(17) Ganj Pir:—The shrine of this Pir is near Todia. Vows to offer a quarter of a pound of molasses to this Pir are believed to be efficacious in curing persons of fever and children of their ailments.[57]
There is a Pir in the village of Vadhardun near Viramgām. Persons suspected of having committed thefts are conducted in chains before this Pir. It is said that, if the charge be false, the chains break asunder of themselves.[58]
Apart from the respect paid to the Pirs mentioned above, the Hindus hold in great reverence the tābuts of the Muhammadans.[59]
There are various rural methods in vogue for the cure of barrenness.
One of these is for the barren woman to swallow the navel-string of a new-born child.[60] Another is to partake of the preparation called kātlān.[61]
There are two kinds of preparations which go by the name of kātlān. One is prepared from seven pieces of dry ginger.[62] The other is a mixture of suva,[63] sunth (dry ginger), gundar (gum arabic), gol (molasses) etc.[64] In order to secure the desired effect, the kātlān must be eaten seven times every Sunday or Tuesday seated on the cot of a woman in child-bed.[65]
The longing for a child is also believed to be satisfied by partaking of the food served to a woman, in confinement, sitting on her bed, either on a Sunday or Tuesday.[66]
There is also another preparation which is believed to cause conception. It consists of a mixture of pitpāpdo (Glossocardi Boswellia), sugar-cane and butter. In order to be efficacious, it must be taken on seven consecutive days commencing from the fourth day of the monthly menstrual period.[67]
Conception is also believed to be favoured by administering the gum of the bābul tree dissolved in milk for three days commencing from the third day of the monthly period.[67]
Some believe that, in order to be effective, this mixture must be taken standing.[68] In some places, seeds of a vegetable plant called shivalangi are also administered.[67]