Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 28, 1917.djvu/184

152 The Ahirs, cattle-graziers in the Central Provinces, at the Diwali festival, go to the cattle-shed and wake up the cattle, crying: Poraiya, god of the door, watchman of the window! Open the door, Nand Gopal is coming!" Nand, the Gopal or cattle-protecting god, was the foster-father of Krishna, himself a god who watches over cattle. Then they drive the cattle out and with branches tied to their sticks chase them as far as the grazing-ground. The meaning of this custom, says Mr. R. V. Russell, who reports the rite, is obscure; but it is said to preserve the cattle from disease during the coming year. I would venture to suggest that it may be a method of stimulating their vigour, and the beating of them with the branches tied to the herdsmen's sticks may be a prophylactic rite intended to disperse evil influences. We are not told that these branches are taken from some sacred tree, but this is probably the case, because it was a Vedic custom to drive the cows from their calves by striking them with a branch of the palasa tree (butea frondosa), which is well known to possess prophylactic qualities.

I have already noticed the Toda custom of chasing the sacred buffaloes intended for sacrifice at the funeral rites. But some further facts supplied by Dr. Rivers are of interest in connexion with the rites under consideration.

As soon as the herd from which the victim is to be selected appears, "the appointed men drop their cloaks and race to meet the buffaloes. The buffaloes are driven on from behind in a more vigorous manner than that to which they are accustomed, are more or less infuriated, and often rush wildly about to avoid the racing Todas, one of whom succeeds in catching the appointed animal, seizing it by the horns, and then hangs round its neck with one hand and seizes the cartilage of the nose with the other. Another of the men seizes a horn and also hangs round the