Indian Antiquary Vol 56

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 153

JULY, 1927]
THE MEANING AND ETYMOLOGY OF PUJA
131
godling Bhimsen at many places in the Central Provinces is adored in the shape of an uncarved stone daubed with red ochre ; and a gramadevatd called Porû Mâi in Nadiya is represented by "a little piece of rough black stone painted with red ochre, and placed beneath the boughs of an old banyan-tree49. Scattered about at the very simple places of worship of the grámadevatás are generally a few rough stones, the tops of which are rubbed by the country people with oil and red ochre "as an act of worship50". Around the place sacred to Gausâm Deo, a Dravidian deity, are seen some boulders smeared with red ochrebl. Mahisôbâ, a godling considered to be identical with Mahişåsura and chiefly revered through out the Bombay Presidency, is represented by a rough stone daubed with red ochre; amongst the Santals several deities are thus represented : Mahâmâi, the daughter of Dêvî, by an oblong log painted red at the top, Burhiya Mâi by a white, red-daubed stone, and Hanumân (who is generally red-coloured) by a red-painted trident69.
Since times of yore it has been common belief in India that certain trees are inhabited by demons who must be propitiated by bloody sacrifices; the Jatakas frequently tell us about human sacrifices to trees, e.g. the Dhonasdkhajátaka (No. 353)63. Trees are still frequently adered, but the blood--at any rate human blocd-has mostly been exchanged for red colour. In Shâhâbâd the holy tree is the karam (Kadamba, Nauclea), twigs of which are planted in front of the houses and smeared with red ochre and ghi 64. The pipal, in which live the three great gods but also a number of lower beings, on certain days has its trunk daubed with red ochre and sandal by high-caste women; at the frequent weddings of trees daubing with red and yellow dye-stuffs are of common occurrence 6.
The materials collected by Mrs. Sinclair Stevenson in her very valuable book The Rites of the Twice-born (1920) mostly originate from Gajarât and Kathiâwâr; the authoress especially seems to have drawn her information from Nagar Brahmans. She tells us how Ganesa is washed with the pañcamrita (milk, curds, ghi, honey and sugar) and is sprinkled with red powder at the upanayana (p. 29); and the same god is smeared with ghi and red ochre every Tuesday and Saturday (pp. 293-321). On those same days Hazumân is wholly or partly painted red and smeared with oil (pp. 327-406)66. The image of Pârvati is daubed with red-stuff at the Holi (p. 285), and the roughly carved idols at the entrance of the Siva temples are likewise painted red (p. 372 sq.). The earth, as an act of worship, is strewn with red powder (p. 353) 57 and the snake-stones which are so common (especially in the South) are painted with red ochre (p. 407). The Nâgar Brahmans look upon bride and bridegroom as being manifestations of Siva and Pârvati (p. 68); consequently they are daubed with red powder (p. 70), and the bride daubs the big toe of her husband with red paint in order to show that she worships a divine being (p. 73, cf. also p. 79 sq.)68. The head of a dead man is smeared either with gopicandana or with red sandal (p. 143), a ceremony which would seem senseless if we did not, at the same time, learn that the dead body is looked upon as a deity until leaving the house (p. 145).
But not only this. In the daily deva pů jana (p. 231 sq.) as well as in the worship of the cow (p. 312), the images of the Nâgas (p. 314), the threshold (p. 316), the Krishna-idol (p. 317)
Crooke, .c., vol. I, pp. 90, 108, 114 sq. 50 Ibid., p. 96. 61 Ibid. p. 117.
63 Ibid., pp. 237, 181. 53 Cf. Hopkins, Epic Mythology. p. 7, n. 3; Vogel, Verslagen en Mededelingen, Afd. Letterkunde, 5; IV, p. 228 ete. Nothing more can be said about this topic here.
54 Crooke, I.c., vol. II, p. 95; this reminds us of the description by Broughton, Letters Written in a Mahratta Camp (ed. 1992), p. 214, of the behaviour of Martha Brahmans at a certain festival.
65 Crooke, l.c., vol. II, pp. 99, 116 s. 56 This throws a clear light on the primitive character of gods like Ganeia and Hanuman. 67 of. Crooke, Folk-fore, vol. XXX, p. 292.
88 The faithful wife should every moming worship the big toe of her husband (p. 248 f.) but this seems to have gone out of use nowadays (p. 251).