1 6 Wilher Theodore Elmore 



stone or a crudely graven image is the only occupant, and to these 

 images the people pay their devotions. There is also another 

 class of images which may very seldom be seen. These are tem- 

 porary images which are made for worship on a single occasion, 

 and then are deserted or thrown away. 



Practically all of the people except the Brahmans join actively 

 in the worship of these minor gods, and the Brahmans are by no 

 means indifferent. The most of the sacrifices are of slaughtered 

 animals, hence usually a Brahman will not act as priest. An oc- 

 casional exception, however, is found. The Brahmans quite com- 

 monly direct some parts of the worship, and often are present, 

 usually standing at a distance.^ They admit that these deities are 

 powerful demons, and so are not to be neglected. One Brahman of 

 education explained his position in the matter to an English official 

 as follows : " I attempt to win the favor of the collector because 

 he may promote me, but I pay blackmail to the Kollans too. Of 

 what good is the collector's friendship if the Kollans steal my 

 bullocks? "^ In his illustration the collector represented the Brah- 

 manic deities and the Kollans the minor gods and demons. 



The characteristics which distinguish these Dravidian deities 

 from the Brahmanic gods are in general as follows.* In the first 

 place the Brahmanic gods usually have some kind of a divine his- 

 tory. They have some legendary birth in the abode of the gods, 

 and appear on the earth in various avatars. The Dravidian gods, 

 however, are usually local in their origin. Their history com- 

 monly begins on earth, often as the ghost of some person who has 

 died. In the thought of the people also, the Dravidian gods are 

 local. Each village has its own deity, a fact which has given rise 



2 At a great festival for Kulagollamma in Kavili, Nellore District, Sept. 

 5, 1913, I saw large numbers of Brahmans standing on an elevation watch- 

 ing the beheading of buffaloes and the drawing of the carts. I talked with 

 some of them, asking them how it was that they were consenting to the 

 bloody offerings. They replied that in a time of danger it was right to 

 take life. The present danger was that Kulagollamma would send cholera 

 if not propitiated. 



3 Gazetteer of Tanjore, I, p. 67. 



* Madras Government Museum, Bulletin, V, no. 3, p. 109. J. N. Farquahaf, 

 A Primer of Hinduism, London, 1911, pp. 153 sq. 



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