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FEBRUARY, 1897.] SPECIMENS OF MODERN BRAHMANICAL LEGENDS.
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I will besiege the fort, and having killed all the defenders I will afterwards destroy her principal enemies.'
Hearing Hunda's speech, all the leaders of the mountaineers accepted it and cheered. 31 He then set out, followed by them, for the hill on which the fort was situated. At the time of his departure all kind of music were played, many large drums, cymbals, bells, kettle-drums, side-drums, tambourines, madkus, 52 mandalas, 33 majéstas[?],34 and golden horns. Being excited by the music they went with him, cheering and shouting. From the different kinds of cheering and shouting, it would seem as if the god of death had come accompanied by thunder-clouds, and the Taulavag%5 wondered what it was. Thus making an uproar, they forcibly ascended the hill, going from one forest to another; and clambering over large Zocks, they at length came in view of the fortress, situated on the top of the hill : the stones of which are always wet with the spray of waterfalls, having the soothing sound of bamboos blown by strong breezes, and beautified by numerous date palms, kétak 36 trees and palmyra and fan palms. The hill, having betel-nut trees on it, looked lofty and shapely as the betel-nut tree, and was fragrant with the sap of the large sandalwood trees broken by the elephants (in their passage).
On soeing the fortress they (the assailants) cheered. The soldiers of Malla, residing in the ort, heard them shouting, and viewing them from the interior of the fortress, they jeered at them :-'these soldiers are weak, our (leader's) parents, being unsuspecting and old, acted foolishly, but we are strong. Thus thinking, they carried Hunda and placed him on the top of the hill.37 They all then, by bis orders, went back to their respective homes, as they came. When they were all gone, the hunter made himself happy with his wife, and during the night he used to descend from the hill and plunder the market-towns, returning to the hill with his booty. O Brahmans, after a time, he thought (much) that he would revenge himself by murdering Malla on a certain night. Then the wicked man got ready to go with his brothers and his followers, disguised as pilgrims, on one sivaratri. They set out with some pilgrims on the pretence of going to the yátra of Madhukesvara at Baindavi. On the way they all sang (hymns), muttered prayers and meditated, being devoted to the feet of Siva. Having bathed in the river Varade, and having applied holy ashes to their foreheads, they, wearing rosaries and carrying things necessary for worship, stood near Siva. Then Hunda, pretending to be a pilgrim, stood with the other pilgrims in the mandapa of Siva. Malla then came there with his wife and sons and daughters, and the people of the place, and performed a great worship with auspicious bilvase leaves and drô naje flowers, málatio flowers, kundal flowers, mandára flowers, and kétaki flowers; also with coloured rice, various kinds of dainties, cocoanats, pomegranates, plentains, jackfruit, mangoes, grapes, dates, etc. Intending to please Madhukėśvara with his great devotion, he offered these sacrifices to Sambhu with great respect and effusiveness. At the end of the worship the great king'served the god with a dance. All the people who had come there, besmeared with holy ashes and decorated with holy rosaries, performed worship in many ways. Some recited Puranas, some said prayers some chanted Vedas, some told religious stories, some read from the Sdstras so as to please Siva, some uttered holy spells and some muttered prayers, and some devotees of 'Siva danced, throwing up their garments. In that great festival some dancing-girls danced, and various
$1'1..., uttered the words sadhu, sadhu': the challenge of wrestlers to each other, the sound produced by the beating of the hand on the arm and thigh.
82 Musical instruments, not now in use. 5* The modern mpidanga, tabor.
Various sorts of drums. * The people of the Tulu country or Tulu-speaking people. 36 Pandanus odoratissimus.
That is, made him master of the hill. Ægle marmelos. * A tree bearing white flowers : called after Drina, the son of the sage Bberadvája. * The great-flowered jessamine (Jasminum grandiflorum). #1 Jasminum arborescens: a small tree bearing large white flowers. +2 The coral treo (Erythrina fulgeru) 5 I. e., Malla.
4 A favourite form of worship.
