All this ceremony has been done after milking, and before drinking buttermilk (kaizhvatiti), which is now poured out by the second kaltmokh for the palol, who then go about their usual business. When the first kaltmokh has eaten as much as he can of his ball of food he leaves it on the spot where he has been sitting, and goes with the palol. The Todas say that the food left behind will never be touched by the crows, who will eat any other food.
In the afternoon the palol transact their ordinary dairy business and the kaltmokh returns to his place and resumes the consumption of his ball of food, staying on the spot till the end of the day. When the two palol have gone into the sleeping hut for the night, the kaltmokh goes into the hut after them and may then talk to the other occupants, and after this follows the usual routine.
During the whole of this ceremony the kaltmokh, who takes so prominent a part in it, is called the neurzutpol.
At the other dairies of the Nòdrs ti a ceremony which is obviously closely connected with that which has been [[140]]described is performed at certain stones called neurzülnkars. At Mòdr there are four of these stones (shown in [Fig. 33]), and three of them are rounded and worn quite smooth, probably by much repetition of the ceremony about to be described.
On the day following the migration each palol takes a mòrkudriki, which one fills with milk and the other with butter (pen, not nei, as when rubbed on the kaltmokh). The two palol put milk on the stones and then rub them with butter. There is no cursing and the kaltmokh plays no part in the ceremony. There can be little doubt that the stones are regarded as taking the place of the kaltmokh, for while the latter is performing his ceremony he is called neurzutpol, and the stones anointed in the same way are called neurzülnkars.
The ceremony with the kaltmokh which follows the migration to the dairies of Anto and Òdrtho is one of the most extraordinary of Toda ceremonies. The leading feature of the ceremony appears to be the cursing of the kaltmokh, followed immediately by the removal of the curse. I was wholly unable to obtain any explanation of the ceremony from the Todas, but it seems probable that the kaltmokh is being made responsible for any offence which may have been committed against the very sacred dairies of Anto and Òdrtho. The kaltmokh having been cursed, and so made responsible, the curse is then removed in order to avoid the evil consequences which would befall the boy if this were not done. [[141]]
FIG. 33.—THE FOUR ‘NEURZÜLNKARS’ AT MÒDR. BEHIND THE STONES ON THE RIGHT IS KARKIEVAN, THE ‘PALOL’ OF THE ‘TIIR’; ON THE LEFT IS NERPONERS, THE ‘PALOL’ OF THE ‘WARSIR’; IN THE CENTRE IS THE ‘KALTMOKH,’ KATSOG, CARRYING A SICKLE-SHAPED KNIFE.
It is possible that the kaltmokh is chosen as the person to be made responsible merely because he is the most convenient person to act as the recipient of any evil consequences. It is, however, probable that on this day the kaltmokh does something which he does not do on ordinary days, and thus commits an offence which has to be expiated. On the day of migration the kaltmokh does, as a matter of fact, see the sacred vessels of the inner room which are ordinarily hidden from his gaze behind the screen of the dairy. He sees the mani in its leafy covering, and he may even see the bell itself before it is covered. He also touches some of the vessels of the outer room which he does not [[142]]ordinarily touch, and it may be that the cursing and other features of the ceremony are intended to obviate the possible evil consequences of these acts. At the ancient and sacred dairies of Anto and Òdrtho the ceremony is still carried out in its entirety, but at other dairies many of the chief features of the ceremony have disappeared and all that remains is the anointing of the neurzülnkars, which take the place of the head of the kaltmokh.
When the kaltmokh comes into the sleeping hut on the first night of the ceremony, my informants laid great stress on the fact that the other occupants of the hut must take no notice of the boy, who creeps in after the others have taken their places on the beds, and he must go out in the morning before they show signs of waking. It is probable that the boy had originally to sit all the night in the open air at the appointed spot, and though he is now allowed to come into the hut, no notice is taken of him because theoretically he is not there. It is quite in accordance with Toda ideas that this should be done and other instances of similar procedure will be given.