Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 24, 1913.djvu/492

454 produces sickness. The two yumnaks known as Hijam and Salam are the guardians of the mother and her four children. In each family there is a nonglamba, who has to keep himself undefiled, attending no cremations, always using "clean" fire, and doing no cultivation. When a rain puja has to be performed, these two men must keep away from women for five days, and then they go to the cave in clean clothes, with some men of their families carrying the rain shields used by Nāgas. A "lay-out" somewhat similar to those already described is made, and then, after a long invocation, one of the nonglambais, with the help of a hoe and a dah, removes one of the stone children and rolls it into a cloth used by women for carrying children. In this he conveys it to the Iril, and submerges it. He will not touch the stone on any account. The stone child will cry to be returned to its mother, and Sorārel will send the rain. Should he, however, not do so, the ceremony may be repeated twice more, but on no account may all four stones be taken from the mother. That would be too cruel. After the rain has come the stones are replaced.

While the Raja's raceboats are in the river rain is sure to fall. Just outside the sacred enclosure in the old palace there was a spot in which the heads of enemies were buried; to pour water on this through bamboo pipes from the top of the kaugla, or throne room, for five days, was certain to produce rain. Another method was for the Raja and all his wives, with their servants and followers, to pour water on to Yumjao Lairema's shrine, and thoroughly deluge the whole house and each other, exchanging filthy abuse all the time.

The invocation used when calling rain is very lengthy. It commences with an enumeration of all the hills in the neighbourhood whence the rain is supposed to come, and calls on them to send rain and make the rivers increase. It then goes through a long list of insects, which it says are stretching themselves, with stiff backbones and wide open