Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/484

MALAYALI observed, and women are not allowed to be in the village at the time. It is supposed that, if anyone speaks during the ceremony, he will be stung by bees or other insects. The goddess has no image, but is supposed to appear from the surface of the ground, and to glitter like the comb of a cock. Kongalayi has an image, and her worship is accompanied by music. All these goddesses are worshipped every year before the ground is cultivated. The Malaiyālis, like the people of the plains, worship Pattavans. But, on the Kollaimalais, instead of thinking that these are people who have died a violent death, they say they are virtuous men and good sportsmen, who have lived to a ripe old age. The test of the apotheosis of such a one is that his castemen should have a successful day's sport on some day that they have set aside in his honour. They sometimes offer regular sacrifices to the Pattavans, but more usually offer the head of any game they shoot. Sometimes a man will dream of some evil spirit turning Pattavan, and then he is taken to a Strychnos Nux-vomica tree, and his hair nailed to the trunk and cut. This is supposed to free the caste from further molestation. The same practice is observed on the Pachaimalais, if the ghost appears in a dream accompanied by a Panchama. On the Kollaimalais, holy bulls, dedicated to the Srīrangam temple, are taken round with drums on their backs by men with feathers stuck in their hair, and alms are collected. When these animals die, they are buried, and an alari tree is planted over the grave. This practice is, however, confined to Vaishnavites, and to a few families. Saivites set free bulls called poli yerudu in honour of the Anaplēsvaram god. These bulls are of good class, and, like the tamatams, are honoured at their death.