Page:Madras Journal of Literature and Science, series 1, volume 6 (1837).djvu/49

1837.]

These tribes are in the mountains.

8. The gods honoured by the Codulu people.—1. Dherma dévata. 2. Savuri-pennuga, a forest-goddess. 3. Jácari-pennuga, a local goddess. 4. Járápennu, so called a Linga dévata, which is their favorite deity. 5. Jurachi-pennuga, the god or goddess of rain. 6. Tada-pennuga, the earth-goddess.

9. The manner of worshipping these deities: 1. If occasion arise to present any offering to Dherma-devata, they take inferior rice and mingling turmeric with it, they hold it up, and worship.

2. To Savuri-pennuga, the so-called forest deity, when the corn flourishes, they bring liquor, fowls, rice, and roasting the fowl, they cause worship (puja) to be made by the Jani, and preparing báji they eat.

3. To represent Jacari-pennuga, the local deity, they fix three or four stones, and near to these (representatives) they place dressed dolls, artificial figures of birds on sticks. On the beginning of any thing, or affair, or any particular occasion, they call for the Jani and slaying fowls and hogs, they bring liquor and making baji, eat

4. To represent Jara-pennu, the Linga-daveta or the Petri-devata they make, in brass, figures of elephants, peacocks, dolls, fishes, these and the like, and keep them in their houses. If affliction happen to any one belonging to the household, or if the country cutaneous eruptions break out on any of them, or if the anniversary of an ancestor's death occur, they put rice into milk, and mingling turmeric with it, they sprinkle the mixture on those images, and killing fowls and sheep, they cause worship to be made by the Jani; and, making baji, eat

5. For Jurachi-pennu the rain-deity, if there be no rain, they kill a sheep beneath a tree, and causing worship (puja) to be made by the Jani, they cook half the flesh for the Jani, and cause him to eat, and the other half they divide among themselves.

6. To Tádá, the B'hu-devata, or deity of the earth, they make the merria-sacrifice, or offering. This puja having been finished, they give from one to three pecks (tumu or maracal) of grain, rice, a fowl, a sheep, (or fowls and sheep) to the Jani (or sacrificer).