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FEBRUARY, 1873.]
a village or of the country has to take place at the Kûli Kôța. The heads of the fowls and pigs are given to the performers, and the trunks are taken home to be prepared for dinner.
The demons have their Kôtas everywhere, near to and far from the houses and villages. A stone on an earth-bank under a tree sometimes represents a body of them, sometimes only one of their number; at other places one demon
THE MENHIRS OF HASSAN.
THE MENHIRS OF THE HASSAN DISTRICT. BY CAPTAIN J. S. F. MACKENZIE.
FROM all the information I have been able to glean, the Menhirs of the Hassan district may be divided into the following classes :
1. Maste Kallu.-These are rare. From three to four feet high, adorned with the simple figure of a woman, they mark the spot where some devoted wife has sacrificed herself on her husband's pyre, Transient as the flames in which she perished has been the woman's fame; her history and her name are lost. No inscriptions are ever found on such monumental stones: there is the figure of a woman, and nothing more.
2. Kodu Kallu (slaughter-stones).-These, as I have before observed, are common all over the district. Several are to be found in almost every village, but their history has been forgotten. They are usually divided into three compartments, but not always; for on the Mulnad we find only an armed man and his wife. The divisions between, and by the side of, the panels, in which are sculptured the three stages of the important event in the hero's history which the stone is intended to commemorate, often bear inscriptions in the old Canarese character. Now that the oldest form of this character has been deciphered, the reading of these inscriptions ought no longer to be the riddle it has been. The linga is always delineated in the upper compart ment. This proves that the men who were slain were Śivabactaru (followers of Siva). The Bellala kings (A.D. 1000) were not followers of Siva; and since their time no kings of that faith have ruled the country. Either, then, the court religion differed from that of the masses, or these stones were erected before the time of the Bellala kings. Judging by the character of the inscriptions, I should say they date from 800
to 1000 A.D.
3. Toda Kena Kallu.-These are rare. They are found near the village-gate, and have a charm
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is represented by several stones. Here and there stone-enclosures are found around the Kôtas, and the Kôtas themselves vary very much in size. Demons are not fed except at masques, and on the performance of particular vows in the latter case no Maleyâlas or Tulus are required. Demons' food is arrack, fowls, and pigs, all three articles being much liked by the Coorgs themselves.
engraved upon them. This charm, it is supposed, averts or removes the cattle disease from the village once a year; the villagers assemble to worship it, when 101 of each of the following articles are presented-viz., pots of water, limes, plantains, betelnut, betel leaves, and copper coins.
4. Kari Kallu.-This is a plain, unhewn stone found inside and close to the village-gate. Neither figure nor inscription is ever found upon it. It was set up when the village was first formed. Once a year the headman of the village, or his henchman-the Kulwadi-presents an offering to this stone.
5. Vyasana-tôlu Kallu (Vyasana's armstone). These are rare, and are generally close to the Mutt (monastery ?) of some Śaiva priest. The following story from the Skanda Purâņa is said to account for the origin of these stones:Vyasa was once asked by his disciples Who is the first and greatest-Vishnu or Śiva?" Vyasa replied" Vishnu." Those of his disciples who preferred Siva expressed an unwillingness to be satisfied unless Vyasa would make this statement on oath, in presence of the god, in the temple of Iávanâth, Vyasa agreed to do so, and, raising his right hand, began to take the oath before the god. This was too much for Busiévara, who could not stand his master being reduced to the second place, He therefore drew his sword and cut off Vyasa's arm. The holy man appealed to Vishnu to restore the arm he had lost in attempting to assert his superiority, The god appe.ed and told his disciple that he was helpless in the matter, since Iévara was undoubtedly his superior. Vyasa now returned to Iévara and begged that the arm which had offended might, as a punishment, be tied hereafter to the leg of Busva (the bull, Siva's vehicle). To this Iévara agreed, and supplied Vyasa with a new arm.
