Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism 71 



curred only a few years ago, and the kernam is still living. It 

 will be interesting to watch the development of the worship. The 

 unusual feature in the origin of this goddess is that an ordinary 

 Dravidian deity of the village type was established by a Brahman. 

 There appears also to have been no ghost story connected with 

 Nagamma, but her deification was the result of the arbitrary de- 

 cision of the kernam. 



Verdatchamma is the name of a goddess whose temple is built 

 on a small island in the great Cumbum irrigation tank. She has 

 a second temple on the bank of the tank. Her story contains the 

 unusual feature of human sacrifice.^" When she lived on earth 

 as a woman, she and her husband did not dwell together, as she 

 was said to be born of the gods. It is a fact established in history 

 that a nabob gave her a large tract of land. The probable ex- 

 planation of her acquiring the reputation of having been born of 

 the gods is the use she made of her gift. The fact that she did 

 not dwell with her husband indicates an unusual condition in 

 Hindu society, and it is possible that he called her a Sakti be- 

 cause of her unwifely attitude. 



Verdatchamma gave the money to construct the great tank 

 which lies between two high hills. There were two chief diggers, 

 probably maistries, or foremen of gangs. Every day they dug 

 and every night the bank broke away. The story goes that these 

 two men, who were brothers, then ascended the two hills and dis- 

 cussed the matter, quarreling over it. While they were having 

 this angry discussion a voice came from the ground in the tank. 

 It said, "If you will make a human sacrifice I will stand." 



Two shepherd boys named Pedda Kambudu and Chinna Kam- 

 budu, heard these words as they were herding their sheep. They 

 reported the words to Verdatchamma, and offered to be the sacri- 

 fices themselves. Their only request was that their memory 

 should in some way be perpetuated. The boys were slain, and in 

 their names two pipes were placed in the bank of the tank to dis- 

 charge the water. The tank was then completed without further 

 trouble. 



So runs the story, and there is every reason to believe that the 



1" On human sacrifices in India see page 45, note 12. 



71 



