Page:The Indian Antiquary Vol 2.djvu/193

 June, 1873.] COORG SUPERSTITIONS. 169 outside a temple, with a Brahman Pujari, and only at some distance from his Puja-seat re¬ ceives fowl-sacrifices from the hands of the Coorgs. Among the Tulus he holds about the same position; among the Tamilas he seems to bear more of the Demon character. 3. KuttiChatta,a pure Demon that is found also among the Tamilas and Tulus. It means “ the small Chatta (or Satta).” 4. K a r n V a 1 a, i. e. he of the black sword. This is a MalSyala and Tulu Demon. 5. G u 1 i g a (the K u 1 i k a of Sanskrit dictionaries), a stone under a jack or other tree with abundant sap. The Coorgs have this Demon in common with the Tamilas and Tulus. By the Tamilas he is stated to be one of the eight Serpents supporting the eight angles of the world ;• but this idea is not familiar among the Coorgs. One thing, however, connects him with serpents also in Coorg, viz. the notion, though not at all general, that where a G u 1 i g a is, also aNitaor Naga stone ought to be.f G u 1 i g a means either “ he of the pit,” or per¬ haps “ he who is united” (soas to be ringled ?). One or more Coorgs of the house to which a G u 1 i g a belongs go to it once a year with one of the three above-mentioned Mai 5y a las, who breaks a cocoanut, kills a fowl, and offers some arrak (his reward being a quantity of rice). This is done with the object of averting conta¬ gious cattle-disease. If it happens that the Brahmans declare, and are believed, that some G u 1 i g a s have become impure, they are sent to cleanse them with water—for which per¬ formance they are presented with some rice. To the Nata stone, once a year, pfija is per¬ formed by a Brahman, and people from the neighbouring Coorg house go and light lamps to it. 6. K 6 r a g a. This and the next are ex¬ pressly stated to have been introduced by the Tulus. It may mean “ he who cuts into pieces,” or “ he who dries up”—perhaps the sap of the body,—or also “ the snorer.”{ 7. Kallugutti (Kallu-Kutti), i. e. he who strikes with stones. Throwing stones at houses khapftla, Gruliga, Padma, Mahft Padma, K&rkotaka. t Probably on very few of the Coorg Nftga stones is the form of a serpent. Should, after all, in spite of Profes¬ sor Benfey’s ingenious guess (nfiga = snftga, snake), Nft• g a be Dravidian ? N ft t a means smell, stench. J There is a jungle tribe in Tulu called the Koragas, who make baskets and mats of split bamboos. and people is thought to be a trick of certain Demons. 8. Panjuruli (Panji- Until), i.m e. pig- rider. Among the Tulus, from whom he no doubt came, he is represented by an idol on the back of a pig. Brass images of Demons are most frequent with the Tulus. 9. K u r u n d a, i. e. perhaps “ the blind one,” or “the shaky (unsteady) one.” He is a specific Demon of the Coorg Hol&yas or out- castes. 10- Tammacha. A jungle and hunting Demon that receives bloody sacrifices, but no pigs. He is especially the Demon of the M a 16 K u d i y a s, i.e. hill-inhabitants, and is said to sow the cardamom seeds: these spring up whereever a big tree is felled in certain parts of the Western Ghats. II. Females. 1. Chamundi or Chaun d i (Chavu-Undi),§ i. e. either “death-mis¬ tress,” or “ she who preys upon death.” Her name translated into Sanskrit is Mari, the killer. She is also named Masani (S m a - sani), the woman of the burial-place. This Chamundi is always a mere stone, which is sometimes enclosed in a small temple but for which there never is a Brahman Pftjari. She has three other appellations : B e tS Cha¬ mundi, i. e. Hunting-Chamundi, K a r i Chamundi, i.e. dark Chamundi, and Puli Chamundi, i. e. Tiger-Chamundi. Another name isBetfc Masani, and a stone of this appellation is kept by some people in their houses to invoke for hunting purposes. 2. Karingali (Kari-Kd(i), || t. e. the dark black one. She has only one place in Coorg, viz. at the village Kutta, where she is re¬ presented by some stones in an enclosure. She is so terrible that no Coorg of the old school likes to utter her real name; she is therefore generally called “ the deity of Kutta.” An 0 k k a - 1 i g a, i. e. a Kanarese peasant, is her Pujari.^f At her yearly masquerade (Kola, the Canarese fere) Botta Kurubas (hill-shepherds) and MalSyas use to dance, but no Coorgs. Re¬ garding the animals to be decapitated on that § This Demon is throughout Dravidian. bably belongs to this same root. % With the Tamilas the Pfljftris at the pagodas of Durgft are Pa^dftras, a class of agricultural labourers or 6&dras. The Coorgs are peasants or SMras themselves.
 * They are: Vfteuki, Ananta, Takka (Taksha), San-
 * Kftli’s root is Kar, Kal, to be black; Krishna pro¬