THE PERSONAL DEJMONS. 355 



The Royal Ancestor of the SiJchim King — the divine Minyak King 

 (stong mi-nyag-gi-lha) in the winter.^ 



"The Country gods" or Yul-lha of Sikhim are, like the analogous 



Penates of the Romans, innumerable, but the chief 



oun y go s. ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ mountain-god Kang-chhen-dso-nga {Ang. 



Kanchinjingna), who is of a mild, inactive disposition, and styled a 



_, ,Tji , 17 T, "Protector of religion," and his suboi'dinate Yab- 



DeJu!" ^^'"=''^'''''" Mud, or "the Black Father_ Devil." This latter is 



of an actively malignant disposition, and rides on 

 the south wind. His especial shrine is in the Tista valley near Sivok, 

 where he is worshijoped with bloody sacrifice. His respectful name as 

 given by Lhatslin Chhembo, who composed for both him and Kang- 

 chhen-dso-nga special manuals of service, is "ma-??2gon /cham-bras." 

 And for him is prescribed actual sacrifice of life : a black ox is to be 

 killed, and the entrails, brain, heart, &c., of it are ordered to be set 

 upon the skinned hide, while the flesh is consumed by the votaries. 

 For very poor people the sacrifice of a cock, as with the ancient Greeks 

 to the destructive Nox and his counterpart Erebus, is considered suffi- 

 cient.^ The ofibring of the sacrifice is in the nature of a bargain, 

 and is indeed actually termed such, viz. " ngo-len," the demon being 

 asked to accept the offering of flesh, &c., and in return for this gift 

 not to trouble the donors. 



In Kang-chhen-dso-nga's worship also flesh meat needs to be given. 



And although the flesh of cows and other cattle is 

 Kang^clSen-'dsS^Dga. ^°^ offered on such occasions, there is a tradition 



that formerly human flesh was offered. And the 

 most acceptable flesh was the human flesh of "the infidel destroyers of 

 the religion." Kang-chhen-dso-nga was never the tutor of Sakya Muni, 

 as has been alleged — he is only a zhi-dak demon. Kang-chhen-dsonga's 

 personality has already been referred to.^ One of his titles is "Head 

 Tiger," as each of the five peaks is believed to be crowned by an 

 animal — the highest peak by a tiger, and the other peaks by a lion, 

 elephant, horse, and a garuda — a bird like the fabled "roc."* 



In every village there is a recognized zhi-dak,^ or " Foundation- 

 owner demon," who is ordinarily either a " black devil " (idud), a 



' The Sikhim King is descended from the Mi-nyak dynasty of Eham in Eastern Tibet— 

 a dynasty which once held sway over Western China, and regarded as semi-divine by the 

 Tibetans. It is said to have been founded by a son of Thi-srong-de-tsan, the Tibetan Xing 

 who was associated with Padma-Sambhava in the foundation of Lamaism. 



^ Moat Sikhimites before sowing a field sacrifice a cock to the demons. 



3 Vide page 263. 



* Vide also page 342. 



' 5'zhi-Jdag, literally " foundation-owner." 



