Indian Antiquary Vol 14

SR No.: 032506
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 418
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 18 MB

Page 147

MAY, 1885.]
presided over fertility, victims were immolated chiefly at the time of sowing. The persons destined for sacrifice, called Merias, were kidnapped from the plains or from other tribes, and, under strict guard, were petted and fed like cattle fattening for the slaughter. Children were allowed to grow up, and were encouraged to marry and rear families, bat parents and offspring were equally devoted to the goddess, and were liable at any moment to be sacrificed to quench her thirst for blood. When the time of offering came, the body was hacked into small pieces, and each worshipper struggled to secure a shred of flesh or piece of bone to bury in his field. It has been about forty years since an end was put to these horrid rites by the combined efforts of Major S. C. Macpherson and General John Campbell. The Khonds say that Târi lives in heaven with her beneficent husband, Barâ Pennu, while numerous inferior gods roam the earth, seen by the lower animals, but invisible to men. It cannot be doubted that the custom of human sacrifice was once wide-spread in India, as indicated not only by the facts just stated, but by the practice of sham offerings existing among other tribes at the present time. The Oraons and Gonds even now make a wooden or straw image of a man, and after prayer to a divinity for the blessings desired, sever its head with the stroke of an axe. As a general rule, the inferior gods stand in no clearly recognised relation of dependence upon the superior gods. Their will is usually exercised independently of higher control. We have noticed an interesting exception in the case of Kols, who assert that there are certain blessings reserved for the sun-god, Sing Bonga, to grant; and that offer. ings made to the lower gods will induce them to intercede with their master in behalf of the supplicants. One of the simplest, most childlike forms of worship is that practised by the Todas, on the Nilgiri Hills of Western India. Almost the sole means of support possessed by this tribe are their herds of buffaloes; hence these, together with the implements and persons specially connected with them, have come to assume a sacred character. Certain old cowbells, said to have come originally from heaven, are worshipped as gods; and the priests or milkmen who tend the sacred buffaloes, of which several herds are specially set apart, are
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF INDIA.
129
during their time of service also gods, and as such cannot be touched by any mortal. The duty of the priest is to perform a few simple rites daily before the cow-bells, and to care for his buffaloes, in which labour he is assisted by a semi-sacred herdsman. He can return at pleasure to ordinary human life, when, though no longer the embodiment of deity, he is treated with marked respect. The Todas believe in other gods, who are invisible, and whom the priest salutes as fellow-deities, but their ideas regarding them are extremely vague.
The residence of the gods is sometimes localised by these aboriginal tribes as heaven, some distant and lofty mountain peak, a huge rock, or a grove of ancient trees. Spirits who are likely to prove good neighbours, are sometimes enticed to take up their abode near a village by liberal offerings. Among the Kolarians of Central India every village has several sacred groves consecrated to tutelary gods. The trees in these groves must be left undisturbed, on pain of divine displeasure. It is true, as a rule, that the Tibeto-Burman and Kolarian tribes construct no temples nor images of their gods, while images, or something answering to them, are common among the Dravidians. Still among the former tribes there is usually some spot where village or family worship is commonly performed, and which is marked by certain objects designed to suggest the sacredness of the place. The Gâros set up before their houses bamboo poles, with fillets of cotton or flowers attached, and before these make their offerings. The same thing is done by the Limbus. The Kachàris, the Bodo, the Mishmis, and some of the tribes of Central India worship the sij (euphorbia) plant as an emblem of deity. The Juangs, the Kharrias, and Korwas regard the ant-hill as a sacred place, and use it to take an oath, or to sacrifice upon. The Akas alone of these north-eastern tribes have images of their gods, and little huts to serve for temples; but, as they are partly converted to Hinduism, this custom is probably derived from that source. In the villages of Dravidian tribes one finds some objects set up to represent the tutelary gods. These are often rude in shape-a lump of earth, a stone, or stakes of different heights to represent the two sexes.
Having spoken of the deities reverenced by these primitive races and of the worship