Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 25, 1914.djvu/168

 is2  Hook-SwiiiQin(r in India

either until he himself signals or until, in the opinion of those rotating him, he has had his share, and, as soon as he has been taken down, lies on his stomach for the hooks to be extracted by the man who inserted them.. The latter, as soon as this is effected, places his big toe between the puncture marks on either side, and presses with consider- able force to close the wound. So far as my personal observation went, the only act noticed of a possibly ritual nature was that prior to the insertion of the hooks the chief operator touched the ground sharply with his hand, a point that will be considered later.^ At the \allage at which the accompanying photographs were taken eighteen men were "swung" between about 8 a.m. and noon, when the people dispersed, to gather again at night for the village dance with which the festival ended. These eighteen devotees were said to have been chosen by the priest from among a larger number of applicants.

I endeavoured to obtain one of the hooks and some of the rope that had been used, but they were refused me, and it was only after a certain amount of persuasion had been brought to bear, and those in authority were satisfied that I had no unfriendly motive, that the photograph (No. 8) of the chief operator was allowed to be taken. Incidentally I might mention that the inhabitants of the village did not strike me as taking more than a very mild interest in the ceremony, and my friend and I with our cameras certainly exercised a strong counter-attraction, as did also. the "band" illustrated in photograph No. i6 (Plate XIV.).

What follows is based upon information obtained either on the spot, or subsequently ; it was given in all good faith, and on points of fact may be accepted as correct.

In the neighbourhood I write of, "hook-swinging" is per- formed annually as a New Year ceremony on, or as near as possible to, the last day of the month Chaitra, but all villages do not celebrate it on the same day, one of the reasons

^ Infra, pp. 195-6.