12. Religion.
At the head of the Munda pantheon, Sir H. Risley states,[15] stands Sing-Bonga or the sun, a beneficent but ineffective deity who concerns himself but little with human affairs. But he may be invoked to avert sickness or calamity, and to this end sacrifices of white goats or white cocks are offered to him. Next to him comes Marang Buru, the mountain god, who resides on the summit of the most prominent hill in the neighbourhood. Animals are sacrificed to him here, and the heads left and appropriated by the priest. He controls the rainfall, and is appealed to in time of drought and when epidemic sickness is abroad. Other deities preside over rivers, tanks, wells and springs, and it is believed that when offended they cause people who bathe in the water to be attacked by leprosy and skin diseases. Even the low swampy rice-fields are haunted by separate spirits. Deswāli is the god of the village, and he lives with his wife in the Sarna or sacred grove, a patch of the primeval forest left intact to afford a refuge for the forest gods. Every village has its own Deswāli, who is held responsible for the crops, and receives an offering of a buffalo at the agricultural festival. The Jubbulpore Kols have entirely abandoned their tribal gods and now worship Hindu deities. Devi is their favourite goddess, and they carry her iron tridents about with them wherever they go. Twice in the year, when the baskets of wheat or Gardens of Adonis are sown in the name of Devi, she descends on some of her worshippers, and they become possessed and pierce their cheeks with the trident, sometimes leaving it in the face for hours, with one or two men standing beside to support it. When the trident is taken out a quid of betel is given to the wounded man, and the part is believed to heal up at once. These Kols also employ Brāhmans for their ceremonies. Before sowing their fields they say—
Thuiya, Bhuiya,[16] Dharti Māta, Thākur Deo, Bhainsa Sur; khūb paida kariye Mahārāj;
that is, they invoke Mother Earth, Thākur Deo, the corn-god, and Bhainsāsur, the buffalo demon, to give them good crops; and as they say this they throw a handful of grain in the air in the name of each god.