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62
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
repeating the Rám raksha stotra, i. e, the them into water. Some people take water in protecting praises of Ráma, the seventh a copper plate and extinguish in it burning incarnation of Vishnu. Among Brahmans, sticks of the tamarind tree, after waving them rice grains are waved thrice round the face
round the body of the affected person, of a child and put into water. The water is
At Khárbáv in the Bassein taluka of the then thrown away. Even flowers are waved
Thána District, five pieces of broken tiles round the faces of small children in the
are made red hot and put into water in which evening and thrown away. At Chauk in the Karjat taluks of the
a little quantity of all the cooked food in the
house has been mixed. Turmeric powder is Kolába District, some people wave the left
also put into it. A pen knife or some other shoe thrice round the body of the affected
iron instrument is then turned five times person for the purpose of evading the effects
in the water. A winnowing basket and a of an evil eye. A red hot iron bar is also
broom are waved thrice round the face of cooled in water mixed with turmeric
the affected person, and placed over the water powder.
pot. At Shirgaon in the Mahim taluka of the Thána District water is drawn in a brass or
At Dahanu in the Thána District, two a copper pot in the evening, and turmeric
big stones, of which one has been waved powder, rice, and any other edible articles on
round the face of a person affected by an which the evil eye has fallen are put into it.
evil eye, arc strack one against the other. Twentyone date leaves, each of them with
If the stone breaks, it is believed that the a knot, are then waved round the body of the
evil effect has been removed. Cowdung is affected person and thrown into the water pot,
mixed with water in a brass or a copper burning coals being dropped into the misture.
plate, and dust from a public road, hair, and The pot is then waved thrice round the body
burning black cotton cloth are pot into of the affected person, and kept in a corner
another small vessel. This vessel is then of the bedroom for one night, with a basket,
waved round the person, and placed upside a broom, and a sandal or an old shoe placed
down over the mixture of cowdung. If on the top. It is then thrown away in the
it sticks to the brass plate, this is supposed morning in some public place where three
to be due to the evil eye.7 roads meet. If the water becomes red, it is
The people of Kolhapur believe in the supposed that the evil eye has been effects of an evil eye. A child suffering removed.
from an evil eye turns pale and thin, and The effects of an evil eye are sometimes
suffers from headache. To avoid these visible on the face of a child in the form of effects, elderly women make a mark with lamp small red postules. The appearance of such black on the face or brow of the child. pustules is called Chák padane,
Boiled rice and cards, and Bread and oil If a person is affected by an evil eye at the are also passed round the face of a child, time of taking his meals, he loses his appetite. and thrown into a public road,8 He also becomes weaker day by day. Generally, in the Konkan districts, opproOne of the modes of removing these evils is brious names are given to children when they to wave fresh date leaves three times round are sickly, always crying, and weak, or when the face of the affected person, and to throw they are short lived. These names are
* School Master, Khopoli, Kolába. * School Master, Shirgaon, Thána. * School Master, Malád, Tbána. 7 School Master, Dabásu, Thána.
School Master, Chauk, Kolába, • School Master, Padghe, Thána. . School Mastor, Kbárbáv, Thána. • Rdo Sáheb Sbelke, Kolbápur.
