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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
elephants posted at the eight directions. These feeding the ants with sugar or flour, a person are called Ashtadik-Pálas, i.e., the protectors obtains the Punya or merit of sahasrabhojan, of the eight different directions, and they are i.e., of giving a feast to a thousand Brahmans. worshipped along with other deities on auspi- Alligators are worshipped as water deities cious ceremonial occasions, like weddings, by the Hindus. thread-girding, etc.
The peacock is the favourite vehicle of The deer and the tiger are considered to be Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning, and it is holy by. Hindos, and their skins are used by therefore respected by the people, Bráhmang and ascetics while performing their The swan is the vehicle of Brahma, the god austerities. The deer skin is used on the of creation. occasion of thread girding. A small piece of The eagle is the vehicle of the god Vishnu, the deer skin is tied to the neck of the boy and is a favourite devotee of that deity. It is along with the new sacred thread.
therefore held sacred by Hindus. The mouse, beiug the vehicle of the god The cuckoo or Kokil is believed to be an Ganpati, is worshipped along with that deity incarnation of the goddess Parwati. This bird on the Ganesh Chaturthi day, the fourth day is specially worshipped by high caste Hindu of the bright half of Bhadrapada.
women for the period of one month on the The goat is believed to be boly for sacrificial occasion of a special festival called the purposes. It is worshipped at the time of its festival of the cuckoos, or Kokila vrata, which sacrifice, which is performed to gain the favour is held in the month of Ashadha at intervals of certain deities.
of twenty years. The ass is generally considered as unholy by The crow is generally held inauspicious by the Hindus, and its mere touch is held to cause Hindus, but as the manes or pitras are said to pollution. But certain lower class Hindus like assume the form of crows, these birds are resthe Lonáris consider it sacred, and worship it pected in order that they may be able to partake on the Gokul Ashthami day (8th day of the of the food offered to the dead ancestors in the dark half of Shrawan).
dark half of Bhadrapada called Pitrupaksha. The dog is believed to be an incarnation of It is necessary that the oblations given in the deity Khandoba, and it is respected as the performance of the funeral rites on the tenth favourite animal of the god Dattatraya. But day after the death of a person should be eaten it is not touched by high class Hindus. by the crow. But if the crow refuses to touch
It is considered a great sin to kill a cat these oblations, it is believed that the soul of the
All domestic animals are worshipped by the dead has not obtained salvation; and hence it is Hindus on the morning of the first day of conjectured that certain wishes of the dead have Márgashirsha (December).
remained unfulfilled. The son or the relatives On this day the horns of these animals are of the dead then take water in the cavity of washed with warm water, painted with red their right hand, and solemnly promise to fulfil colours, and a lighted lamp is passed round the wishes of the dead. When this is done, the their faces. They are feasted on this day as it crow begins to eat the food. is considered to be the gala day (Diváli holiday) The harsh sound of a crow is taken as a sure of the animals.
sigo of an impending mishap. Hindus consider it meritorious to feed ants The dog, cat, pig, ass, buffalo, rat, bhály, an and fish, and to throw grain to the birds. Ants old female jackal, lizard, and the birds cock, are fed by the people scattering sugar and crow, kite, vulture, owl, bat, and pingla are flour on the ant-hills. It is believed that, by considered as unholy and inauspicious by Hindus,
