Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/288

LINGAYAT them. This development is alleged to have occurred about the close of the seventeenth century. Among the many ceremonies introduced in the course of the changes just described, one known as the ashtavarna or eight-fold protection is of special importance.

These rites consist of — 1. Guru.2. Linga.3. Vibhūti.4. Rudrāksha.5. Mantra. 6. Jangam. 7. Tirtha.8. Prasāda. Among the greater number of Lingāyats, after the birth of a child, the parents send for the guru or spiritual adviser of the family, who is the representative of one of the five Acharyas from whom the father claims descent, or in his absence of his local agent. The guru binds the linga on the child, besmears it with vibhūti (ashes), places a garland of rudrāksha (fruits of Elœcarpus Ganitrus) round its neck, and teaches it the mystic mantra of " Namah Shivaya." The child being incapable of acquiring the knowledge of the sacred text at this early stage of its existence, the mantra is merely recited in its ear by the guru. The child has then to be presented to the god Siva in the person of a Jangam, or Lingāyat priest, who is summoned for the purpose; on his arrival, the parents wash his feet. The water in which the feet are washed is described as the tirtha or charana tīrtha of Siva. This tirtha is next poured over the linga attached to the infant. The Jangam is fed, and a portion of the cooked food from the dish is placed in the child's mouth. This final ceremony is known as prasāda. (I am informed that it would be considered by Tamil Lingāyats sacrilege to wash the lingam with the tirtha.) Occasionally the double character of guru and Jangam are combined in one person.