6 Wilher Theodore Elmore 



study of Comparative Religion, but would be assigned to Anthro- 

 pology, or discussed in connection with primitive customs. Edu- 

 cated Indians have not cared to undertake this study, and the 

 foreigners who write on Hinduism usually confine themselves to 

 what they can learn from the sacred books of the Hindus, or from 

 the educated classes. 



A further obstacle lies in the fact that even if a foreigner is 

 inclined to do field work and make personal investigations, many of 

 the rites and ceremonies are performed at such times and in such 

 places that it is almost impossible to conduct satisfactory research, 

 and some of the orgies are of such a nature that, even if one had 

 the opportunity, it would take strong nerves and some bravery 

 to observe what is going on.^ 



While the following pages deal with Dravidian worship as found 

 in all of southern India, the collection of new material has been 

 confined almost exclusively to the Telugu people, and among them 

 the larger part of the work has been done in the Nellore District. 

 The sources of information have been largely oral. The writer 

 has visited as many temples and places of worship as possible, and 

 has had opportunity to see many of the ceremonies. It has usually 

 been possible to secure some friendly person to explain what was 

 seen. There is no reason to doubt the reliability of these explana- 

 tions. It is a common experience to have those interested in the 

 ceremonies refuse to tell about them, but I have not yet discovered 

 any definite attempt to deceive or to fabricate an explanation. 

 Often they evade all questions, saying that they do not know, or 

 that this is the way their fathers did, but no deliberate deception is 

 attempted. 



Much information has been secured by conversation with people, 

 at other than festival times, about the various features of the wor- 

 ship. Priests and those directly connected with the deities, are 



5 William Crooke, Things Indian, New York, 1906, p. 412, says, " The 

 subject of the Sakti sacrifices is repulsive, and few Englishmen care to 

 explore those shrines of Kali or Devi, which reek with the blood of 

 victims. . . . Those who are curious in such matters will refer to Ward's 

 account of the Bengal sacrifices. . . . Dr. Oldfield gives a distressing 

 account." This is a fair example of the feeling of most writers on 

 Hinduism. 



