186 Haraprasad ^a.stri — Heninaut^ <if BuJdJiiim in BeiKjal. [Dec. 



2. Dhamma is populai-ly said to be a form o£ ^.'iva. This is dis- 

 proTed by the fact that his temples face the East while ^'iva temples 

 face the West. Tlie worship under a tree reminds one of the woi'ship 

 of the Brksa Caityas of the Buddhists or of the Bodhidruma, 



3. The brass nails on the stones representing- Dhamma are said to 

 he his eyes. Now, in the Buddhist Triad Dhamma used to be repi'e- 

 sented by a stfrpa with two eyes on the neck, i. e., just wliere the stone 

 umbrellas begin, and the stiipa was the gi'eat object of wonshiij in a 

 Buddhist Vihfira. 



4. Dhamma is perhaps the only deity, who is worshijjed by 

 other castes than Brahmfans. The Agnris, Goalds, Mayaras, Bands and 

 others may be priests of Dhamma. But Doras are regarded as particu- 

 laidy fit priests for the deity. Now Doms have not as yet admitted 

 brahmauas to be their domestic priests. There are Pandits among Doms 

 who perform all their religious ceremonies for them. Dhamma is said to 

 have given the Doms a boon that they should be his constituted priests 

 and that they should be allowed to drink wine and eat hog's flesh. * 

 Babu ^arat Candra Das quoting from an unpublished work of Tara- 

 nath says, that during the reign of Nasiruddiu, a Dom Buddhist obtained 

 sidJhi or final success and organized taiifrik Buddhism then still pre- 

 vailing in Bengal. 



5. Wherever a Buddhist ruin has been explored, the explorer has 

 been rewarded with a number of votiv^e stupas in clay or stone. 

 Wooden stupas in the form of kaiitas or wooden caskets witli high 

 steeples arc still to be found gracing Dhamma trees. Horses of 

 burnt earth are offered more fi-equcntly than hautas. Some of the 

 Dliamraa Thukuts are said to be Jagrata or wide-awake and that their 

 favour always grants success to the worshiper. Numbers flock to some of 

 Dhamma temples and offer him Pnja for recovery from diseases, gain- 

 ing advancement in life and so forth. The offerings are made over to 

 the priest of the temple, a Dom or Maijard or Teli, and he 2>resents it to 

 the deity. But proud brahmaiias when they offer any votive offering 

 disdain to have it presented by a low fellow and so they bring their 

 own priests. In some temples in the vicinity of large brahm ana popula- 

 tion, there are two priests, one low born, and the other brahmana for 

 presenting votive offerings. In one case the brahmana has completely 

 supplanted his low born rival, and he now worships the deity with Qaiva 

 ynantras and looks upon him as ^iva. But in the daily worship he divides 

 the naivedya, or rice offering, placed on a brass plate in the shape of a 

 cone, into two semi-cones making a trench with his finger, and offers 

 the joint naivedya to the joint deity saying fxf^T^ isj^fl^T^IT^ IT: | 



* See page .335o of Dlianna Jliijgal published at Calcutta in B.S. 1295. 



