Indian Antiquary Vol 60

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

Page 183

AUGUST, 1981)
SCRAPS OP TIBETO-BURMAN FOLKLORE
SCRAPS OF TIBETO-BURMAN FOLKLORE. BY THE LATE SIR RICHARD C. TEMPLE, Br.
(Continued from p. 118.)
5. Offerings. "At the same time (p. 26) he threw (from the bridge over the Tista) a couple of copper coins into the river as an offering to the deities which dwell there."
"Burnt offerings of some sort (p. 282) play a part in all primitive religions. In Lhasa there is a striking instance of this. Some two miles to the south-west of the city on the very summit of a precipitous hill is a gigantic urn, in which very smoky incense is burned every day. It takes several hours to climb this hill, so the wealthier devotees prefer to pay various coolies to carry the incense up for them. But the merit acquired by the act belongs to the donor and not to the poor coolie."
In Burma offerings of many kinds on every sort of oocasion are made to the ubiquitous nats : for details see Shway Yoe, The Burman, p. 238 f. [At boat races) " it is necessary to propitiate the guardian spirit of the river and votive offerings are therefore to be made. At the stern of each boat crouches a man, holding with outstretched arms a bunch of plantains, some cooked rice, flowers and betel for the soothing of the water kalpies. Op. cit., p. 357.
In E.R.E., III, 26, it is said that "the Kachins [of Burma] give an explanation of the object of animal sacrifices and of the common practice of consuming the flesh of the sacrifice. They say that when they are in trouble, their primeval mother Chang-kho demands the pige and the battle, or she will eat out their lives. So when they are ill, they say 'we must eat to the nats.' The Kaohins have further an illuminating notion of being able to promise the Bacrifice ordered by the tumsa (exorcist) at some future time, if it be not available when ordered. Here we seem to have the embryo of the idea leading to the pictures and effigies, in lieu of actual sacrifice, used by the Chinese and their followers in Indo-China. The principle of the sacrifioe is to give a small portion of the animal or thing sacrificed to the nats and to devour the rest, or to eat up what has been temporarily devoted as an offering. Sometimes only the useless parts of the sacrifice are offered. . i. Absolute sacrifice, though uncommon on any considerable scale, is not unknown. . .On a small scale absolute sacrifice is common enough."
Dropping trifling offerings into rivers, lakes and the sea is & corrmon practice in India. E.g., "Hindus, especially women, of Lower Bengal, on going on a pilgrimage by river or sea, generally drop a few coppers into the water as an offering to Buddha Udin [Badru'ddin Aulia of Chittagong] saying, 'Daryd kd pánch paise, Buddhar, Buddhar' (the Sea's five pence, Badr, Badr)." (Journal, Burma Research Society, XV, 3.) See also pp. 11, 13: "The song which Muhammadan boatmen sing on the Ganges, and which ends with the words 'SariGangá, Panch Pir, Badt, Badr, Badr.' Here we seem to have the origin of the women's custom . ii of dropping coppers into the water on a river journey with the words Daryd ke panch paise, Badhar, Badhar,' where the Five Saints (PAnch Pir) have become five pence' (pánch paise), the Musalman's Panch Pir being no doubt due to the old and famous Panche Dêva, the Five Gods of the Hindu domestic ritual of purely Indian descent," See also The Word of Lalla, 70.
6. Incense. "A tiny sacred island (pp. 44, 45) in the middle of a frozen lake (at Pari) : Morning and evening was burned incense, the sweet odour of which appeared to frighten the dark demons of the night."
In Burma "incense sticks and scented wood are often burnt on stone altars, erected specially for such fire offeringe (candles, tapers, lampe)." Shway Yoe, The Burman, 189.
7. Ceremonial Dancing. ""The whole morning (p. 271) the market place [at Lhasa) was full of revellers of both sexes and from every part of Tibet, They were singing, shouting and dancing. The dancing