Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 24, 1913.djvu/482

444 vessel are kept for the god's use. Although every Manipuri worships this god every day in his own house, yet for a Rajkumar to do so, offering gold at one of the regular lai-phams, is tantamount to claiming the throne, and in the old days, when a capability to seize and hold it was the chief qualification for the throne that a Rajkumar required, very strict precautions were taken that none should get a chance of approaching any of these shrines. Senamahi has already been mentioned as one of the original nine Umanglais, and also as the son of Yumjau Lairema, but why he is a special royal god I have not been able to find out. But he is not the only one; I have already mentioned Wāngpurel, to whom the same prohibition attaches, and there are some others. In the centre of the north wall of each Manipuri's house is the shrine of Yumjau Lairema or Laimaren. Here an earthen pot full of water, with a lid, is always kept. The third deity in the house is Phunga Lairu. In each house there are two fireplaces, one for cooking and one for warmth. The latter is called Phunga, and is placed in the centre of the house, and to the west of it is a hollow containing an earthen pot; the hollow is roofed over with a clay dome, in the centre of which is a small hole through which offerings of rice are dropped into the pot. At this place also offerings are made to Phunga Lairu in case any member of the household be sick.

Sorārel, the sky god, is specially worshipped at the Loi village of Phayeng, where in April the maiba strangles a white duck and white pigeon in honour of this god. The flesh of the birds is cooked and eaten by four men who are chosen for the purity of their lives and who, for the day of the sacrifice and the preceding night, are isolated in a specially prepared house, where they cook their own meals, using "clean" fire made by flint and steel. During their isolation they must not touch any female, nor have any dealings with their families. Sorārel is claimed by the people of Phayeng as an ancestor, and in Andro, the people