Indian Antiquary Vol 01

SR No.: 032493
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 430
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 22 MB

Page 315

SEPT. 6, 1872.]
regions, the villages are almost always imbedded in the valleys between the hills and rising grounds. They consist of only a few straggling hovels, in the midst of which there is to be found a house of substantial structure, sheltered by jangal, and by the stately and graceful betel palm plantations. The cultivation extends in terraces along the length of these narrow valleys, called Kógu, Kóvu, Hara, &c. Each of these valleys has its tutelary Bhúta, which is supposed to be its guardian. Lest the direst calamities befal the defaulter, the insatiable Bhúta should be appeased periodically by sacrifices and worship. Is it the gathering in of the harvest? or the liquidation of the ryot's long-standing debt? or the celebration of a wedding? or the occurrence of an eclipse? or a new-moon-day? or is it a social gathering? The Bhûta must invariably be propitiated. It is however a rule that, except in rare instances, the jurisdiction of one Bhúta is never invaded by another; and in no case can the Bhúta pursue its victim beyond the hills which form the natural barriers on all sides of the Malnád country.
The Brahma is by some stated to be the ghost of a deceased Bráhwan, which, for some reason or other, haunts the valley where his homestead was originally established. In fact, it is supposed to be an abbreviation of Brahma Rakshas. No animal sacrifices are as a rule offered to it, but only half-boiled rice in large heaps mixed with turmeric or saffron. The Bhútas are represented by small pieces of stone, seldom covered by any building or temple, but generally placed in the midst of clumps of trees, called Banâ. In very rare instances a metallic image is set up. Two or three of them are often to be met with in the same place, the Brahma, the Chaudí and the Jattiga. While the former is restricted to its "bread and water," the two latter receive all other sacrifices, called colloquially Hariké. They are not worshipped daily, but only at stated periods. The Brahman jóyis or astrologer is called upon to perform the pújé in the day, and towards nightfall the villagers congregate in the locality, and commit all sorts of abominations in the name of the Bhúta, such as the slaughtering of pigs, sprinkling the village with rice mixed with their blood, dancing around the stones, &c. the toddy and arrak going a great way towards rendering the debauch unusually prolonged. Sheep, pigs, fowls, &c. are slaughtered, and if buffaloes are wanting, it is only from the difficulty of procuring them, and the forbidding price
BHUTAS IN MAISUR.
283
which is demanded for them by the drovers who periodically bring their cattle for sale in the Malnád. All persons residing or holding land in the valley to which the Bhúta belongs are obliged, for fear of the direst calamities, to contribute to the feast. If the popular impression is correct, woe betide the heterodox recusant, who rebels against the demoniacal sway. Either his cattle will be killed by beasts of prey, which are nothing but the Bhúta transformed; or some member of his family will fall sick; or the bundles of new clothes secured in his strong box will be found reduced to rags; or the pots in which the food is dressed in his house will be filled with filth and excrement at meal time; or the most impossible stones will be found in his vessels, which could not have got in in a natural way; or a huge boulder will roll upon his house from the adjoining hill; or his crops will wither away most unaccountably; or some other equally serious mishap will fall on his devoted head. In the midst of his distractions, his only resource is to consult the jóyis or astrologer, who, in the orthodox fashion, divines the cause of the misfortune by means of cowries, grains of rice, &c., and after making, or seeming to make the necessary calculations, says it is the Bhúta. Forthwith vows are made, and sacrifices offered to the angry Bhúta, who assures the penitent of his satisfaction, generally by means of pûjâris, or other persons, who work themselves up to a state bordering on frenzy (gana baravadu), and whatever they may utter whilst in that condition is considered to be a supernatural revelation:-without miracles, it would seem that Bhúta worship would have waned away long ago. An instance of it is the ceremony called "kendárchane," in which the idol is carried over a layer of live coals, the bearers and others treading upon it barefooted, and the operation never hurts them, it is said, through the might of the Bhúta.
It was formerly the custom to import from a shrine below the Gháts in the South Canara District, called Dharmasthala, or Kuduma, blocks of stone of various sizes, generally of a globular shape, which have a fixed price, and which were supposed to become from the moment of purchase, the ghostly servitors of the purchaser. The Bhúta received, and still receives, the daily dole of prepared rice and curds, and whenever the owner had reason to be dissatisfied with, or had a grudge against, any one, it was believed that he had only to set the Chaudí or Bhúta at his enemy, and the poor fellow would