Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/466

MALAYALI the oracular (and true) response that for three years there would be a scarcity of rain, and that there would be famine in the land, and consequent suffering. This performance concluded, a bamboo pole was erected, bearing a pulley at the top, with which cocoanuts and plantains were connected by a string. By means of this string, the fruits were alternately raised and lowered, and men, armed with sticks, tried to hit them, while turmeric water was dashed in their faces just as they were on the point of striking. The fruits, being at last successfully hit, were received as a prize by the winner. The gods were then taken back to their temple, and three men, overcome by a mock convulsive seizure, were brought to their senses by stripes on the back administered with a rope by the pūjāri (officiating priest). A sheep being produced, mantrams (prayers) were recited over it. The pūjāri, going to a pool close by, bathed, and smeared turmeric powder over his face. A pretence was made to cut the sheep's throat, and blood drawn with a knife. The pūjāri, after sucking the blood, returned to the pool, and indulged in a ceremonial ablution, while the unhappy sheep was escorted to the village, and eventually eaten at a banquet by the villagers and their guests. An annual festival, in honour of the god Sērvarāyan, is held at the shrine on the summit of the Shēvarāyan hill, past which a stream flows. At this festival, in 1904, "on one side of the temple, two long rows of fruit, flower, and grain stalls were erected. Supported on two posts was a merry-go-round with wooden seats instead of boats, the cost of a ride thereon being a quarter of an anna. Women carried their children to a pool of water beside the temple, known as the wishing well, and, after sprinkling some of the holy fluid on themselves and their offspring, spoke their wishes aloud, fully believing