Among the Aryans and Drâvidians.
It is admitted on all sides that this form of worship was general among the Aryan nations;[2] but it is a mistake to suppose, as is too often done, that the worship was peculiar to them. That such was not the case can be proved by numerous examples drawn from the practices of aboriginal tribes in India, who have lived hitherto in such complete isolation, that the worship can hardly be due to imitation of the customs of their more civilized neighbours.
Thus, on the tenth day after a death in the family, the Ghasiyas of Mirzapur, about the most degraded of the Drâvidian tribes, feed the brotherhood, and at the door of the cook-house spread flour or ashes a cubit square on the ground. They light a lamp there and cover both the square and the light with a basket. Then the son of the dead man goes a little distance in the direction in which the corpse had been carried out, and calls out his name loudly two or three times. He invites him to come and sit on the shrine which his descendants have prepared for him, and to consume the offerings which they are ready to present. It is said that if the deceased died in any ordinary way and not by the attack of a Bhût, he often calls from the burying ground and says, “I am coming!” After calling his father’s spirit two or three times, the son returns to the house and examines the flour or ashes, and if the deceased did not die by the attack of a Bhût, the mark of his spirit is found on the flour or ashes in the shape of the footprint of a rat or a weasel. When this is observed, the son takes a white fowl and sacrifices it with a knife near the cook-house, calling to the spirit of his father—“Come and accept the offering which is ready for you!” Some of them strangle the fowl with their hands, and before killing it sprinkle a little grain before it, saying—“If you are really the spirit of my father, you will accept the grain!” Then he goes on to his father’s spirit—“Accept the offering, sit in the corner and bless your offspring!” If the fowl eats the grain, there is great rejoicing, as it implies that the spirit has quietly taken up its residence in the house. If the fowl does not eat, it is supposed that some sorcerer or enemy has detained the spirit with the ultimate object of releasing it some time or other on its own family, with whom it is presumably displeased because they have taken no care to propitiate it. If the soul does not answer from the burial ground, or if there is no mark on the square of ashes, it is assumed that he has fallen into the hands of some Bhût or Pret, who has shut him up in the hollow stalk of a bamboo, or buried him in the earth; in any case there is a risk that he may return, and the rite is still performed as a precautionary measure.
Among the Kharwârs the holiest part of the house is the south room, where it is supposed that the Devatâ pitri or sainted dead reside. They worship the spirits of the dead in the month of Sâwan (August) near the house-fire. The house-master offers up one or two black fowls and some cakes and makes a burnt offering with butter and molasses. Then he calls out—“Whatever ghosts of the holy dead or evil spirits may be in my family, accept this offering and keep the field and house free from trouble!” Many of the Kharwârs are now coming more completely under Brâhmanical influence, and these worship the Pitri at weddings in the courtyard. The house-master offers some balls of rice boiled in milk, and a Brâhman standing by mutters some texts. They are now so advanced as to do the annual service for the repose of the sainted spirits at the Pitripaksha or fortnight of the dead in the month of Kuâr (August).
The other Drâvidian tribes follow similar customs. Thus, the Korwas worship their dead relations in February with an offering of goats, which is done by the eldest son of the dead man in the family cook-house. Their ancestors are said not to appear in the flesh after death, but to show themselves in dreams if they are dissatisfied with the arrangements made for their comfort. On the day on which they are expected to appear the householder makes an offering of cakes to them in the family kitchen. The Patâris think that the dead occasionally attend when worship is being done to them. At other times they remain in the sky or wander about the mountains. Sometimes they call in the night to their descendants and say—“Worship us! Give us food and drink!” If they are not propitiated they give trouble and cause sickness. The Kisâns and Bhuiyârs of Chota Nâgpur adore their ancestors, “but they have no notion that the latter are now spirits, or that there are spirits and ghosts, or a future state, or anything.” The Bhuiyas revere their ancestors under the name of Bîr or Vîra, “hero,” a term which is elsewhere applied to ghosts of a specially malignant character. The Khariyas put the ashes of their dead into an earthen pot and throw it into a river. They afterwards set up in the vicinity slabs of stone as a resting-place for them, and to these they make daily oblations. The only worship performed by the Korwas of Chota Nâgpur is to their dead relatives, and the same is the case with other allied races, such as the Bhîls and Santâls.[3]