Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 24, 1913.djvu/446

418 several demons appear (Plate IX.). The former is a man wearing a huge framework covered with white cloth, bearing some resemblance to a crane. The demons have bull-headed masks and dresses made of ropes of jute. They burlesque the actions of the dancers, and indulge in rough play with each other. Finally, first the chief demon, and then the crane, are attacked by the boys, who belabour them so with their wands that they have to be rescued by the stage managers. There are many such religious plays and dances, and every temple has a dancing house attached to it. To build a temple and a dancing house, and maintain a Brahman, is the great object of a well-to-do Manipuri. Children are specially trained to dance these sacred measures correctly, and, as each festival approaches, the juvenile performers may be seen hard at work rehearsing under the supervision of professional teachers.

The Brahmans of Manipur are reputed to be learned and devout, and are distinctly conservative. Among the elderly people there are many really devout Hindus, and large numbers of them may be seen patiently plodding up and down the steep inclines of the road leading to Silchar, on their way to the various holy places of Hindustan. There is much genuine love of Krishna, and among the younger generation, which has had the advantage of a free education, a general desire to know more of the principles of the religion which they profess. I cannot agree with Mr. Hodson's verdict that, judging by what they do, we must class the Meitheis as animists. Whether you call them Hindus or not depends entirely on which definition of a Hindu appeals to you. The difficulty of defining a Hindu is well known. To quote from The Pioneer of December 14, 1912,—"Mr. Gait suggested tests whereby Hindus might be detected from Animists, but it is a remarkable fact that the Census Superintendents of Mysore,