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THE INDIAN ANTIQUAR
[SEPTEMBER, 1906.
Some 50 karddr: (officials) and begaris (corvée labourers) accompany the god, and each house offers him Re. 1 and a patha of grain, but if any one desires to offer a gold coin he must give the kdrddrs, musicians and pujdris Rs. 6, 12, or even 25. Anyone who refuses to make a dhidnkra or offering will, it is believed, meet with ill-luck.
Like many other gods in the hills, Sri Gul exercises civil and criminal jurisdiction. Anyone doing wrong in his capital has to take the god to Hardwar, or, for a petty offence, pay him a gold coin. Oaths also are taken on the god's image at Sarkhan and Jorna, in cases in which enquiry bas failed to elicit the truth, by parties to cases in the States of Jubbal, Balsan, Tarôch, and Sirmir. The god reserves judgment for 3 or 6 months, during which period the party who is in the wrong is punished by some calamity.
(B) Tho Cult of Mahasa. The head-quarters of this god is at Sion, a village in Rainkä tahsil, where he has a temple on a smali hillock, at the foot of which flows the Giri. It is close to the village and shaped like a hillhouse with two storeys only. The ground floor bas a door facing to the north, while the upper storey has no door, and one ascends by small steps through the first storey. It is only lighted by sky-lights. The gods are kept on a gambar or wooden shelf. There is one large brass idol and several smaller ones. The idols are shaped like a man's hust. The big idol is in the middle, the others being placed on either side of it. On the left the second place is held by the god Sirmûrî, who is the god of Sirmûr, but who is not independent, being always found in the company of bigger god, and has no temple of his own. There is also an image of Devi Shimlâsan. The idols on the immediate right of the big one only go to Hardwar and other places, while the rest are stationary. They go out because they are kept clean for that purpose. The others are in a dirty state. All these idols, except those of Sirmûrî and Shimlasan, represent Mabású. The middle one is the most important, and there is no difference in the others. Milk and goats are offered in the temple, which is only opened twice every Sunday and Wednesday and on a Sankrant. Worship is held at 11 Am. and at sunset in the same way as in Shirigul's temple, but there is one peculiarity in that the devotees of Mahâsû who own buffaloes generally offer milk on the day of worship. If there is a death or birth in the family of the Dêwâ, the temple must be closed for 20 days, because neither
jatri nor a Déwå can enter the temple within 20 days of a domestic occurrence. The Déwå must not indulge in sexual intercourse on the day of worship or two previous days, and hence only two days in the week are fixed for worship. The morning worship is called dhúp dând and the evening. sandhiá. Legend says that one morning the god Mahasů appeared in a dream and told the ancestor of the present Dêwî to seek him in the Giri and build him a temple in the village. Accordingly the Dewê went to the Giri and found on its banks the big idol, which is also called jaldsan (i. e., set up in water). Mabású is not so widely believed in as Shirigul or Paras Râm. The present Dewa says he is 12th in descent from the man who found the idol.
The Jagra of Mahasa. This festival, which is peculiar to Kangra in Tshsil Rainka, is celebrated on the 4th and 5th day of the dark half of Bhadon. On the 3rd of the same half the deta's flag is erected on the bank of a stream, and on the 4th people arrive, who are served with free dinners. On the night between the 4th and 5th the people do not sleep the whole night. On the 5th at about 3 P.M. the déotd is taken out of the temple. But if it is displeased, it becomes só heavy that even four or five men cannot remove it. Then music is played and prayers offered. At this time some men dance and say an oracle has descended on them. They show their superior powers in curious ways. Some play with firo, others put earth on their heads. They answer questions put by those who are in Want of the dêotd's help. Some one among these dancing men explains the cause of the displeasure of the dood, and then pilgrims and pujdris make vows, whereupon the d&otd gets pleased and makes itself light and movable. Now a procession is made, headed by the déord's flag, which, when brought to the stream, is sprinkled with water, after which the procession returns to the temple where he-goats are sacrificed. All the pilgrims stay the whole night in the temple, where dancing is kept going till morning. A good dinner with wine is given to the people in the temple yard.
(To be continued.)
