Indian Antiquary Vol 58

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

Page 135

JULY, 1929 ]
MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF GARO ETHNOLOGY
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When a child is ill, it is the demon within him that is causing the illness; the mother therefore makes small cuts in the sufferer's body, and inserts pepper in them. When the child cries out in agony, it is not really the child that is crying but the devil within him, and the moro he suffers the quicker it will be forced to depart28. The Dyaks of Borneo are also firm believers in diseases being caused by demons7. In all these cases the remedy is to pacify the spirit within, and the demon will depart taking the disease with him. Therefore the GÅros offer innumerable sacrifices whenever any one is ill. Besides these sacrifices, they annually observe certain ceremonies, not for the weal of individuals but in order to safeguard the whole community from the lurking dangers of the forest and from mishaps during the ensuing yoar. The principal of these sacrifices is the Asoñgtála ceremony. Close to the outskirts of every village are to be found a certain number of stones stuck in the ground, apparently without any method. These are known as asong, and on them are asongtaid sacrifices performed. First of all a goat is sacrificed, and a month after a langur (Entellus monkey) or a bamboo rat. The animal chosen for the sacrifice has a rope fastened round its neck. It is led to every house in the village by two men, one on each side of it. It is taken inside every house while the villagers themselves beat the walls from the outside in order to drive out any malevolent demons that may be lurking there. When the round of the village has been made in this manner, the monkey or the rat is conducted to the outskirts of the village, is killed by a blow of the dao (a large heavy curved knife), disembowelled, and then crucified on a bamboo set up for the purpose in the ground. Round the animal a chevaux de frise of bamboo stakes is made 38. The langur required for the sacrifice is hunted down some days previously, but if it be impossible to obtain one, & brown monkey or even a huluk (the black gibbon, Hylobates hoolook) may be used as the scapegoat in which all the evils of the villages are accumulated. 29
Gâro magic is not restricted only to the expulsion of evils or of diseases, but is practised for many other purposes. They often use a goat as a rain-charm30. The great Gâro sacrifice and festival of the year, the Wangala or the Gurwild, takes place when the harvest has been fully gathered in. It is celebrated by all sections of the Garos except the Duals31 and some plains Garos, and is the most festive season of the year. The whole cost of the festival is borne by the nokmd (headman), whose duty it is also to supply all the people participating in the festival with a pig and plenty of liquor. The Akawés and Chisaks of the north and north-east hills manufacture guré (Bengali: ghorâ, 'horses'), out of pieces of plantain stems for the body, and bamboo for the head and legs. The night previous to the real festival the body of the "horse "reposes in the nokma's house, and dancing and singing goes on through the whole night, with only occasional pauses for refreshment and liquor. Sometimes these heads are made of straw and covered with cloth. Maj. Playfair 3saw one such "horse's ” head elaborately ornamented with brass disks on both sides, brass eyes and wild goat's horns; to the head were attached a number of brass bells. The head is mounted on a stick, and a man holds it in such a way that it comes up to the level of his chest. In order to relieve the man of the whole weight, two straps pass over his shoulders. The body of the horse" is then built round his own body with straw and cloth, and for the tail a yak's tail is used. Dressed in this fantastic style the man performs a wild dance with
26 A.B. Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa (London, 1894), pp. 113 sq.
97 (Sir) S. St. John, Life in the Forests of the Far East (London, 1862), vol. I, p. 217. Cf. Dictionary of Superstitions and Mythology, pp. 76, 229, s. vv. “Disease","Sickness and authorities quoted there.
18 Barricades were formerly required for safeguarding the property, but now their only we seems to be for warding off evils.
20 A. Playfair, The Garon, p. 92 ; (Sir) J. G. Frazer, The Scapegoat (London, 1920), pp. 208 sq.
30C. (Sir) J. G. Frazor, The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings (London, 1920), vol. I, p. 291. In European superstition the Devil and the witches frequently assume the form of goats (M. A. Murray, The Witch.Oult in Western Europe (Oxford, 1921), pp. 61, 68 sq.) and the power of rain-making is attributed to witches (ib., p. 172 sq.).
31 DAlu? The Dalu is a small caste of Gero affinities in Mymensingh, who now trace descent through the male, but are known to have done so through the female only about flfty years ago.
33 The Garos, pp. 94 sq.