________________
OCTOBER, 1907.]
A REPORT ON THE PANJAB HILL TRIBES.
299
annual pension out of the temple fund. When the time of the sacrifice has been fixed, the Bedå is sent for three months before the date. He comes with his family and gathers hemp, with which a big rope, four or five hundred yards long, is prepared. All the men accompanying the Bedå are sumptuously fed, and one of them who willingly offers himself is chosen for the sacrifice. He is given plenty of wine, meat, milk, etc. The sacrificial fire is kept burning for three months in the temple of the god. On the appointed day, saints, Brâhmans, and gods of the neighbourhood are sent for, and all are provided with food.
The Beda is brought to the temple in the morning and placed near the sacrificial fire. He is then worshipped and sacrificed, like a goat, in the name of the god. A rope that is prepared by tbe man himself is tied to two poles, and then the man is thrown over this rope. Some die, while others escape alive. In the latter case he is given eighty-four rupees in cash, garments and ornaments from the god's treasury. He has authority to ask for anything he likes from the pilgrims, who are bound to give it to him. This is a very critical time, and much care is taken in British territories. It is however held that the man's death or otherwise is under divine control. Some places where the rope is bound to poles are flat, while others are valleys between two rocks.
158. The men to be sacrificed, like the priests, are certain men fixed upon and are sacrificed in turn. A quarrel, as among the priests, arises if one offers himself in the place of another. '150. Open hunian sacrifice is now quite obsolete.
List of Bhunda Sacrificial Spots.
No.
Name of God.
The Place of Sacrifice.
Territory.
NOTES.
... Busâhir State. A good place, but very distant.
An ordinary place.
Do.
Do.
...
Bashera ... Bashêrâ 2 Kanglêshwar. Dêvthi 8 Lachmi Narain. Manjhêôlt 4 Dévfand Balram Shingla Do. ... Shandri
Larsâ... Do. ... Danså... Datâtra a na Nagar
Balram. Sûraj and Nirat...
Balram. Kharánů ... Khaså han Palthân ... Sholt ...
Bakrála ... Dalgåôn 18 Bhima Kali ... Sarahan
Thårt... ...Brahl... 15 Devi ........ Nirmand
.. ...
... A difficult place, steep on both sides. .
Do. do.
Do. do. do. ...
Do do do. ... Jabal State ... Do. do. do. ... Kald ... . Do do do.
