JUNE, 1873.]

COORG SUPERSTITIONS.

outside a temple, with a Brahman Pājāri, and only at some distance from his Pūjā-seat re

169

and people is thought to be a trick of certain Demons.

ceives fowl-sacrifices from the hands of the

8. Panju ruli (Panji-Uruli), i. e. pig

Coorgs. Among the Tulus he holds about the same position; among the Tamilas he seems to

rider. Among theTulus, 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. Kurun dia, i. e. perhaps “the blind one,” or “the shaky (unsteady) one.” He is a specific Demon of the Coorg Hólēyas or out

bear more of the Demon character.

3. Ku t t i Chā t t a, a pure Demon that is found also among the Tamilas and Tulus. It means “the small Chätta (or Sätta).” 4.

Karu Vála, i.e. he of the black sword.

This is a Malūyāla and Tulu Demon. 5. Gu liga (the Kulika 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 Gulig a is, also a Nåta or Nāg a stone ought to be.t Gul ig a means either “he of the pit,” or per haps “he who is united” (so as to be ringled?). One or more Coorgs of the house to which a G uliga belongs go to it once a year with one of the three above-mentioned Malëyālas, 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

Gul ig as have become impure, they are sent to cleanse them with water—for which per formance they are presented with some rice. To the N at a stone, once a year, pājā is per formed by a Brahman, and people from the neighbouring Coorg house go and light lamps

castes.

10. Tam mac ha. A jungle and hunting Demon that receives bloody sacrifices, but no pigs. He is especially the Demon of the Malé Kudiya 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 Ghâts.

II. FEMALEs. 1. Châm undi or Chaun di (Chā vu- Un di),S i. e. either “death-mis tress,” or “she who preys upon death.” Her name translated into Sanskrit is Māri, the

killer. She is also named M as a ni ($ m a. s à ni), the woman of the burial-place. This Châm undi is always a mere stone, which is sometimes enclosed in a small temple but for which there never is a Brahman Pājāri. She has three other appellations : B & tº Chá m undi, i. e. Hunting-Chāmundi, Kari Chàm und i, i. e. dark Ch a mund i, and Puli Châm undi, i. e. Tiger-Chāmundi. Another name is B & t & M as an i, and a stone

of this appellation is kept by some people in their houses to invoke for hunting purposes.

2. Karing a li (Kari-Kāli), i. 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

to it.

is so terrible that no Coorg of the old school likes

6. Kör a ga. 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.”f 7. Kallugu t ti (Kallu-Kutti), i.e. he who

to utter her real name; she is therefore generally

Malëy as use to dance, but no Coorgs. Re

strikes with stones. Throwing stones at houses

garding the animals to be decapitated on

• They are: Wàsuki, Ananta, Takka, (Taksha), San

khapāla, Guliga, Padma, Mahā Padma, Kārkotaka. + Probably on very few of the Coorg

Nāga.

-

stones is

the form of a serpent. Should, after all, in spite of Profes sor Benfey's ingénious guess (n fig a = snåga, snake), N A -

g a be Dravidian * Nºt a means smell, stench, . † There is a jungle tribe in Tulu called the Köra gas, who make baskets and mats of split bamboos.

called “the deity of Kutta.” An Okka liga, i. e. a Kanarese peasant, is her Pājāri." At her yearly masquerade (Köla, the Canarese

tàrà) Botta Kurubas (hill-shepherds) and that

§ This Demon is throughout Dravidian. || Käli's root is Kar, Kal, to be black; Krishna pro bably belongs to this same root. T With the Tamilas the Pājāris at the pagodas of Durgā are Pandāras, a class of agricultural labourers or Šadras. The Coorgs are peasants or Südras themselves.