Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 11, 1900.djvu/32

 22 TJie L ege n ds of Kr ish n a.

about the middle of March. The image of the god is carried on a swing or placed in a seat or cradle, which as soon as the dawn appears is set quietly in motion for a few turns. This is repeated at noon and again at sunset. During the day, as at the Holi in Northern India, a good deal of horseplay goes on, sprinkling of coloured powder and water, abuse of women, and so on.^ In Northern India^ at the Tij or third day of the month Savan, in the autumn is a woman's feast, when they bathe, dress in their best, and swing in merry-go-rounds.^ In the month of Savan in Bengal, Dharmaraja, who is here probably identified with Yama, god of death, has a feast where swinging goes on.^ The rite of swinging Krishna is also performed at Jaggan- nath, and Mr. Pegge gives an illustration and account of the rite, while in Bombay a special fair of the same kind is held at Yellama's Hill.^ The Bengal hook-swinging rite, at which devotees torture themselves and some swing with hooks passed through the loins, has been often described. It prevailed in many parts of the country, and instances have been reported in quite recent times. The swinging of the god Lingo is prominent in the Gond Epic, and the swinging of witches is still common among some of the jungle tribes.^

These swinging rites prevail in many parts of the world. In Greece we have the Aiora, which is based on a legend that Dionysus was received by Icarius and taught the culture of the vine. Icarius gave some of the wine to the neigh- bouring peasants, who believed that they had been poisoned by it, and slew him. When they came to their senses they buried him, and his daughter, Erigone, guided to the grave

' Wilson, Essays, ii.,224 seqq. ; Ward, Hindoos, ii., 171 ; Monier Williams, Hinduism and Br&hmanism, 430.

2 North Indian Notes and Queries, iv., 149.

3 Ibid., i., >].

■* Pegge, Orissa Mission, 1 18 scqq. ; Bombay Gazetteer, xxi. , 613.

^ Hislop, Aboriginal Tribes, App. 28 ; compare Ling Roth, loc.cit., i., 368.