6o VVilber Theodore Elmore 



palem, Darsi Taluq, Nellore District, lived a woman called Lin- 

 gamma. She was of the Sudra caste, but she and her husband were 

 poor, and worked in the house of a rich man of the same caste. 

 Once some valuables were missing from the house and suspicion 

 pointed to Lingamma. Her employer made her much trouble and 

 was about to take legal proceedings against her, when she ended 

 the matter by jumping into a well and drowning herself. 



A few days after this tragic death, troubles began to come to 

 the household of her employer. A little later Lingamma appeared 

 to him in a dream and told him that because of his cruelty she 

 was bringing these troubles upon him. She also threatened him 

 with worse disasters if he did not institute a proper worship for 

 her. His response evidently was not satisfactory, for Lingamma 

 immediately brought a scourge of cholera upon the village and 

 appeared to many as a devil. All were now thoroughly frightened, 

 and led by Lingamma's former employer, they built a temple of 

 some importance, prepared an image of both Lingamma and her 

 husband, and instituted the worship already described. 



We may here see the uncertain state of Perantalu worship. 

 Lingamma was at first considered a devil, and her worship was 

 well on the way to be the same as that of the ordinary demoness. 

 Since, however, she was a faithful wife, dying before her husband, 

 she was placed in the Perantalu category, and the ceremonies show 

 almost no sign of demon worship. As we have seen, it is a time of 

 general merry-making, and of the mildest form of Perantalu wor- 

 ship. Temperamental differences in the worshipers are probably 

 a contributing cause in such variations as this. 



The worship of Usuramma^ has continued for a long time, and 

 the story which accounts for its origin is not very definite. Usur- 

 amma was a woman of good deeds who died before her husband. 

 Soon after her death there was an outbreak of sickness in the vil- 

 lage. The people addressed themselves to a diviner to learn the 

 cause. She became possessed of a spirit which spoke to the people 

 through the diviner. The spirit said that she was Usuramma, and 

 that she was bringing all this trouble because, while she was 

 worthy to be worshiped, they had entirely neglected her. She in- 



3 See page 33. 



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