I did not learn that any sign of reverence is paid to fire, but the fire of the dairy may undoubtedly be said to have a sacred character. Whenever a new dairy is visited or an old dairy is reconsecrated in connexion with the pepkaricha ceremony, fire is made afresh by friction. Once made, it was, so far as I could learn, kept continuously alight; if on any occasion the fire should go out, it would have to be made again by friction. In the ti dairy there are two fireplaces, one in which fire burns continuously, while the other is lighted by brands transferred to it from the other, and the lamp is lighted by a brand taken from this sacred fire. Here it would almost appear as if the former fire had a profane character, so that it would be regarded as desecration to light the sacred lamp directly from it.
The fire of the tòratthwaskal is used to cook food which has come from outside, and the use of an intermediate fire to light the lamp is in keeping with the general law of the procedure of the ti dairy, according to which the sacred objects are prevented from all possible contamination from the outer world by employing vessels or other objects as intermediaries.
Fire has also to be made by friction in other ceremonies, and especially at those called teutütusthchi and erkumptthpimi and at the funerals of males. At the first ceremony the fire is made by the palol, and at the second by the dairyman conducting the ceremony. At the azaramkedr of a man the fire is made by a man of the same clan as the deceased, and this [[438]]is probably also the case at the first funeral ceremony. I did not definitely ask whether fire by friction is ever made by a woman, but I am fairly confident that this would never happen.
I only heard of one case in which men were prohibited from making fire. The Kidmadol and Karshol, who suffer under several disabilities, are not allowed to make fire by friction, and this is due to a quarrel with their parent-clan many years ago.
Whenever fire is made for a sacred purpose[6] the fire-sticks must be of the wood which the Todas call kiaz or keadj, except in the tesherst ceremony, in which the wood of muli is used.
There are also definite regulations as to the kind of wood which is to be burnt in the fires of all ceremonial occasions. In various ceremonies I have recorded the Toda names of the woods prescribed, and if more were known about their identity, it is possible that some light might be thrown on the original home of the Todas, in the same way as has been suggested in the case of the sacred tudr tree.
Stones
The Todas have many stones which may be held to have some degree of sanctity; certainly many have their place in the religious ceremonial. All these stones have names, either general or individual, but two stones with the same name need not necessarily have the same function.
At the ti there are stones marking the spots where the dairy vessels are taken up and put down during the migration ceremonies, but the most interesting stones at these dairies are those called neurzülnkars. At several dairies these stones are anointed, and their appearance indicates that they have undergone the process for very long periods of time; at other places they are so weathered and worn away that they must obviously be of great antiquity. At some dairies of the Nòdrs ti these stones take the place of the head of the kaltmokh in the ceremonies accompanying migration, but at other places they are said to have different uses. [[439]]