Folk Lore Notes. Vol. I—Gujarat

by A. M. T. Jackson

In Gondal there is a temple of Gondalio Nāg and one of Nāgnāth Mahādev. Pure milk is the usual offering made to both the deities. Gondalio Nāg is installed in Durbārgadh and is white in appearance. Newly married couples of high class Hindus untie the knots of their marriage-scarves before this deity. In the Durbārgadh there are tombs of seven ghoris with whose assistance the first king of Gondal is said to have won his crown. There is also a family goddess of the Bhadeja Rajputs in Gondal known as Ashāpuri, a vow in whose honour is believed to fulfil all desires.[71]

There is a female spirit named Meldi in Movaiya who is worshipped by bhuvās on the 14th day of the dark half of Ashvīn. On that day they heat oil in an iron pan and take out cakes from the burning oil with unprotected hands. A goat and a cock are also sacrificed on this occasion, and the meat is partaken of in order to win the favour of the goddess.[72]

There is a bedā tree near Movaiya about which the following story is told. Long ago there was a kanbi (farmer) in Movaiya who used to see a boy moving in front of him with an uncovered head whenever he was ploughing his field. One day the kanbi lopped off the hair from the boy’s head who followed him to his home, entreating him to return the lock of hair. The kanbi however did not heed him, and concealed the lock of hair in a jar containing gram. The boy then served the kanbi as a field-boy, when one day he was asked by his master to take gram out of the jar for sowing. The boy, who was a bhut, found his lock of hair there, and when once he had obtained it, he took a very heavy load of gram to the kanbi and bade him good-bye. But before the boy had fled with his lock of hair, the kanbi begged of him a boon that a bedā tree should grow in his field, where vows could be observed in honour of the bhut.[72]

The villagers in Sayala accompanied by several bhuvās and by musicians who beat the dhols and the dānklān go outside the village to visit the temple of Khodiār Mātā on the 15th day of the bright half of Shrāvan. The bhuvās wind a piece of cotton-thread round the village, and sometimes pour out milk or water in the same place in order to secure its safety from any epidemic. On the same occasion four divers, who are generally healthy young athletes, are presented with an earthen pot each and are made to stand in the village-tank till the water reaches to their necks. They are asked to dive simultaneously in the water at a signal from the headman of the village, and to get out immediately. Each of them is named after one of the four months of the rainy season and the amount of water in the pot of each is supposed to indicate the amount of rain which would fall in the respective months of the next year. After leaving the water the divers break the pots on the spot, and the fragments are taken away by the people, to be kept in their jars of corn, in the belief that they will bring prosperity in the ensuing season. The four divers are then made to run a race on the maidan, and he who wins the race gets a small plough and a cocoanut as a prize. The winner is called hālino-jityo, and it is believed that he will be successful in all his undertakings.

On the same day the bhuvās place a small four-wheeled chariot of the Mātā outside the village, and it is believed that the chariot carries off the plague, cholera and similar diseases with it. Such ceremonies are performed in most of the villages on the Balev holiday (i.e., the Nārel-Purnimā day, or the 15th day of the bright half of Shrāvan).[73]

The foundation of a new settlement is carried out in various ways. A series of unusual accidents befalling the residents of a village makes them doubtful of the security of their residence, and produces a desire to move to a safer home. Very often on such occasions the bhuvās or exorcists are possessed by the Devis, or Mātās, and declare the will of the gods regarding a new settlement. Sometimes a change of home is recommended to the villagers in a dream: sometimes a heavenly voice is said to direct the change, in addressing one of the villagers.[74]

An astrologer has first to be consulted as to the auspicious date on which the boundaries of the new settlement should be marked out. Three or four days before the delimitation, learned Brahmans are sent to purify the chosen site by the recitation of sacred mantras.[75] On the appointed day the headman of the village leads a procession to the site, and performs the ceremony of installing the village gods. It is said that, at the time of founding a new settlement, it is necessary to install and worship the panch-deva or the five deities, namely, Hanumān, Ganpati, Mahādev, Vishnu and Devi. Hanumān is installed at the village-gates, and is propitiated with an offering of churmu and vadān. The images of Ganpati and Vishnu are set up in a central place in the village, temples being built for them in due curse. Mahādev is generally installed on the village-boundary, and has a temple built for him afterwards. Devi may be set up anywhere: her installation is not permanent nor does she receive systematic worship.[76] But more generally only Ganpati, Hanumān and Mātā are installed on this occasion.[77] Occasionally other deities, such as the Earth, Shesh Nāg,[78] the Navagrah (the nine planets), the pole-star and Kshetrapāl are also worshipped.[79]

The village-gates are fixed after the ceremony of installation, and a toraṇ—a string of āsopālav leaves (Jonesia asoka) with a cocoanut in the centre—is fastened across them near the top.[80] Here the ceremony of khāt-muhurt[81] is performed[82] and afterwards the headman, accompanied by a Brahman, who recites mantras, either winds a cotton-thread besmeared with red lac round the village or pours a stream of milk dhārāvādi along the village boundaries.[83] The headman has further to perform the homa at the gates of the village, when a company of Brahmans recite holy passages in honour of Hanumān and Mātā. At the time of the completion of the homa, when the āhuti (an oblation of ghi) is thrown on the fire, all persons present offer cocoanuts to the sacrificial fire.[84]

In some places it is usual to worship the newly chosen site itself, and then to drive into the ground a wooden peg besmeared with red lac, called the khili (peg) of Shesh Nāg, which is first ceremoniously worshipped with red lac, sandal-ointment and rice.[85]

After these ceremonies, the villagers are at liberty to build their own houses within the new settlement. When the houses are complete and ready for habitation, it is necessary to perform the ceremony known as vāstun (or graha-shānti) for the propitiation of the nine planets. Both the day of installing the gods and the day of vāstun ceremony, are observed as festivals, at which Brahmans are feasted, and lāpsi, churmu and kansār are offered to the gods.[86]