. Should a death occur in a
house where there are tame pigeons, all the birds will, it is said, at
the time of the funeral, circle thrice round the loft, and leave the
locality for ever. House sparrows are supposed to possess a similar
characteristic, but, before quitting the house of mourning, they will
pull every straw out of their nests. Sparrows are credited with
bringing good luck to the house in which they build their nests. For
this purpose, when a house is under construction, holes are left in the
walls or ceiling, or earthen pots are hung on the walls by means of
nails, as an attractive site for nesting. One method of attracting
sparrows to a house is to make a noise with rupees as in the act of
counting out coins.
There are experts who are able to interpret the significance of the
chirping of lizards, which, inter alia, foretells the approach
of a case of snake-bite, and whether the patient will die or not. The
fall of a lizard on different parts of the body is often taken as an
omen for good or evil, according as it alights on the right or left
side, hand or foot, head or shoulders. A Native of Cochin foretold from
the chirping of a lizard that a robbery would take [71]place at
a certain temple. In accordance with the prophecy, the temple jewels
were looted, and the prophet was sent to prison under suspicion of
being an accomplice of the thieves, but subsequently released. The
hook-swinging ceremony is said69 to be sometimes performed
after the consent of the goddess has been obtained. If a lizard is
heard chirping on the right, it is regarded as a sign of her consent.
It is believed that the man who is swung suffers no pain if the cause
is a good one, but excruciating agony if it is a bad one.
If an “iguana” (Varanus) enters a house,
misfortune is certain to occur within a year, unless the house is shut
up for six months. The appearance of a tortoise in a house, or in a
field which is being ploughed, is inauspicious. In the Cuddapah
district, a cultivator applied for remission of rent, because one of
his fields had been left waste owing to a tortoise making its
appearance in it. If, under these circumstances, the field had been
cultivated, the man, his wife, or his cattle, would have died. It was
pointed out that, as the tortoise was one of Vishnu’s
incarnations, it should have been considered as an honour that the
animal visited the field; but the reply was that a tortoise would be
honoured in the water, but not on the land.70
The sight of two snakes coiled round each other in sexual congress
is considered to portend some great evil. The presence of a rat-snake
(Zamenis mucosus) in a house at night is believed to bring good
fortune to the inmates. Its evil influence is in its tail, a blow from
which will cause a limb to shrink in size and waste away.
In a valley named Rapuri Kanama in the Cuddapah district, there is a
pond near a Siva temple to Gundheswara. [72]Those desirous of getting
children, wealth, etc., should go there with a pure heart, bathe in the
pond, and then worship at the temple. After this, they should take a
wild pine-apple leaf, and place it on the border of the pond. If their
wishes are to be granted, a crab rises from the water, and bites the
leaf in two. If their wishes will not be granted, the crab rises, but
leaves the leaf untouched. If, however, the person has not approached
the pond with a pure heart, he will be set upon by a swarm of bees,
which live in the vicinity, and will be driven off.71
If the nest of a clay-building insect is found in a house, the birth
of a child is foretold; if a mud nest, of a male child; if a nest made
of jungle lac, of a girl.72 [73]
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