4 Wilber Theodore Elmore 



INTRODUCTION 



There is no lack of authoritative works on Hinduism as a sys- 

 tem of religion. No other system, with the exception of Chris- 

 tianity, is so interesting, so fully known, or has attracted so many 

 to its study. With such abundant interest, it seems somewhat 

 strange that a great branch of nominal Hinduism has been very 

 largely neglected in these works. This branch is the worship of 

 local and village deities. It is estimated,^ and probably conserva- 

 tively, that eighty per cent of the people of South India address 

 their worship almost exclusively to such minor deities, and yet 

 these deities receive little attention in studies of Hinduism. Often 

 they are dismissed with a page or two, while the remainder of the 

 treatment is given to the Brahmanic deities.^ 



The reasons for this apparent neglect are not difficult to discover. 

 There is no systematized teaching connected with village cults or 

 worship. No interesting systems of philosophy lie behind them. 

 The Dravidians are not a literary people, and their religion has no 

 literature. There are no Vedas or other writings telling of their 

 gods. Their history is contained in the somewhat confused 

 legends recited by wandering singers who attend the festivals and 

 assist in the worship. 



These legends and stories are always recited from memory; 

 and as usually the singers cannot read, written stories would be 

 of no value to them. Many of the legends, however, are written 

 on books made from the leaves of the palmyra palm,^ but such 

 books are jealously guarded, and any suggestion as to translating 

 or printing them meets with strong objections. 



This worship is found largely among uneducated people, and 

 not only are they unable to give any connected account of their 

 gods or the principles of their worship, but as soon as they see any 



''■Madras Government Museum, Bulletin, V, no. 3, p. I74- 

 , -2 Sir Monier Monier- Williams, Brahmanism and Hinduism, London, 1891, 

 gives the best account, Chs. VII, VIII, IX. Edward Washburn Hopkins, 

 The Religions of India, London, 1895, Ch. XVIII, gives a short account 

 of the ReHgious Traits of the Wild Tribes of India, under which heading 

 he classifies this worship. 



8 Brab tree or Fan Palm tree, Borassus flahelliformis. 



4 



