142 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTRAL INDIA. 



They are merely localised by some vague symbol ; the moun- 

 tain god by a daub of vermilion on some prominent rock ; 

 the tree god by a pile of stones thrown round the stem of a 

 tree and so on. At these the simple savage pays his devo- 

 tion, almost furtively, as he passes in the grey of the morning 

 to his day's labour, by a simple prostration, or perhaps by the 

 offering of a handful of rice or an onion ! More elaborate acts 

 of worship are engaged in by the community at certain seasons, 

 and then these primitive powers may be joined with the more 

 personal deities derived from their neighbours in the general 

 act of worship. 



In the next stage the tribes have added certain Fetiches to 

 the list of powers. The principal of these is an iron spear- 

 head called Pharsa Pen, and he is supported by the Bell god, 

 the Chain god, a god composed of some copper money hung up 

 in a pot, shapeless stones, and many other objects, the power 

 attributed to which is purely arbitrary, and unconnected with 

 any natural agency. To this stage appears to belong the 

 medicine man and dealer in witchcraft, who still possesses 

 considerable power among the tribes. These medicine men 

 can scarcely be called priests, and are not a hereditary caste. 

 Their business is to exorcise evil spirits, to interpret the wishes 

 of the fetish, to compel rain, and so on. Some of them seem 

 to have acquired the power of throwing themselves into a sort 

 of trance in which they are visited by the deity ; but in this 

 respect they are far behind the sorcerers of the Byga race 

 further to the east, who will be subsequently alluded to. 



In a still more advanced stage the Gonds have resorted to 

 hero worship ; but it is curious that all the deified heroes they 

 reverence are of purely Hindu derivation. The chief are 

 Bhima, one of the five Pandu brethren, who is represented by 

 his mythical club either in stone or wood ; Hardyal, a Eajput 



