On the Sunday morning the tuninörtpol comes with some companions, all having abstained from food. The palikartmokh, who must be of the same kudr as the other men at the village, goes to the front of the dairy and one of the men calls out, [[306]]“Tuninörtpol bon!”—“Cloth giving man, come!” The tuninörtpol, who is standing at an appointed spot not far off, goes to the dairy, lays the tuni at its threshold, and bows down, touching the cloth with his forehead. While he is doing this the palikartmokh prays in the inner room of the dairy and the men staying at the village pray in the outer room. Then the tuninörtpol enters the dairy and is given buttermilk and food by the palikartmokh, after which he stays in a wood near the dairy all day and returns to the village where he is living after night-fall. The people of the receiving kudr stay at the village for a month, at the end of which they have a feast and then all return to their own villages.
Pilinörtiti
In this ceremony a man gives a silver ring. The offering is differentiated from those already described in that it may be given to bring about the removal of misfortunes which are not due to any offence committed by the man. In some cases, however, the ceremony may be undertaken as an atonement for an offence. Kòdrner, my guide, had to give a ring to the dairy at Kiudr in the general distribution of penalties which followed my visit.
The custom of pilinörtiti is limited to certain villages or clans. According to some accounts it is only followed at the villages of Kiudr and Kanòdrs, noted for the special sanctity of their dairies. According to others the ceremony is performed by the Karsol at the dairy of Kuzhu, and at Nidrsi I was shown a small stone, almost completely buried in the ground, which was called the pilinörtkars, and this indicates that the ceremony was also at one time performed at this village. The ceremony is certainly of especial importance at Kiudr, and the following description is of the procedure at this place.
If a man has no children, or if he becomes ill, or if his buffaloes give no milk, he may make a vow to do pilinörtiti. If he is a member of the Kuudrol, the people of the kudr to which he does not belong go to the dairy. The offerer of the ring sleeps the night before in the dairy of his village and goes [[307]]in the morning with one companion to Kiudr, taking care that no one sees him by the way. Both must go without food.
On reaching Kiudr the two men go to the stream called Keikudr[12] which flows between the dairy and the dwelling-huts, and after washing hands and face in the stream they wait there. The people of the other kudr who are in the dairy light a lamp and place it between the two rooms, and then one goes to the door of the dairy and calls out three times “Pilinörtpol bon!” The men at the stream are not within sight, but they hear the summons and come to the front of the dairy. The men in the dairy lay the tuni of the dairyman at the threshold and the pilinörtpol places the ring on the cloth and bows down, touching the cloth with his forehead, and prays as follows:—
Tânenmâ, May it be well, târmâmâ; may it be well; atch little kar calf tâ give mâ, may, atch little mokh son tâ give mâ; may; kar calf kulâth, not refuse milk, kar calf kuleiti take milk tâ give mâ, may, kar calf nesâth, not kick away, neseiti stand tâ give mâ; may; opath once ûtm meal âthi it is punerd twelve kwar years arki vow madi; will; nû may there be ârk mâ; no disease; nudri may there be ârk mâ; no trouble; kazun may there be ârk mâ; no kazun; per may there be ârk mâ. no Tamil.
The free rendering of this prayer was said to be as follows:—
“May it be well; may my buffaloes have calves; may I have children; may my calves have milk, and may they not be kicked away by their mothers; as surely as I am shortly to take food, do I make my vow for ever and ever; may I and my buffaloes be free from disease; may no evil befall me; may there be no kazun (see p. [403]) to kill me; may no Tamil or other outsiders come to disturb me.”