The following may be suggested as a sketch of the probable evolution of the sanctity of the bell. At one time the buffaloes were the chief sacred objects of the Todas. Then this sanctity was concentrated in the persons of the bell-buffaloes, and later became partially attached to the bells, and the Todas then probably reached a stage in which it was doubtful how far the sanctity of the bell-buffalo was due to its position [[428]]as chief of the herd, and how far to the bell it carried. It is possible that this was the stage of evolution of the idea in which the earliest visitors to the Nilgiris found the Todas. We may suppose that gradually the sanctity became more and more attached to the bell, less and less to its possessor, until now the Todas seem to have reached a position in which the bell-buffalo has little or no sanctity above its fellows, and the sanctity resides almost wholly in the bell. The original use of the bell now only survives in the ritual accompanying the migration of the ti buffaloes and in the funeral ceremonies.
There is one small fact which may perhaps be taken to indicate that the word mani is now applied to any object of a sacred or magical nature. The armlet put on the wrist of a child at the naming ceremony is called kansutimani. If the last part of this word is the same as the name of the bell, it would seem to indicate that the word may be used for an object the significance of which is magical rather than religious, and in connexion with a practice which has probably been borrowed.
Relics
The Todas have a few relics of heroes which are regarded as objects of veneration, and are kept in the dairies. One of these, which is believed to be the armlet of the Kars man who went with the ti buffaloes in the story of Kwoto, is kept at Kuzhu, and has milk put on it during the dairy ritual in the same way as if it were a bell.
Another object is the ring of Kwoten which was found on the sambhar skin after the disappearance of this god. I saw this ring, which is of silver and far more massive than the rings worn by the Todas at the present time. Breeks states that in his time the Todas also claimed to have had in their possession the spear of Kwoten.
The Buffalo and its Milk
In discussing the sanctity of the bells of the Toda dairies we have seen that there is some reason to think that these [[429]]objects have attained their sacred character, at any rate in part, by a process of transference of sanctity from the buffaloes by which they were borne.
It is in favour of this view that the buffaloes seem at one time to have been more sacred, or to have received more definite signs of reverence than at the present time. The evidence of the legends points to a time when buffaloes were regarded as having anthropomorphic characters, and they probably indicate a belief in the sacred nature of these animals. When the buffaloes of the Nòdrs ti first came from Amnòdr, they talked like men, and the buffalo who founded the ti mad at Makars was a very human animal.