In most cases the buffaloes are then milked, but at Anto and Òdrtho, before milking, the palol begins an extraordinary ceremony, in which the kaltmokh is concerned, which is continued till the following day.
For this ceremony food is especially prepared by the palol. He mixes husked grain (patcherski), brought by the Badagas who accompany the procession, with buttermilk and jaggery,[6] spreads butter on the mixture, and, putting it on a kakud leaf, takes it out to one of the two kaltmokh who is sitting in a given place about ten yards from the dairy. The kaltmokh must now stay on this spot till the evening.
After the palol has milked, he takes food himself and gives it to the mòrol. Before going to rest for the night a ceremony is performed called irtupadrchiti, “he prays for the buffaloes at the tu.” The two palol go to the front of the tu[7] in which the buffaloes have been put for the night and they pray, using the kwarzam of the ti and of the gods only. They then go to the sleeping hut, where the second kaltmokh has swept the floor and prepared a fire. When the palol come to the hut they bawl out in a high key three times and the kaltmokh does the same and they go to bed, the two palol occupying one bed (tün) and the mòrol and the second kaltmokh the other. After they have been in the hut some time, the first kaltmokh, who has been sitting till now outside at the place where he was given food, creeps into the hut and lies down to sleep between the two beds without any covering. No notice of him must be taken by the other occupants of the hut.
The following day is called punirsnol. In the early morning, before the others are awake, the first kaltmokh must get [[138]]up, light the fire, warm himself, and then go out and sit on the same spot as on the previous evening. He remains there till the two palol come to him to continue the ceremony in which he is concerned.
When the palol rise they do their usual work, and when they have milked they perform a ceremony called karkutkîrsiti,[8] in which the calves are prayed for in the same way that the buffaloes were prayed for on the previous evening. The second kaltmokh collects the calves in the pepkarmus, or milking-place of the buffaloes, and the two palol, each with empty kwoi and with kwoinörtpet, pray as on the previous evening using the kwarzam of the ti and some of the kwarzam of the gods, and then bawl out in a high key three times in order to scatter the calves.
The ceremony with the kaltmokh is then continued. Each of the palol takes the vessel used for ladling buttermilk (mòrkudriki); one palol fills his vessel with the milk of punir and the other fills with nei (clarified butter). Each leaves his dairy, and they both call to the kaltmokh, who comes to the threshold of the ti poh, and stands there while the two palo, mix the milk and nei. The kaltmokh is then told to hold out his hands, and each palol pours out the mixture into the hands of the boy, who rubs it over his head first, and then all over his body. After the kaltmokh has thus been bathed in milk and nei, the three people walk in procession to the spot where the kaltmokh had been sitting, the kaltmokh going first, followed by the wars palol and the ti palol in order. As they walk, the two palol say the following words:—
Köda die mâ; may (he); pîrzi tiger puti catch vurmâ; (him) may; pob snake ers bite vurmâ; (him) may; per steep hill pûdith fall down vurmâ (on him) may; pâkh river pûdith fall vurmâ (on him) may[9]; pudi wild boar eri bite mâ; may; kâdr wild beast pat hold (catch him) mâ; may; kedrman bear par carry (him) away mâ. may. [[139]]
When they come to the spot where the kaltmokh had been given the food, the boy remains standing there while the two palol turn round and walk back in the dairy, saying:—
Köda die mâ, may (he), idvaik, as was said, ultâmâ; may he be well; pîrzi tiger par carry away mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, para carry away vômâ; may not; per steep hill pur fall mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, puva fall vômâ; may not; pòb snake eri bite mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, eria bite vômâ; may not; pâkh river pur fall mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, puva fall vômâ; may not; kâdr wild beast pat mâ, catch may, idvaik, as was said, pata catch vômâ; may not; kedrman bear par carry away mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, para carry away vômâ; may not; pudi wild boar eri bite mâ, may, idvaik, as was said, eria bite vômâ. may not.
The ti palol then enters his dairy and brings out an especially large ball of the food called ashkkartpimi, more than can possibly be eaten at one sitting. It is given to the kaltmokh, who sits on the same spot as before, and eats as much of it as he can.