44 Wilher Theodore Elmore 



They then leave her there and go quietly home by roundabout 

 paths.® 



In some places, in the worship of this Sakti, they bury alive 

 four young pigs at the corners of the village. The pigs are 

 buried with their heads left above ground. Bloody rice is placed 

 in the holes in which the pigs are interred. This is a protection 

 against the Sakti again entering the village. 



Lambadi Sakti is the chief goddess of the Lambadis, a wander- 

 ing tribe of traders well known in South India.^° The Lambadis 

 are undoubtedly an aboriginal tribe, and their worship is Sakti 

 worship having little connection with Hinduism. It is more like 

 the Dravidian worship, and probably has been adopted from it in 

 part. 



When the day for worshiping I>ambadi Sakti arrives, they seek 

 the help of the people who usually officiate in the village worship. 

 The potter makes an image in the usual way, and the Madigas 

 have their usual work. The worship consists chiefly of the buffalo 

 sacrifice, with some modifications. When the buffalo is brought 

 before the image, the pujari takes the sword, and after telling a 

 story of its divine origin,^^ hands it to the Madiga headsman. 

 The Madiga comes forward to receive the sword, but before tak- 

 ing it he stops and removing his shoes, places the right foot one 



^ The Gazetteer of Visagapatam District, I, p. 75, tells of a curious cus- 

 tom among the Khonds, a hill tribe of Dravidian ancestry which has not 

 yet come into Hinduism. When disease appears among them they pre- 

 pare a small car on which is placed one grain of saffron-stained rice for 

 each person in the village. Offerings of blood are made, and then the 

 car is drawn to the next village, to deport the demon. The people of the 

 next village pass it on further, and so it is often kept moving for some 

 time. The Gazetteer of South Arcot, I, p. 93, tells of a method for re- 

 moving sickness. A pot is prepared with offerings of saffron, turmeric, etc., 

 and at the dead of night is broken at some cross-road outside the village. 

 This is certainly to lead the Sakti away by one of the roads, or else to 

 prevent her coming into the village. The Kurnool District Manual, 1880, 

 Sec. II, p. 152, describes a custom in the worship of Peddamma in which 

 the straw temple is pulled to pieces and scattered so that the demoness will 

 not return. 



1° Thurston {Castes and Tribes of Southern India, IV, pp. 207 sq.) 

 gives a full description of these interesting people. 



^1 See the note, page 102. 



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