OMENS AND SUPERSTITONS OF INDIA AND THE SOUTH PART 11124
K RAJARAM IRS CONTD
The Kudubi cutch (catechu) makers of South Canara, before the
commencement of operations, select an Areca Catechu tree, and place a
sword, an axe, and a cocoanut on the ground near it. They prostrate
themselves before the tree, with hands uplifted, burn incense, and break
cocoanuts. The success of the operations is believed to depend on the
good-will of a deity named Siddēdēvaru. Before they commence work, the
Kudubis make a vow that, if they are successful, they will offer a fowl.
“A palmyra tree in the jungle near Ramnād with seven distinct trunks, each
bearing a goodly head of fan-shaped leaves is,” General Burton writes,
“attributed to the action of a deity, and stones smeared with oil and
vermilion, broken cocoanuts, and fowl’s feathers lying about, testify that
pūja and sacrifice were performed here.”
On the Rangasvāmi peak on the Nīlgiris are two rude walled enclosures
sacred to the god Ranga and his consort, within which are deposited various
offerings, chiefly iron lamps and the notched sticks used as
weighing-machines. The hereditary priest is an Irula (jungle tribesman).66
Certain caves are regarded by the Muduvars of the Travancore hills as
shrines, wherein spear-heads, tridents, and copper coins are placed, partly
to mark them as holy places, and partly as offerings to bring good luck.
Prehistoric stone cells, found in the bed of a river, are believed to be
the thunderbolts of Vishnu, and are stacked as offerings by the Malaiālis
of the Shevaroy hills in their shrines dedicated to Vignēswara the elephant
god, who averts evil, or in little niches cut in rocks.
Of a remarkable form of demon worship in Tinnevelly, Bishop Caldwell wrote
that “an European was till recently worshipped as a demon. From the rude
verses which were sung in connection with his worship, it would appear that
he was an English officer, who was mortally wounded at the taking of the
Travancore lines in 1809, and was buried about twenty-five miles from the
scene of the battle in a sandy waste, where, a few years ago, his worship
was established by the Shānāns of the neighbourhood. His worship consisted
in the offering to his manes of spirituous liquors and cheroots.”
A similar form of worship, or propitiation of demons, is recorded68 by
Bishop Whitehead from Malabar. He was told that “the spirits of the old
Portuguese soldiers and traders are still propitiated on the coast with
offerings of toddy and cheroots. The spirits are called Kāppiri (probably
Kaffirs or foreigners). This superstition is dying out, but is said to be
common among the fishermen of the French settlement of Mai (Mahé).”
On one occasion, a man who had been presented with two annas as the fee for
lending his body to me for measurement, offered it, with flowers and a
cocoanut, at the shrine of the village goddess, and dedicated to her
another coin of his own as a peace-offering, and to get rid of the
pollution caused by my money.
NOTES: The Pallis claim to be descendants of the fire race (Agnikula) of
the Kshatriyas, and that, as they and the Pāndava brothers were born of
fire, they are related.
Lambādis or Brinjāris, who formerly acted as carriers of supplies and
baggage in times of war in the Deccan.
Bhūtha, or demon worship, prevails in South Canara, where the villages have
their bhūtha sthānam or demon shrine. (VIDE FILMS LIKE VARAHA ROOPAM SONGS)
In Southern India, turmeric (Curcuma) is commonly called saffron (Crocus).
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Charms
Mantrams, or consecrated formulæ, are supposed to be very powerful, and by
their aid even gods can be brought under control. They are, inter alia,
believed to be efficacious in curing disease, in protecting children
against devils, and women against miscarriage, in promoting development of
the breasts, in bringing offspring to barren women, in warding off
misfortune consequent on marriage with a girl who has an unlucky mark, in
keeping wild pigs from the fields, and warding off cattle disease. For the
last purpose, the magical formula is carved on a stone pillar, which is set
up in the village. They are divided into four classes, viz., mantrasara, or
the real essence of magic; yantrasara, or the science of cabalistic
figures; prayogasara, or the method of using these for the attainment of
any object; tantrasara, or the science of symbolical acts with or without
words.
Mantrasara includes all mantrams, with their efficacy for good and evil,
and the methods of learning and reciting them with the aid of a guru
(spiritual preceptor). They are said to be effective only when the
individual who resorts to them is pure in mind and body. This can be
attained by the recitation of ajapagayithri (216,000 inhalations and
exhalations in twenty-four hours). These have to be divided among the
deities Ganēsa, Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Jīvathma, Paramathma, and the guru,
in the proportion of 600, 6000, 6000, 6000, 1000, 1000, 1000. A man can
only become learned in mantrams (mantravādi) by the regular performance of
the recognised ceremonial, by proper recital of the mantrams, by burning
the sacred fire, and by taking food. A Lambādi has been seen repeating
mantrams over his patients, and touching their heads at the same time with
a book, which was a small edition of the Telugu translation of St John’s
gospel. Neither the physician nor the patient could read, and had no idea
of the contents of the book.1 It is noted by the Abbé Dubois,2 that one of
the principal reasons why so little confidence is placed in European
doctors by Hindus is that, when administering their remedies, they recite
neither mantrams nor prayers.
Yantrasara includes all cabalistic figures, the method of drawing and using
them, and the objects to be attained by them. They are usually drawn on
thin plates of gold, silver, copper, or lead. The efficacy of the figures,
when drawn on gold, will, it is said, last for a century, while those drawn
on the less precious metals will only be effective for six months or a
year. Leaden plates are used when the yantrams are to be buried
underground. The figures should possess the symbols of life, the eyes,
tongue, eight cardinal points of the compass, and the five elements.
Prayogasara includes attraction or summoning by enchantment, driving out
evil spirits, stupefaction, tempting or bringing a deity or evil spirits
under control, and enticement for love, destruction, and the separation of
friends.
The following are examples of cases in which a European, who, having been
trained by a guru, was well versed in the theory and practice of native
magic, was called in to administer to Natives, who were under the spell of
devils. In the first case, a Telugu girl, about seventeen years old, had
been for some time possessed by her sister’s husband, under whose influence
she used to eat abnormal quantities of food, tear off her clothes, and use
indecent language in a voice other than her own. When the European arrived
in her room, the devil, speaking through the girl, threatened to kill her,
or the European, or the individual who put it into her. Under the spell of
a suitable mantram, the devil departed, and its return was prevented by the
wearing of a yantram. The other case was that of a boy, who was possessed
by a devil. He was found, on the occasion of the visit of the European,
lying down in the courtyard of his house, clad in an ample loin-cloth, and
with a high temperature. Suddenly, through some invisible agency, a corner
of his loin-cloth caught fire, which was stamped out. It then caught fire
in another place, and eventually was riddled with burnt holes. This was the
way in which the devil manifested its influence, and sometimes the boy got
burnt. A mantram was recited, with the result that the burning ceased, and
the fever abated. An impromptu yantram was made out of vibhūti (sacred
ashes), and tied round the boy’s neck. A religious mendicant came along a
short time afterwards, and treated the boy for some ordinary sickness not
connected with the devil, but the medicine did him no good. Finding the
yantram round his neck, the mendicant asserted that it was the cause of his
failure, and ordered its removal. These the boy’s relations refused to
permit. But the holy man ripped it off. Whereon the boy instantly fell down
comatose. In recording these two cases, I have reproduced my notes made on
the occasion of an interview with the European.
Reference has been made (p. 180) to mantrams carved on stone pillars. The
story of a stone slab at Rāyalcheruvu in the Anantapur district, known as
the yantram rāyi or magic stone, is narrated by Mr Francis.
“The charm consists of eighty-one squares, nine each way, within a border
of tridents. Each square contains one or more Telugu letters, but these
will not combine into any intelligible words. At the bottom of the stone
are cut a lingam and two pairs of foot-prints. Some twelve years ago, it is
said, the village suffered severely from cholera for three years in
succession, and a Telugu mason, a foreigner who was in the village at the
time, cut this charm on the stone to stop the disease. It was set up with
much ceremony. The mason went round the village at night without a stitch
of clothing on him, and with the entrails of a sheep hanging round his
neck. Many cocoanuts were offered to the stone, and many sheep slain before
it. The mason tossed a lamb in the air, caught it as it fell, tore its
throat open with his teeth, and then bounded forward, and spat out the
blood. More sheep and cocoanuts were offered, and then the slab was set up.
The mason naturally demanded a substantial return for the benefit he had
conferred on the inhabitants. When cholera now breaks out, the villagers
subscribe together, and do pūja (worship) to the stone in accordance with
directions left by him.”
Of similar stones in the South Arcot district, Mr Francis writes as
follows4:—
“In several villages in the west of the district are magical slabs, which
are supposed to cure cholera and cattle disease. On them, surrounded by a
border of trisulas (the trident of Siva) are cut a series of little
squares, in each of which is some Tamil letter. The villagers usually
explain their existence by saying that, some forty years ago, an ascetic,
whom they call the sangili (chain) sanyāsi from his predilection for
wearing red-hot chains round his neck, came there when cholera and cattle
disease were rife, and (for a consideration) put up these slabs to ward off
his ills. He left directions that, when either disease reappeared, 108 pots
of water were to be poured over the slab, 108 bilva (Ægle Marmelos) leaves
tied to it and so on, and that men and animals were then to walk through
the water which had been poured over it.”
Mr Francis writes further that “in many places, stone slabs may be seen set
up in the outskirts of the villages, on what are said to be the old
boundaries. These are thought to be able to ward off sickness, and other
harm which threatens to enter the place, and are revered accordingly. Some
are quite blank, others have letters cut on them, while others again bear
the rude outline of a deity, and are accordingly given such names as Pidāri
or Ellai Amman (the goddess of the boundary). To these last, periodical
worship is often performed, but, in the case of the others, the attentions
of the villagers are confined to an annual ceremony, whereat cocoanuts are
broken, camphor is burnt, and a light is placed on the stone.”
It was noted by Lieutenant R. F. Burton that, in some hamlets, the Kotas of
the Nīlgiris have set up curiously carved stones, which they consider
sacred, and attribute to them the power of curing diseases, if the member
affected is rubbed against them. At cross-roads in Bellary, odd geometric
patterns may sometimes be noticed. These are put there at night by people
suffering from disease, in the hope that the affliction will pass to the
person who first treads on the charm.
As examples of yantrams, the following, selected from a very large
repertoire, may be cited:—
Ganapathi yantram should be drawn on metal, and worship performed. It is
then enclosed in a metal cylinder, and tied by a thread round the neck of
females, or the waist or arm of men. It will cure disease, conquer an
enemy, or entice any one. If the sacred fire is kept up while the formula
is being repeated, and dry cocoanut, plantain fruits, money, ghī (clarified
butter), and sweet bread put into it, the owner will be blessed with wealth
and prosperity.
Bhadrakāli yantram. The figure is drawn on the floor with flour or rice,
turmeric, charcoal powder, and leaves of the castor-oil plant. If the deity
is worshipped at night, it will lead to the acquisition of knowledge,
strength, freedom from disease and impending calamities, wealth, and
prosperity. If pūja (worship) is celebrated by a mantravādi for twelve days
with the face turned towards the south, it will produce the death of an
enemy.
Sudarsana yantram, when drawn on a sheet of metal, and enclosed in a
cylinder worn round the neck or on the arm, will relieve those who are ill
or possessed by devils. If it is drawn on butter spread on a plantain leaf,
pūja performed, and the butter given to a barren woman, there will be no
danger to herself or her future issue.
Suthakadosham yantram. Children under one year of age are supposed to be
affected, if they are seen by a woman on the fourth day of menstruation
with wet clothes and empty stomach after bathing. She may not even see her
own baby or husband till she has changed her clothes, and taken food. To
avert the evil, a waist-band, made of the bark of the arka plant
(Calotropis gigantea), is worn.
Sarabha yantram will cure persons suffering from epilepsy or intermittent
fever.
Subramaniya yantram, if regularly worshipped, will expel devils from those
attacked by them, and from houses.
Hanumān yantram will protect those who are out on dark nights, and produce
bodily strength and wisdom. If drawn on a sheet of gold, and pūja is
performed to it every Saturday, it will bring prosperity, and help pregnant
women during their confinement.
Pakshi yantram, if drawn on a sheet of lead, and kept in several places
round a house, will keep snakes away.
Vatugabhairava yantram cures disease in those who are under eighteen years
old, and drives out all kinds of evil spirits. If ashes are smeared on the
face, and the mantram is uttered sixteen times, it will be very effective.
Varati yantram is very useful to any one who wishes to kill an enemy. He
should sit in a retired spot at night, with his face turned towards the
south, and repeat the mantram a thousand times for twenty days.
Prathingiri yantram is drawn on a sheet of lead, and buried at a spot over
which a person, whose death is desired, will pass. It is then placed on the
floor, on which the sacred fire is kindled. The mantram should be repeated
eight hundred times for seven nights.
Chāmundi and Raktha Chāmundi yantrams are used for causing the death of
enemies. The mantram should be written on a sheet of lead, and pūja, with
the sacrifice of toddy and mutton, performed.
Asvārūda yantram enables a person wearing it to cover long distances on
horseback, and he can make the most refractory horse amenable by tying it
round its neck.
An inhabitant of Malabar presented Mr Fawcett with a yantram
against the evil eye, which, if whispered over a piece of string, and tied
round any part of the body affected, would work an instantaneous cure. A
Cheruman at Calicut, who was wearing on his loin-string a copper cylinder
containing a brass strip with mantrams, sold it to me for a rupee with the
assurance that it would protect me from devils.
To produce an ulcer, which will cause the death of an enemy in ninety days,
a mantram is written on a piece of cadjan (palm leaf), enclosed in an egg
with a small quantity of earth on which he has urinated, and buried in an
ant-hill. A fowl is killed, and its blood and some toddy are poured over
the egg. To cure fever, the formula is written with the finger in water
contained in a basin, and the appropriate words are repeated while the
water is being drunk.
By some Muhammadans, on festival days, the names of holy persons, together
with their sayings, are written on mango or palmyra leaves in ink made of
charred rice. When the ink is dry, the leaves are washed in water, which is
drunk. This is supposed to cure people of many obstinate diseases. A
European official was informed by a Native magistrate in the Vizagapatam
district that, when he wanted to tear up some old abkāri (liquor) licenses,
a man implored him not to do so, as they had brought him life for a year,
and were therefore worshipped. So the medicine was water, in which an old
license had been dipped.
It is recorded9 by Mr Logan that “in 1877, a poor Māppilla (Muhammadan)
woman residing in one of the Laccadive islands was put upon her trial for
witchcraft [188]for importing into the island a betel leaf with a certain
cabalistic and magical inscription on it; but it fortunately turned out for
her that she had merely pounded it up, and rubbed it over her daughter’s
body to cure her of fits. Ibn Batuta (the Arab traveller who visited South
India in the fourteenth century) wrote of a Malayāli king who was converted
to Islām by the leaf of ‘the tree of testimony,’ a tree of which it was
related to him that it does not generally drop its leaves, but at the
season of autumn in every year one of them changes its colour, first to
yellow, then to red, and that upon this is written ‘There is no God but
God: Muhammad is the Prophet of God,’ and that this leaf alone falls. The
falling of the leaf was an annual event, and the leaf itself was
efficacious in curing diseases. Nowadays the belief among the Muhammadans
still subsists, that the leaves of a certain tree growing on Mount Deli (in
Malabar) possess similar virtues.”
Metal bowls, engraved both on the outside and inside with texts from the
Qurān, are taken or sent by Muhammadans to Mecca, where they are placed at
the head of the tomb of the Prophet, and blessed. They are highly valued,
and used in cases of sickness for the administration of medicine or
nourishment.
It is on record that, at the battle of Seringapatam in 1799, an officer
took from off the right arm of the dead body of Tīpu Sultān a talisman,
which contained sewed up in pieces of fine flowered silk a charm made of a
brittle metallic substance of the colour of silver, and some manuscripts in
magic Arabic and Persian characters. A notorious Māppilla dacoit, who was
shot by the police a few years ago, and whom his co-religionists tried to
make a saint, was at the time of his death wearing five copper and silver
charm cylinders round his waist.
It is noted by Mr Logan that “when affliction comes, the animal affected is
served with grass, fruit, etc., on which charms have been whispered, or is
bathed in charmed water, or has a talisman in the shape of a palm leaf
inscribed with charms rolled up and tied round its neck.”
The tooth or claw of a tiger, worn on the neck or round the loins, is
considered effective against evil influences. A tiger’s whiskers are held
to be a most potent poison when chopped up; so, when a tiger is killed, the
whiskers are immediately singed off. They are represented in stuffed heads
by the delicate bristles of the porcupine. When a Savara of Ganjam is
killed by a tiger, the Kudang goes through a performance on the following
Sunday to prevent a similar fate overtaking others. Two pigs are killed
outside the village, and every man, woman, and child is made to walk over
the ground whereon the pig’s blood is spilled, and the Kudang gives to each
individual some kind of tiger medicine as a charm.
In Malabar the tusks of a wild boar are, in cases of protracted labour,
pressed over the abdomen of the woman from above downwards.
The hair of the bear is enclosed in a casket or cylinder, and tied to the
girdle round the loins of male children, and in strings round the neck of
female children, as a remedy against fever, and to prevent involuntary
discharge of urine during sleep.
K RAJARAM IRS TO BE CONTD 11124
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Thatha_Patty" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To view this discussion visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZorjEmkeUZZHgw-7dXLK61%2B85QiJQt5%3DQ%2BNBSk-Up9QUBg%40mail.gmail.com.
