Identifier: castestribesofso06thuruoft (find matches)
Title: Castes and tribes of southern India. Assisted by K. Rangachari
Year: 1909 (1900s)
Authors: Thurston, Edgar, 1855-1935 Rangachari, K
Subjects: Caste -- India Madras (Presidency) Ethnology -- India Madras (Presidency) India -- Social conditions
Publisher: Madras Government Press
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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ttributed to the influence of somedemon. Abortion, death of a new-born baby, prolongedlabour, or the death of the woman, fever, want of milkin the breasts, and other misfortunes, are attributedto malignant influences. When pregnant women, oreven children, walk out alone at midday, they are pos-sessed by them, and may fall in convulsions. Any slightdereliction, or indifference with regard to the offeringof sacrifices, is attended by domestic calamities, andsacrifices of goats and fowls are requisite. More sacri-fices are promised, if the demons will help them in theachievement of an object, or in the destruction of anenemy. In some cases the village astrologer is con-sulted, and he, by means of his calculations, divines thecause of an illness, and suggests that a particular diseaseor calamity is due to the provocation of the family orother god, to whom sacrifices or offerings have notbeen made. Under these circumstances, a Velichapad,or oracle, is consulted. After bathing, and dressing
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231 PULLUVAN himself in a new mundu (cloth), he enters on the scenewith a sword in his hand, and his legs girt with smallbells. Standing in front of the deity in pious meditation,he advances with slow steps and rolling eyes, and makesa few frantic cuts on his forehead. He is already inconvulsive shivers, and works himself up to a state offrenzied possession, and utters certain disconnectedsentences, which are believed to be the utterances ofthe gods. Believing them to be the means of cure orrelief from calamity, those affected reverentially bowbefore the Velichapad, and obey his commands. Some-times they resort to a curious method of calculatingbeforehand the result of a project, in which they areengaged, by placing before the god two bouquets offlowers, one red, the other white, of which a child picksout one with its eyes closed. Selection of the whitebouquet predicts auspicious results, of the red thereverse. A man, who wishes to bring a demon underhis control, must bathe in the ear

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