chapter I

propose to consider how far these objects are regarded as sacred, and to give an account of some sacred objects not hitherto noticed.

Of the various objects of reverence the following are the most important: hills and rivers; villages, dairies, their thresholds and contents; bells; the buffalo and its milk; trees and plants; the sun, fire and light; and stones.

HILLS AND OTHER PLACES.

Any place connected with the gods is reverenced by the Todas, and this is especially the case with the hills where they dwell. Only some hills, however, are shown reverence by means of the kaimukhti salutation. One of these is the hill of Nòtirzi (Snowdon), and every Toda visiting this hill salutes with hand to forehead in all directions. Another place where a similar salutation is performed is a spot at Avalanche Top. When I visited this place with Kutadri he saluted in all directions with both hands to his face, and told me that a man who once omitted to do this was killed soon after by a tiger. In this case I could not learn that Kutadri was saluting any particular hill or other spot. He seemed to be saluting the region of the Kundahs on which he was about to enter.

There are doubtlessly other places where the same sign of reverence is used.

The sanctity of the hills will be further considered in the next chapter, when discussing in what sense at the present time the gods are believed to dwell on their summits.

RIVERS

There are two sacred rivers, the Teipakh (Paikara) and the Pakhwar (Avalanche), both identified with or inhabited by gods. They are the two largest streams on the Nilgiris, and there are numerous indications of their sanctity. Every Toda crossing either of these streams must put his right arm outside his cloak (kevenarut) while he is doing so. The only exception to this rule is in the case of a widower who is wearing his cloak over his head, and he shows his respect by putting out his right hand below the cloak. On cold days the Todas wrap their cloaks closely around them, and I have often seen them put out their right arms just before they stepped on the bridge near the Paikara bungalow, and put them in again with obvious relief the moment they had reached the other side.

At one time these rivers might only be crossed on certain days of the week. The Toda believed that if they crossed on a Tuesday, Friday, or Saturday, consequences might ensue which could only be set right by the irnörtiti ceremony. This prohibition is no longer in force, but its influence is still shown in another way.

When two matchuni cross either of these rivers in company they usually perform a ceremony to be described on p. 501, but this ceremony is omitted on the three days above mentioned, probably because the people should not properly be there at all.

The palol may not cross either of the rivers except at certain spots which are not the places used by ordinary people. In the old days there were certain fords, and the palol had his own ford. At the present time, when the Todas habitually cross the Paikara by means of a bridge, the restriction is put in the form that “the palol may not cross the river by the bridge.” The kaltmokh also may not cross the river by the bridge except when he is degraded to the rank of perkursol.

There is a small stream near Nòdrs which may not be crossed at a given spot, this being the place where Teikirzi is reputed to have shared out the buffaloes among the Todas.

The only other restriction on crossing water was of a different kind. One who had been bitten by a snake might not cross a stream, and this applied to any stream and not only to the two sacred rivers of Teipakh and Pakhwar.

VILLAGES

It is difficult to distinguish how far the sanctity of a village is due to its dairy. No village without a dairy is regarded as sacred, but there is no doubt that the village itself may have some sanctity, and it is probable that the chief village of a clan which no longer had a dairy might nevertheless continue to be treated with some degree of reverence.

Reverence is shown to every village which is called an etudmad, but this word is used in two senses. The chief village of the clan from which the people of the clan take their name is the etudmad of the clan or madol, but the same name is also given to any village to which any special idea of sanctity attaches, and this is especially marked if its dairy should possess a mani. The sign of reverence paid to an etudmad is the salutation called kaimukhti or kaburlti. Whenever a man comes within sight of one of these villages he purifies his mouth by chewing some grass, and then salutes the village by placing his hand in front of his face in the way shown in Fig. 10. The salutation is performed with the right hand outside the cloak (kevenarut), and if a man is wearing a turban he will take it off, as is shown in the figure.

When a man salutes in this way he may be two or three miles from the village, the salutation being made, according to some accounts, directly the man sees the village, and according to others, not until he sees the dairy. When my guide Kòdrner was saluting the sacred village of Kiudr, I could see neither the hut nor the dairy of this village, though I could see the grove in which I knew them to be. When going from Ootacamund to Paikara by the bridle path the village of Taradr is saluted at a spot about two miles from the village in a straight line.

When a man leaves an etudmad he turns towards the village when it is about to pass out of view, chews some grass, and salutes in the same way as on first viewing it. On all the chief routes over the hills the Todas know the exact spots at which different villages become visible, and I have noticed that the salutation to a given village has been made by different Todas and on different occasions from exactly the same spot.

In a few cases there was some doubt as to whether a given village should receive the kaimukhti salutation or not. It seemed that there were certain etudmad more sacred than the rest, and they would be saluted by every Toda, irrespective of the division or clan to which he belonged, while in other cases the salutation was only obligatory on the members of the clan to which the village belonged, though these villages were often saluted by others who were scrupulous in following the observances of their people. The villages which must be saluted by every one are the seventeen chief villages of the clans (excluding Kidmad and Karsh), and two others, Kiudr and Miuni, the former because it is a satimad (see p. 421) and the latter because formerly the Toda gods used to hold their naim or council there. I made a list of the villages of each clan to which the salutation is paid by the members of the clan, and found that they were villages with dairies of sanctity, and in every case, so far as I could tell, villages of great antiquity. Many of the villages so honoured are mentioned in legend, and I believe this salutation to be a useful indication that a village is ancient. I shall have to discuss later whether Kavidi, near Gudalur, in the Wainad, is an ancient village or one of modern growth, and I attach importance to the fact that it does not receive the kaimukhti salutation even from the members of the clan to which it belongs.

Certain villages are called kalolmad, or “old man villages,” where only buffaloes and men may live. They are usually villages where there is plenty of grass for the buffaloes, and are in general visited for short periods. The only explanation which could be given was that owing to the short time they are occupied it is not worth while to transfer the whole family to the place. It seemed, however, certain that women were definitely forbidden to live at these villages—a village where a woman may live being distinguished as ishnidvaimad—and this suggests that the institution is based on something more than mere convenience, and that the villages have some kind of sanctity which makes it undesirable that women should live in them.

The following are the only existing villages of this kind:—Taradrkirsi, the male funeral village of Kars; Kudrmas and Telgudr, belonging to Taradr; Perg, belonging to the Panol; and Pirsush, belonging to Kuudr.

Three of these, Taradrkirsi, Kudrmas, and Pirsush, receive the kaimukhti salutation, and are certainly ancient and sacred villages, while there was some doubt as to whether Telgudr should not also be saluted. The only kalolmad I visited was Taradrkirsi, where there is now only a dairy, so that there is a clear reason why women cannot live there, but this did not appear to be the reason at other places.

Again, I could not ascertain why they should be called “old man villages,” and their existence must, I am afraid, remain a mystery, though I think we may be confident that there is, or has been in the past, some ceremonial reason to explain their existence.

Two Todas villages are known as satimad. If a dispute arises between two men they are taken to the front of the dairy of the satimad, and are made to state what has happened, and anything a man says under these conditions will be believed. It is thought that if a man does not speak the truth, he will fall sick and his buffaloes will die.

According to some accounts there is only one true satimad, the village of Kiudr, which we have already seen has several signs of especial sanctity, such as the mention of its house in the prayer, the severe restrictions on its women during pregnancy, and the homage rendered to it by Todas of every clan.

According to other accounts the village of Kanòdrs [176] is also a satimad, and Todas of all clans may be brought there to make statements. It seems most probable that both places are satimad, but that the custom of using Kanòdrs as a touchstone of truth is now no longer followed, Kiudr only being used for this purpose. It will be remembered that both Kiudr and Kanòdrs have features of dairy ritual peculiar to themselves, and that in some respects there is a close resemblance between the ritual of the two places.

In his book written in 1832, [177] Captain Harkness says that the Todas have a temple dedicated to Truth, but identifies this with a ti dairy (teriri). It is probable, however, that his statement was based on what he was told of the satimad, either of Kiudr or Kanòdrs.

THE DAIRY

As we have already seen, there is some doubt whether the reverence paid to a village is paid to the village as a whole or to the dairy. There is no doubt, however, that the dairy draws to itself most of the veneration which a village excites.

Whenever a devout Toda visits a strange village, he goes to the dairy, and prostrating himself at its threshold, utters a prayer. My ordinary guide, Kòdrner, was not devout and did not pay this reverence, but his brother, Kutadri, was very scrupulous in performing these duties, especially when he went with me to the Kundahs. I could not obtain from him the prayer that he employed on these occasions.

The contents of the dairy are regarded as sacred, and, as we have seen, definite means are taken to prevent these objects from contamination by the gaze or touch of ordinary mortals. Of the objects kept in the dairy the bells are undoubtedly the most sacred. The most sacred of the vessels is the mu, which is not kept in the dairy but is buried in the buffalo-pen, and is only used on certain ceremonial occasions.

This mu is closely associated with the general sanctity of the dairy. The prosperity of the dairy is dependent on its condition, and it would seem to have very much the same ideas attached to it as we meet in the life-token. It may also be regarded as the emblem of a dairy, and in the case of the funeral hut of Taradr, we have seen that a building becomes a dairy when a mu is placed in its inner room.

In his account of the Todas, Breeks identifies the special name of the dairy with that of the presiding god of the dairy or village. If he is right, it would seem to follow that the Todas personify the dairy in some degree. The use of the name of dairies in such a formula as that used at the end of the irnörtiti ceremony (see p. 303) might be regarded as evidence of this personification of the dairy. I do not believe, however, in this personification, and if the dairy has attained in some measure to the dignity of a god, there is no doubt that this god belongs to a category very different from that of the true Toda gods of the hill-tops.

THE THRESHOLD

As we have just seen, a man in paying reverence to the dairy bows down and touches the threshold with his forehead, and the threshold also frequently plays a part in the dairy ceremonial. The dairyman bows down and touches the threshold of his dairy before entering upon his work, and this is also one of the acts performed on his entrance into office on ordination.

The Teivaliol at an ordination also sweep the threshold with the grass called kakar, and the same grass is used to sweep the threshold of the dairy by the young girl who performs this office on reaching the new village during the migration ceremony (see p. 128). In the tuninörtiti and pilinörtiti ceremonies the offering is laid on the threshold of the dairy, and in the ceremony of uncovering for the first time the face of a boy, the child is put down by his father so that his forehead touches the threshold.

BELLS

These are the most sacred of the sacred objects of the Todas. It is necessary, however, to distinguish three kinds of bells, the mani, the tukulir mani, and the kwungg, and it is only the first of these which has any great sanctity.

The tukulir mani is only used in the koòtiti ceremony of the second funeral (p. 376), and between these occasions is kept by the Badagas or Kotas. I am doubtful whether it is a true Toda object, and suspect that it is a Badaga or Kota bell which is used in a ceremony borrowed by the Todas from one or other of these peoples.

The kwungg is the household bell and is kept in the hut. It is used in the funeral ceremonies on two occasions, being hung on the neck of one of the ordinary buffaloes before the animal is killed, and it is also the bell which is rung in the final scene of the azaramkedr. The bell may be touched or carried by women, and I have seen a kwungg removed from the neck of a slaughtered buffalo by a Kota who handed it to a woman. Though the bell is used in ceremonial, the fact that it may be touched by both Kotas and women shows clearly that it is not regarded as possessing any sanctity whatever. In general appearance, however, the kwungg probably differs little from the mani, being a large bell of the same oblong shape which is characteristic of cattle-bells.

The mani is a bell which, so far as I could ascertain, never has a tongue, though this loss may be nothing more than a sign of its antiquity.

There are several kinds of mani. At the ti dairy there are two distinct varieties: the mani proper which is kept in the inner room and is hung on the neck of a chosen calf of the persinir on the occasion of the migration ceremonies, and the kudrsmani which is kept outside the door of the dairy. The latter appear to have little sanctity, but the former are probably the most sacred of Toda objects of veneration. They are said to be extremely ancient; some are reputed to have come from Amnòdr, and others are believed to have had miraculous origins, one having been born in a vessel of milk while the buffaloes were on their way from Amnòdr, while another came from the sea. The Todas believe that some of these bells are of gold, and one was reputed to be made of three metals—gold, silver, and iron. The bell born in milk is said to be of iron.

It seems probable that each of the more sacred herds at the village had at one time its own mani, and that a clan which possessed both wursuli and kudrpali would have had two bells of this kind or two sets of such bells.

At the present time, many of the clans have lost their sacred bells, and those which possess mani have only one or two of them. My most definite account for the Tartharol comes from Kars, where it is clear that the wursuli has two bells, the same as those reputed to have been hung on the neck of Enmon in the legend of Kwoto. [178] The kudrpali also had two bells which have now been lost, but the place where they used to hang still shares in the dairy ritual and is fed with milk just as the bells would have been if they had been there.

Since it is the wursol who takes the prominent part in the funeral ceremonies of a male, it seems also clear that the bells which are hung on the necks of the slaughtered buffaloes are those of the wursuli, but I did not definitely ascertain whether the bells of a kudrpali might not be used for this purpose, and indeed I am not altogether certain that any rigorous distinction is made between wursuli mani and kudrpali mani.

One striking distinction between the dairies of the Teivaliol and Tartharol was said to be the absence of mani among the former, except in the Piedr clan, and here there was something exceptional, for when this bell is used at a funeral it is hung on the neck of the buffalo by a Tarthar man belonging to Nòdrs. I was often told that, with this exception, the Teivaliol had no mani, and it was only towards the end of my visit that I became aware of the existence in the dairy of Kiudr of six bells called mani, two distinguished as patatmani and four as ertatmani.

Among the Tartharol there was no distinction of this kind, and it seemed that these bells were looked on by the Todas in a different light to other bells, and were not thought of when they told me that the Teivaliol had no mani. It was quite clear that they were not used at funerals. The suggestion which I have made in the chapter on the dairy ritual would provide an explanation of this apparently exceptional position of the Kiudr mani. If Kiudr is the relic of an old ti dairy and the bells are the old mani of the ti, it becomes clear why the bells have their exceptional character, and why they are not used at a funeral, for the bells of a ti would never be allowed to suffer the defilement to which this ceremonial use subjects them.

Most of the mani have milk, curds, or buttermilk offered to them during the dairy ceremonial. The only exceptions of which I heard were some of the bells of the ti dairy, the bell called Keu at the Nòdrs ti, and that called Pongg at the Pan ti, which are not ‘fed,’ to use the common Toda expression.

At the village dairy the ‘feeding’ is a regular part of the dairy ritual, curds being put on the bells in the earlier, and some of the milk from that first brought into the dairy, in the later part of the proceedings. I only heard of one instance in which bells were given buttermilk. This was done with the ertatmani of the Kiudr dairy, and if the supposition given above is correct, this should, therefore, also be the procedure with the kudrs mani of the ti dairy. It is quite possible that this is one of the details of the dairy ritual which escaped me, or it may be that it was a special custom of the ti dairy from which I suppose the Kiudr dairy to have been derived.

Some writers on the Todas have regarded the bells as the Toda gods, and there certainly is some evidence which would justify one in regarding them as idols. The ‘feeding’ is a definite indication that the bells are, to a certain extent, regarded by the Todas as living beings, and in the legendary accounts of the origin of certain bells, belief in their activity is obvious. One bell is born and another comes from the sea and sits on the side of a milking vessel. It is quite clear, however, that the bell belongs to a different category in the religion of the Todas from that occupied by the gods. Possibly the Todas may have some clear ideas about the connexion between their bells, gods, and dairies, but I could not discover them, and am inclined to believe that the people are now very hazy about the exact place of the bell and the god in their theology.

It was quite clear that they believed an offence against the dairy was punished by the gods, and I cannot say definitely that in this case the bell may not have been personified as a god, but I do not think that this was so.

It seems to me probable that the present sanctity of the bell has come about by a process of transference [179] from the buffalo to the object worn by it. Probably at one time the buffaloes were more directly venerated than they appear to be at present. There is evidence that even in recent times the bell-cow or buffalo which carried the bell was an object of especial veneration. In such books as those of Harkness and Marshall, the bell-cow seems to occupy a more prominent position than, so far as I could tell, it occupies at present.

In the present day the mani of the ti is only hung on the neck of a buffalo at the migration from one ti mad to another and at the Nòdrs ti, only for a few minutes even then. At the village dairy, the mani is never, so far as I could tell, put on the neck of a buffalo except at the funeral ceremonies. The idea in the latter case seems to be that a sacred buffalo should wear its bell, and in order that the buffalo slaughtered at a funeral should go to Amnòdr with its bell, the mani is hung on its neck while it is being killed. The legend of Kwoto and Punatvan shows that the bells are believed to travel to Amnòdr with the buffaloes.

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 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 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.

In his book, Captain Harkness (p. 16) states that as the buffaloes of the village are about to be penned for the night, the whole family, male and female, salute them by bringing the hand to the face. So far as I could ascertain, this is no longer done, and the only definite sign of reverence paid to the buffaloes, so far as I could learn, is the salutation made, partly to them and partly to the sun, by the palol when he leaves his dairy. Whenever in my journeys about the hills we came across herds of sacred buffaloes, even those of the ti, no salutation or sign of respect was made by the Todas who were with me, though a dairy, especially if it contained a mani, would receive obvious signs of veneration. Except in connexion with ceremonial there was nothing in the behaviour of the Todas towards their buffaloes to indicate that they were sacred animals, and it seems probable that the sanctity of the buffaloes has been to a great extent transferred,

## partly to the mani and partly to the milk given by the animals.

The milk is undoubtedly regarded as a sacred substance. There are distinct restrictions on its use which become more onerous as one ascends in the scale of dairies, and we have seen that there is reason to believe that the whole complicated daily ritual of the dairy may be designed to neutralise the dangers attendant on the conversion of the milk into substances which may be used by the outside world.

Throughout this book I have spoken of sacred buffaloes to distinguish them from those which take no part in the dairy ritual, but it is a question whether the sanctity does not attach much more closely to the objects connected with the buffaloes than to the buffaloes themselves.

I think it is clear that at the present time none of the Toda buffaloes are so sacred that their milk in the form of ghi may not be used. Some writers have supposed that no profit is made from the sacred buffaloes of the ti, but at present this is certainly not so, and the ghi made from the milk of the sacred buffaloes is sold with the rest and may be used by all.

In earlier days, when the Todas led simpler lives than at present, when the bazaars of Ootacamund and Coonoor were not in existence to act as incentives to the acquirement of gain, it is possible that the Todas did not sell the ghi made from the milk of their more sacred buffaloes, and, as I have already suggested, it is even possible that at one time they were content to allow these animals to suckle their calves and made no use of their milk. Even at the present time a sacred buffalo will not be milked unless it is provided with the appropriate dairy and dairyman. The buffaloes of a ti which has no palol, or of a wursuli which has no wursol, are not allowed to be milked though they may be looked after by other men. With this exception, however, I believe that, at the present time, every buffalo, even of the most sacred herds, is a source of profit by the sale of the ghi which is made from its milk.

The various offerings of buffaloes made in connexion with ceremonial are also not allowed to interfere with the economic value of the animals. In the irnörtiti ceremony of the village, the offered buffalo simply passes from one division of a clan to another, and when a buffalo is said to be devoted to the gods, it does not mean that the owner profits a whit the less on account of the oblation, but only that he may not kill it at a funeral, and must allow it to die a natural death.

Even the slaughter of animals at the funeral ceremonies appears to be managed so as to interfere as little as possible with the profits obtained from the sale of the milk. I think there is little doubt that it is an established custom to kill old and barren buffaloes on these occasions. An animal is not sent to the next world till its owner has got the utmost out of it in this.

Only on one point is it clear that the Todas make no direct gain from their buffaloes. When once a buffalo is dead, the Todas seek no further profit, and the carcases become the property of the Kotas. But even here there is an indirect gain, for the bodies of the buffaloes form a large part of the equivalent received by the Kotas for the many services they render to the Todas.

OTHER ANIMALS

The Todas have so highly developed the cult of one animal that they show few traces of belief in the sanctity of others. I will put together here the whole of the scanty evidence which I possess concerning their relations with animals in general.

The Tiger.—The Todas have a legend that at one time the tiger used to watch over the buffaloes for them during the day and hand over his charge in the evening. One day the tiger was very hungry and its hunger made it angry. When it brought the buffaloes back to the village it saw a cat catching a rat. Then the tiger asked the cat for some of the flesh, but the cat said, “There is no fool like you; why don’t you eat some of the buffaloes you look after?” At that time the tiger usually slept at the village, but on this evening it went into the wood and at midnight came slowly back and took one of the buffaloes out of the pen, and since then it has always done this.

According to another legend (see p. 185), buffaloes have been killed by tigers ever since the arsaiir of the Kwòdrdoni ti failed to come to the general gathering which assembled to bid farewell to Ön when he went to rule over Amnòdr.

Jervis [180] states that the natives of the hills salaam to the tiger. He does not say definitely that it is the Todas who do this, but it is probable that he is referring to them. He also states that the women of the village throw themselves on their knees before a tiger which has been killed, and touch his bristles with their foreheads. I do not know whether these practices are still followed.

As we have seen (p. 417), there is a belief that a man who fails in the performance of certain sacred duties may be killed by a tiger, but the Todas do not appear to fear this animal except on behalf of their buffaloes, and I could only learn of one case in which a Toda had been killed, and as his name was not known it must have occurred very long ago, or may have been altogether mythical.

The Jackal.—I was told by my interpreter that he had seen the Todas saluting a jackal, but I did not hear of any beliefs associated with the practice.

The Sambhar.—The most interesting point in connexion with this animal is the fact that the Todas are undoubtedly permitted to eat its flesh. Kutadri, who was most scrupulous in his obedience to the customs of his people, had no reluctance in eating sambhar flesh, and when he had fallen ill soon after, he never thought of ascribing his illness to what was probably its real cause, which shows clearly that there could have been no idea that he had done anything forbidden or unorthodox.

The fact that the Todas may eat the flesh of the sambhar while taking that of no other animal, except ceremonially, might well be looked upon as an indication that there may at one time have been totemic restrictions on food. In their earlier homes, before they reached the Nilgiri Hills, it is probable that the sambhar was an unknown animal, and could not therefore have been a totem. Consequently, when they came to the Nilgiris, they would have found there an animal on the eating of the flesh of which there were no restrictions, and the absence of restriction would, on this hypothesis, have continued to the present day. The eating of sambhar flesh would be the proverbial exception that proves the rule.

It seems to me possible, however, that there is a different reason for the absence of any prohibition. The Todas have no weapons with which they could kill a sambhar, and if this animal is ever killed by Kotas or Kurumbas, the mere fact that it had been killed by these people would probably be a sufficient reason why the Todas should not eat its flesh.

It is possible that it is only since the advent of Europeans to the Nilgiris, and the extensive slaughter of sambhar which followed it, that the Todas have thought of eating the flesh of this animal, and as no prohibition against the eating of its flesh has been handed down to them, they have no reluctance in satisfying in this way the liking for animal food which the erkumptthpimi ceremony keeps in existence, if it does not actually stimulate it.

The Cat.—This animal, which is called koti or kwoti, is domesticated by the Todas. The cat is mentioned in the legend of the tiger recorded in this section, and the earliest writers on the Todas speak of them as keeping these animals. I have seen them on the walls of the dairies, and believe that they are allowed to go wherever they please. The only occasion on which they come into ceremonial is at the erkumptthpimi sacrifice, where the spleen is specially put aside to be given to the cat, and is on this account called kwotinerûf.

The dog occurs in the story of Kwoten and several other animals are mentioned in the prayers and incantations, chiefly as sources of danger to the buffaloes. In the incantation for the relief of headache given on p. 265, the names of many animals are uttered, probably with the intention that their heads may acquire the pain which is being charmed away from the head of the sufferer.

TREES AND PLANTS

The most sacred tree of the Todas is undoubtedly the tudr (Fig. 58). This name is given by the Todas to two species, Meliosma pungens and M. wightii, the two trees resembling one another closely.

The bark is largely used in the dairy ceremonial, and especially in the ordination ceremonies of the palol and other dairymen drawn from the Teivaliol and Melgarsol. Its use is especially connected with the people of these sections of the Toda community, but the rest of the Tartharol undergo a ceremony at the second funeral in which tudr is used, and this was said to have the purpose that every Toda should be purified with tudr before he enters on the future life.

A log and leaves of tudr are also used in the ceremony of erkumptthpimi, and here it is used by both Teivaliol and Tartharol alike.

The leaves of tudr used in any of these ceremonies must be perfect, and the bark must be knocked off the tree by means of a stone, this being one of the Toda practices which show the persistence of stone implements in ceremonial. The identity of this sacred tree is important, for it may furnish a clue to the home of the Todas. So sacred a tree would almost certainly have been already known to the Todas when they reached the Nilgiris, though it is, of course, possible that it might have been chosen on account of its resemblance to some tree sacred in their past history. The tree has, however, a wide distribution in India.

Pope has suggested that tudr is connected with tulasi, Ocymum sanctum or holy basil. This is a small flowering plant, and it is improbable that there is any connexion between the two plants except a resemblance in name.

Another tree which appears to be especially sacred is the kiaz tree (Litsœa Wightiana). Whenever a tree is used to mark the spot where the mani is laid during purificatory and other ceremonies, the tree must be of this kind. The wood of this tree is used when making fire for most sacred purposes.

The leaves of trees and shrubs are used in various branches of the dairy ritual. Those in most frequent use are various kinds called generically by the Todas muli, three of which belong to the genus Rubus. The young shoots of the same plants are used in the ordination ceremonies.

Grasses are also used in Toda ceremonial, and one of these, a slender grass called kakar (Eragrostica nigra) is used on several occasions, those of especial importance being the ordination of the Teivali palikartmokh and the sweeping of the threshold of the dairy by a girl at the migration ceremony. The same grass is also used in one of the methods adopted to promote speedy delivery in childbirth.

Of the various kinds of grain used by the Todas, that called patm or samai (Panicum miliare) seems to be in most frequent use in connexion with ceremonial, but it cannot be said to be sacred in any way. Barley (kodj) seems to have a peculiar place in Toda belief. The tòratthadi or cooking-vessel of the dairy may not be used for this grain, although any other kind may be boiled in it. On the other hand, three grains of barley are put into the mouth and three into the hair of a boy at the naming ceremony. In explanation I can only offer the surmise that barley is not cooked in the dairy vessel because its use by the Todas is an innovation, and that similarly the use of barley in the naming ceremony is also an innovation borrowed from the Badagas or some other tribe.

THE SUN, LIGHT, AND FIRE

There is no doubt that the sun is an object of reverence to the Todas. It is the duty of every man when first he leaves his hut in the morning to salute the sun by raising his hand to his face in the kaimukhti salutation. The sun is also saluted by the palol as he comes out of his dairy to milk the buffaloes. All my informants were unanimous in saying that the salutation of the palol was both to the buffaloes and to the sun. The doors of the great majority of the dairies faced more or less in an easterly direction, so that the dairyman, on coming out of his dairy in the morning, would see the sun, and when the dairy had a different orientation, as at Mòdr, the palol had to turn so that he would perform the salutation looking eastward. At the afternoon ceremonial the salutation was performed in the same direction as in the morning, so that, so far as the salutation is performed to the sun, it would appear that it is to the place of the sun-rise rather than to the sun itself.

The sun plays a part in the ceremony which takes place when a woman goes to the seclusion-hut after childbirth, but there was some reason to think that this was due to the belief in the noxious influence of the mysterious body, Keirt, which is near the sun, and not to the influence of the sun itself. When performing the ceremony on leaving the seclusion-hut the woman faces the sun, and this may be an act of reverence, since now Keirt is no longer feared. It seemed quite clear that the moon is not saluted in the same way as the sun with the kaimukhti salutation. No salutation is paid at all to the new moon when it is first seen, but after a day or two, usually on the third day, it is the custom to bow down the head, so that the forehead rests on the corner of the putkuli lying on the ground. The salutation is that called nersatiti shown in Fig. 44. I only heard of one custom indicating reverence to the full moon. When the Todas throw away water on the day of the full moon, they do not throw it towards the moon, but away from it. Thus, if the moon is opposite the door of the hut, the people will go round to the back in order to throw the water there. Light is undoubtedly an object of reverence to the Todas. Captain Harkness states that when the household lamp is lighted in the evening, obeisance is paid to it by bringing the right hand to the face, and this sign of reverence is still shown. In the dairy ceremonial the lamp and the light it gives are also undoubtedly reverenced, and lighting the lamp is, as we have seen, an act of a ceremonial character.

In some cases the lamps used in the dairies are certainly very ancient and are believed to have come from Amnòdr, but it is clear that they are not reverenced merely on this account, for a lamp of modern origin would, when once consecrated, be treated with as much reverence as those which had come down from antiquity.

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 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 [181] 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.

At an ordinary village the stones usually belong to one of the following classes:—

(a) Stones to mark off boundaries or places, such as the majvatvaikars, marking the path or spot used by the women in fetching buttermilk from the dairy.

(b) Stones used in the ceremonies in which offerings are made, the irnörtkars and the pilinörtkars.

(c) Funeral stones, at which the buffaloes are killed. These are, of course, only found at funeral villages, but there are certain other stones, such as the imudrikars, which may be found in any village. Such a stone may mark the spot where the body is laid, or may even, as in the case of the imudrikars of Kars, form a mound on which the body is laid.

(d) Stones in or near the tu or buffalo pen, such as the mutchudkars and pudothkars. I do not know the origin or use of these, but in some villages there are stones in the pen marking the places where the mu or dairy vessels are buried, and it is possible that the above stones are in some way connected with the buried dairy-vessels.

(e) The lifting stone or tukitthkars. This is usually a large round stone which sometimes resembles in appearance stones of a ceremonial character. [182]

(f) Commemorative stones. The teidrtolkars of Nòdrs (see Fig. 13), and certain stones with the same name lying between Nòdrs and Teidr, had their origin in events connected with the death of a man belonging to the village of Teidr who was once wursol at Nòdrs. When he was told to milk one of the buffaloes, he replied, “If I milk it, the milk will not fill this place,” pointing to a small depression on his thumb. Still the people told him to milk, and when he did so the milking-vessel was completely filled. Then the palikartmokh was very angry, and, taking the wand which the wursol was carrying, he struck him so that he flew in the air and fell down midway between Nòdrs and Teidr. When the people came to the place they found that the man was dead, and they tried to take up his body and carry it to the funeral place. But the body would not move and so they held the funeral on the spot and made a tu. At the entrance of the tu they placed two women carrying pounders [183] in place of the posts or tüli, and these women were changed into stones and their pounders became the tasth of the entrance of the pen. The stones which are now found on the spot are the remains of the pen and the teidrtolkars of Nòdrs marks the spot where the wursol milked the buffalo.

In the village of Tovalkan there is a mound shown in Fig. 59 which is much like the imudrikars of Kars, but it is of modern origin, having been made to mark the spot where Keirevan (26) fell out of a tree and was killed.

(g) Stones connected with special features of the dairy ceremonial. I only know of one stone of this kind at a village, the pârsatthkars of Nidrsi, on which the palikartmokh puts milk every morning and evening.

Stones are often used for more than one purpose; thus, the irnörtkars of Umgas (see Fig. 72) is also a boundary stone, and the menkars of Nòdrs (see Fig. 12) used for the game called narthpimi, and the teidrtolkars at the same village are also funeral stones at which buffaloes are killed.

I have given a brief list of the chief stones which may be called sacred owing to their coming in one way or another into Toda ceremonial, but I should like to make it clear that no great idea of sanctity attaches to these stones, and in no case are they shown any definite signs of veneration or worship. They, and many of the other objects described in this chapter, are not sacred in the same sense in which the etudmad or the mani are sacred.

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