Chapter V: Vows, Votive and Other Offerings (2)

I am informed by Mr G. V. Ramamurthi Pantulu that the Savaras attend the markets or fairs held in the plains, or at the foot of the ghats, to purchase salt and other articles. If a Savara is taken ill at the market or on his return thence, he attributes the illness to a spirit of the market called Biradi Sonum. The bulls which carry the goods of the Hindu merchants to the market are supposed to convey the spirit. In propitiating it, the Savara makes an image of a bull in straw, and, taking it out of his village, leaves it on the footpath, after a pig has been sacrificed. Owners of cattle take the animals when sick round the sacred hill at Tirukazhukunram in performance of a vow, in the belief that their health will be thus restored.

"A Brahmini bull," Mr A. Srinivasan writes, "is dedicated to the
god Venkateswara of Tirupati, for the benefit of the living in
fulfilment of vows. The act of dedication and release is preceded
by elaborate rituals of marriage, as among men and women. The
bride, which should be a heifer that has not calved, is furnished
by the father-in-law of the donor. The heifer is united in holy
wedlock to the bullock, after formal chanting of mantrams, by the
tying of the tali and toe-rings to the neck. In this sham marriage,
the profuse ornamentation of the couple with saffron (turmeric) and
red powder, the pouring of rice on their heads, and a procession
through the streets with music, are conspicuous features."

I am told that, if the devotee cannot afford a live animal, a mimic representative is made in rice.

Painted hollow images are made by special families of Kusavans (potters) known as pujari (priest), who, for the privilege of making them, have to pay an annual fee to the headman, who spends it on a festival at the caste temple. When a married couple are anxious to have female offspring, they take a vow to offer figures of the seven virgins (Saptha Kannimar), who are represented all seated in a row. If a male or female recovers from cholera, smallpox, or other severe illness, a figure of the corresponding sex is offered. A childless woman makes a vow to offer up the figure of a baby, if she brings forth offspring. Figures of animals--cattle, horses, sheep, etc.--are offered at the temple when they recover from sickness, or are recovered after they have been stolen. Horses made of clay, painted red and other colours, are set up in the fields to drive away demons, or as a thank-offering for recovery from sickness, or any piece of good luck. The villagers erect these horses in honour of the popular deity Ayanar, the guardian deity of the fields, who is a renowned huntsman, and is believed, when, with his wives Purna and Pushkala, he visits the village at night, to mount the horses, and ride down the demons. Ayanar is said [205] to be the special deity of the Kusavan caste. Kusavans are generally the pujaris at his temples, and they make the earthenware, and brick and mortar horses and images, which are placed before these buildings. The pupils of the eyes of the various images are not painted in till they are taken to the temple, where offerings of fruit, etc., are first made. Even the pupils of a series of images which were specially made for me were not painted at the potter's house, but in the verandah of the traveller's bungalow where I was staying. A very interesting account of the netra mangalya, or ceremony of painting the eyes of images, as performed by craftsmen in Ceylon, has been published by Mr A. K. Coomaraswamy. [206] Therein he writes that "by far the most important ceremony connected with the building and decoration of a vihara (temple), or with its renovation, was the actual netra mangalya or eye ceremonial. The ceremony had to be performed in the case of any image, whether set up in a vihara or not. Even in the case of flat paintings it was necessary. D. S. Muhandiram, when making for me a book of drawings of gods according to the Rupavaliya, left the eyes to be subsequently inserted on an auspicious occasion, with some simpler form of the ceremony described."

On this subject, Knox writes as follows [207]:--

"Some, being devoutly disposed, will make the image of this god
(Buddha) at their own charge. For the making whereof they must
bountifully reward the Founder. Before the eyes are made, it is not
accounted a god, but a lump of ordinary metal, and thrown about
the shop with no more regard than anything else. But, when the
eyes are to be made, the artificer is to have a good gratification,
besides the first agreed upon reward. The eyes being formed, it is
thenceforward a god. And then, being brought with honour from the
workman's shop, it is dedicated by solemnities and sacrifices,
and carried with great state into the shrine or little house,
which is before built and prepared for it."

Putting money into a receptacle (undi) as an offering to a particular deity is a very common custom. In the case of a popular god, such as the one at Tirumala, an earthen pot is sometimes replaced by a copper money-box or iron safe. In South Canara there was a well-to-do family, the members of which kept on depositing coins in the family undi, which were set apart for the Tirumala god during a number of generations. Not only in cases of sickness, but even when a member of the family went to a neighbouring village, and returned safely, a few coins were put into the undi. For some reason, the opening of the undi, and offering of its contents at Tirumala, was postponed, and, when it was finally opened, it was found to contain a miscellaneous collection of coins, current and uncurrent. When a temple is far away, and those who wish to make offerings thereat cannot, owing to the expense of the journey or other reason, go there themselves, the offerings are taken by a substitute. If the god to whom the offering is made is Srinivasa of Tirumala, a small sum of money must be offered as compensation for not taking it in person. The god is sometimes called Vaddi Kasulu Varu, in allusion to the money (kasu) or interest. In some large towns, in the months of July and August, parties of devotees may be seen wandering about the streets, and collecting offerings to the god, which will be presented to him in due course. If a Kelasi (barber) in South Canara is seriously ill, he sometimes undertakes a vow to beg from door to door, and convey the money thus collected to Tirumala. In his house he keeps a small closed box with a slit in the lid, through which he drops a coin at every stroke of misfortune, and the contents are eventually sent to the holy shrine. [208] A few years ago, a Native complained to the police that about seven hundred rupees had been stolen from some brass pots, which he kept in a separate room of his house. The money, he stated, was dedicated to the Tirumula temple, and was kept in the pots buried in paddy (unhusked rice). He himself had put in about fifty rupees during the time that the pots had been in his charge, either as an annual contribution, or on occasions of sickness. His mother stated that it had been a custom in the family to put money into the vessel for several generations, and she had never seen the pots opened.

It is whispered that Kallan dacoits invoke the aid of their deity Alagarswami, when they are setting out on marauding expeditions, and, if they are successful therein, put part of their ill-gotten gains into the offertory box, which is kept at his shrine. [209] In this connection, the Rev. J. Sharrock states that "there is an understanding that, if their own village gods help them in their thefts, they are to have a fair share of the spoil, and, on the principle of honour among thieves, the bargain is always kept. When strange deities are met with on their thieving expeditions, it is usual to make a vow that, if the adventure turns out well, part of the spoil shall next day be left at the shrine of the god, or be handed over to the pujari of that particular deity. They are afraid that, if this precaution be not taken, the god may make them blind, or cause them to be discovered, or may go so far as to knock them down, and leave them to bleed to death."

The most popular of the Muhammadan saints who are buried at Porto Novo, where a considerable number of Marakkayars (Muhammadans) are engaged as sailors,

"is one Malumiyar, who was apparently in his lifetime a notable
sea-captain. His fame as a sailor has been magnified into the
miraculous, and it is declared that he owned ten or a dozen ships,
and used to appear in command of all of them simultaneously. He has
now the reputation of being able to deliver from danger those who
go down to the sea in ships, and sailors setting out on a voyage,
or returning from one in safety, usually put an offering in the
little box kept at his darga, and these sums are expended in
keeping that building lighted and whitewashed. Another curious
darga in the town is that of Araikasu Nachiyar, or the one pie
lady. Offerings to her must on no account be worth more than one
pie (1/192 of a rupee); tributes in excess of that value are of
no effect. If sugar for so small an amount cannot be procured, the
devotee spends the money on chunam (lime) for her tomb, and this is
consequently covered with a superabundance of whitewash. Stories
are told of the way in which the valuable offerings of rich men
have altogether failed to obtain her favour, and have had to be
replaced by others of the regulation diminutive dimensions." [210]

The chief god of the Dombs of Vizagapatam is said [211] to be represented by a pie piece placed in or over a new earthen pot smeared with rice and turmeric powder. It is said [212] that Muhammadans, belonging to the lower classes, consult panchangam Brahmans about the chances of success in their enterprises. Some of these Brahmans send half the fee so obtained to the Muhammadan mosque at Nagur near Negapatam, and will even offer sugar and flowers at that shrine, though they endeavour to excuse the act by saying that the saint was originally a Brahman.

I once saw a Muhammadan at Tumkur in Mysore, whither he had journeyed from Hyderabad, who had a rupee tied round his arm in token of a vow that, if he returned safe from plague and other ills to his own country, he would give money in charity. When a Muhammadan falls ill, a rupee and a quarter is sometimes done up in a red cloth, and tied round the arm, to be given to the poor on recovery. Members of the poorer classes tie an anna and a quarter in like manner, after performing a fateha ceremony. Should the sickness of a Hindu be attributed to a god or goddess, a vow is made, in token whereof a copper or silver coin is wrapped up in a piece of cloth dipped in turmeric paste, and kept in the house, or tied to the neck or arm of the sick person. A cock may be waved round the head of the patient, and afterwards reared in the house, to be eventually offered up at the shrine of the deity. A Bedar, whom I saw at Hospet in the Bellary district, had a quarter anna rolled up in cotton cloth, which he wore on the upper arm in performance of a vow.

In an account of the cock festival at Cranganore in Malabar, whereat vast numbers of cocks are sacrificed, Mr Gopal Panikkar records [213] that, "when a man is taken ill of any infectious disease, his relations generally pray to the goddess (at Cranganore) for his recovery, solemnly covenanting to perform what goes by the name of a thulabharam (or thulupurushadanam) [214] ceremony. This consists in placing the patient in one of the scale-pans of a huge balance, and weighing him against gold, or, more generally, pepper (and sometimes other substances), deposited in the other scale-pan. Then this weight of the substance is offered to the goddess. This has to be performed right in front of the goddess in the temple yard."

At Mulki in South Canara there is a temple of Venkateswara, which is maintained by Konkani Brahmans. A Konkani Brahman, who is attached to the temple, becomes inspired almost daily between 10 and 11 A.M., immediately after worship, and people consult him. Some time ago, a rich merchant from Gujarat consulted the inspired man as to what steps should be taken to enable his wife to be safely delivered. He was told to take a vow that he would present to the god of the temple, silver, sugar-candy, and date fruits, equal in weight to that of his wife. This he did, and his wife was delivered of a male child. The cost of the ceremonial is said to have been five thousand rupees. In the thulabharam ceremony as performed by the Maharajas of Travancore, [215] they are weighed against gold coins, called thulabhara kasu, specially struck for the occasion, which are divided among the priests who performed the ceremony, and Brahmans.

The following quaint custom, which is observed at the village of Pullambadi in the Trichinopoly district, is described by Bishop Whitehead. [216]

"The goddess Kulanthal Amman has established for herself a useful
reputation as a settler of debts. When a creditor cannot recover
a debt, he writes down his claim on a scroll of palm-leaves, and
offers the goddess a part of the debt, if it is paid. The palmyra
scroll is hung up on an iron spear in the compound of the temple
before the shrine. If the claim is just, and the debtor does
not pay, it is believed that he will be afflicted with sickness
and bad dreams. In his dreams he will be told to pay the debt at
once, if he wishes to be freed from his misfortunes. If, however,
the debtor disputes the claim, he draws up a counter-statement,
and hangs it on the same spear. Then the deity decides which claim
is true, and afflicts with sickness and bad dreams the man whose
claim is false. When a claim is acknowledged, the debtor brings
the money, and gives it to the pujari, who places it before the
image of Kulanthal Amman, and sends word to the creditor. The
whole amount is then handed over to the creditor, who pays the
sum vowed to the goddess into the temple coffers in April or
May. So great is the reputation of the goddess, that Hindus come
from about ten miles round to seek her aid in recovering their
debts. The goddess may sometimes make mistakes, but, at any rate,
it is cheaper than an appeal to an ordinary court of law, and
probably almost as effective as a means of securing justice. In
former times, no written statements were presented; people simply
came and represented their claims by word of mouth to the deity,
promising to give her a share. The custom of presenting written
claims sprang up about thirty years ago, doubtless through the
influence of the Civil Courts. Apparently more debts have been
collected since this was done, and more money has been gathered
into the treasury."

It is noted by the Rev. A. Margoeschis [217] that "the Hindus observe a special day at the commencement of the palmyra season (in Tinnevelly), when the jaggery season begins. Bishop Caldwell adopted the custom, and a solemn service in church was held, when one set of all the implements used in the occupation of palmyra-climbing was brought to the church, and presented at the altar. Only the day was changed from that observed by the Hindus. The perils of the palmyra-climber are great, and there are many fatal accidents by falling from trees forty to sixty feet high, so that a religious service of the kind was particularly acceptable and peculiarly appropriate to our people."

The story is told by Bishop Caldwell of a Shanar (toddy-drawer) who was sitting upon a leaf-stalk at the top of a palmyra palm in a high wind, when the stalk gave way, and he came down to the ground safely and quietly sitting on the leaf, which served the purpose of a natural parachute.

The festival of Ayudha Puja (worship of tools or implements) is observed by all Hindu castes during the last three days of the Dasara or Navarathri in the month of Purattasi (September-October). It is a universal holiday for all Hindu workmen. Even the Brahman takes part in this puja. His tools, however, being books, it is called Saraswati puja, or worship to the goddess or god of learning, who is either Saraswati or Hayagriva. Reading books and repetition of Vedas must be done, and, for the purpose of worship, all the books in a house are piled up in a heap. Non-Brahmans clean the various implements used by them in their daily work, and worship them. The Kammalans (artisans) clean their hammers, pincers, anvil, blowpipe, etc.; the Chettis (merchants) clean their scales and weights, and the box into which they put their money. The racket-marker at the Madras Club decorates the entrance to the scoring-box in which his rackets are kept, with a festoon of mango leaves. The weaving and agricultural classes will be seen to be busy with their looms and agricultural implements. Fishermen pile up their nets for worship. Even the bandywala (cart-driver) paints red and white stripes on the wheels and axles. I have myself been profusely garlanded when present as a guest at the elaborate tool-worshipping ceremony at the Madras School of Arts, where puja was done to a bust of the late Bishop Gell set up on an improvised altar, with a cast of Saraswati above, and various members of the Hindu Pantheon around.

At the festival held by the Koyis of the Godavari district in propitiation of a goddess called Pida, very frequently offerings promised long before are sacrificed, and eaten by the pujari. It is not at all uncommon for a Koyi to promise to offer a seven-horned male (i.e. a cock) as a bribe to be let alone, a two-horned male (i.e. a goat) being set apart by more wealthy or more fervent suppliants. [218] When smallpox or other epidemic disease breaks out in a Gadaba village in Vizagapatam, a little go-cart on wheels is constructed. In this a clay image, or anything else holy, is placed, and it is taken to a distant spot, and left there. It is also the custom, when cholera or smallpox is epidemic in the same district, to make a little car, "on which are placed a grain of saffron-stained [219] rice for every soul in the village, and numerous offerings such as little swings, pots, knives, ploughs, and the like, and the blood of certain sacrificial victims, and this is then dragged with due ceremony to the boundary of the village. By this means the malignant essence of the deity who brings smallpox or cholera is transferred across the boundary. The neighbouring villagers naturally hasten to move the car on with similar ceremony, and it is thus dragged through a whole series of villages, and eventually left by the roadside in some lonely spot." [220]

Marching on one occasion, towards Hampi in the Bellary district, where an outbreak of cholera had recently occurred, I came across two wooden gods on wheels by the roadside, to whom had been offered baskets of fruit, vegetables, earthen pots, bead necklets, and bangles, which were piled up in front of them. It is recorded [221] by Bishop Whitehead that, when an epidemic breaks out in a certain village in the Telugu country,

"the headman of the village gets a new earthenware pot, besmears
it with turmeric and kunkuma (red powder), and puts inside it
some clay bracelets, necklaces, and earrings, three pieces of
charcoal, three pieces of turmeric, three pieces of incense,
a piece of dried cocoanut, a woman's cloth, and two annas worth
of coppers--a strange collection of miscellaneous charms and
offerings. The pot is then hung up on a tree near the image of
the village deity, as a pledge that, if the epidemic disappears,
the people will celebrate a festival."

It is further recorded [222] by Bishop Whitehead that, during the festival of Mariamma at Kannanur in the Trichinopoly district, "many people who have made vows bring sheep, goats, fowls, pigeons, parrots, cows, and calves, to the temple, and leave them in the compound alive. At the end of the festival, these animals are all sold to a contractor. Two years ago, they fetched Rs. 400--a good haul for the temple."

Between the Madras museum and the Government maternity hospital, a small municipal boundary stone has been set up by the side of the road. To this stone supernatural powers are attributed, and it is alleged that in a banyan tree in a private garden close by a Muni lives, who presides over the welfare of the patients in the hospital, and must be propitiated if the pregnant woman is to get over her confinement without complications. Women vow that they will, if all goes well, give a cocoanut, betel, or flowers when they leave. Discharged patients can be seen daily, going to the stone and making offerings. On the day of their discharge, their friends bring camphor and other articles, and the whole family goes to the stone, where the camphor is burnt, a cocoanut broken, and perhaps some turmeric or flowers placed on it. The new-born child is placed on the bare ground in front of the stone, and the mother, kneeling down, bows before it. The foreheads of both mother and child are marked with the soots from the burning camphor. If her friends do not bring the requisite articles, the woman goes home, and returns with them to do puja to the stone, or it is celebrated at a temple or her house. The offerings are removed by those who present them, or by passers-by on the road.

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 Siddedevaru. 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 Ramnad with seven distinct
trunks, each bearing a goodly head of fan-shaped leaves is,"
General Burton writes, [223] "attributed to the action of a deity,
and stones smeared with oil and vermilion, broken cocoanuts,
and fowl's feathers lying about, testify that puja and sacrifice
were performed here."

On the Rangasvami peak on the Nilgiris 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). [224] 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 Malaialis of the Shevaroy hills in their shrines dedicated to Vigneswara 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 [225] "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 Shanans 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 recorded [226] 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 Kappiri (probably Kaffirs or foreigners). This superstition is dying out, but is said to be common among the fishermen of the French settlement of Mai (Mahe)."

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.