68 Wilber Theodore Elmore 



another man fulfilled a vow by having a more beautiful image 

 made, and now both images are in the temple. The older image 

 is of stone and has silver eyes which are kept bright, and with a 

 carefully arranged light glare in such a way as to strike terror to 

 the heart of the worshiper. The newer image is of wood and is 

 gaily clothed. 



Like Gonti, Podilamma is unusual in that the pujari is a wo- 

 man. The Venkatigiri Rajah, in whose dominions Podili is situ- 

 ated, has given about twelve acres of land for the support of the 

 temple. The offerings are made in the name of the rajah. The 

 pujari receives the offerings and lives from them and the income 

 from the land. 



The story of Mundla Mudamma is somewhat striking. In a 

 village near Kandukuru lived a little girl of the Kamma branch 

 of the Sudra caste, who went daily with the other children to herd 

 the cattle in the waste land which is covered with bushes and 

 small trees. The children often played in the open plain while 

 the cattle were grazing. They played a game in which they 

 knocked small sticks with clubs. It was quite a boys' game, but 

 this little girl, Mundla Mudamma, won every game. The boys 

 made great efforts to win, but with no success. 



One day a traveler saw the game, and was filled with wonder, 

 for in India it is not thought possible for a female to have any 

 superiority over a male. While he still watched the children, the 

 cattle strayed into the field of a farmer, who in anger began to 

 drive them to the village pound. The traveler seeing this drew 

 the attention of the children to it, but the little girl called to them 

 that they need not worry about the cattle. She then made a shrill 

 cry and all the cattle came running toward her. The angry farmer 

 tried to gather them together again to drive them to the pound, 

 but all in vain. That night in the village the stranger greatly 

 excited all the people by telling them what he had seen. 



The people now watched Mundla Mudamma, and on another 

 day when the cattle had been driven to the pound, she made her 

 cry and they all jumped the walls and came running to her. The 

 villagers now began to fear her, and thought it best to put an end 



68 



