At the Smasanākollai festival in honour of the goddess Ankalamma at Malayanūr, some thousands of people congregate at the temple. In front of the stone idol is a large ant-hill, on which two copper idols are placed, and a brass vessel is placed at the base of the hill, to receive the various offerings.
At a wedding among the nomad Lambādis, the bride and bridegroom pour milk into an ant-hill, and offer cocoanuts, milk, etc., to the snake which lives therein. During the marriage ceremonies of the Dandāsis (village watchmen in Ganjam), a fowl is sacrificed at an ant-hill. At a Bēdar (Canarese cultivator) wedding, the earth from an ant-hill is spread near five water-pots, and on it are scattered some paddy (unhusked rice) and dhāl (Cajanus indicus) seeds. The spot is visited later on, and the seeds should have sprouted.
[1] Madras Standard, 2nd June, 1903.
[2] A tarawad means a family, consisting of all the descendants in the female line of one common female ancestor.
[3] The senior male in a tarawad or tarwad.
[4] See Calcutta Review, July, 1901, cxiii. 21–5.
[5] Laterite is a reddish geological formation, found all over Southern India.
[6] Madras Christian Coll. Mag., 1895, xiii., No. 1, 24–5.
[7] The pīpal or aswatha (Ficus religiosa). Many villages have such a tree with a platform erected round it, on which are carved figures of the elephant god Ganēsa, and cobras. Village panchāyats (councils) are often held on this platform.