Irnörtiti to the Ti
Another kind of offering is to give a buffalo to one of the ti dairies. This is called irnörtiti, but must be distinguished from another kind of irnörtiti to be presently described. A man gives a buffalo to a ti when he has committed any offence against the ti. In one case in which I have a record of this kind of offering, the cause was the refusal of a man to become palol after he had promised to undertake the office. One of the results of my visit to the Todas was a wholesale sentence from the teuol that the people were to do ti irnörtiti (see p. [310]).
The Tartharol may sometimes give buffaloes to the herds of a ti when they have not committed any offence against the dairy. This is done when the buffaloes of the ti have become [[294]]very few in number, and this offering is also known as irnörtiti, and is given with the same ceremonial as when an offence has been committed.
The gift of a buffalo to the ti dairy must take place on a Thursday or Sunday. On the morning of the day the man making the offering, who is called the irnörtpol, abstains from food and goes to the ti mad with a female calf between one and two years of age. He may be accompanied by other men, usually those closely related to him. The men go to the outskirts of the dairy and wait there till the morning business of the dairy is concluded, each man carrying a green stick, either a kwadrikurs or avelashkikurs. When the palol has finished his work he goes towards the men on the outskirts of the dairy, also carrying a stick of the same kind, and as he approaches, the other men drive the calf towards him, and when it reaches the palol, he drives it so that it joins the buffaloes of his herd. The palol then gives food to the irnörtpol and his companions, who eat it on the spot, where they remain till after sunset, when they return home. If the calf given belongs to the putiir, it becomes one of the punir of the ti, but if it is of one of the sacred kinds, pasthir, wursulir, &c., it joins one of the sacred herds of the ti.