74 Wilber Theodore Elmore 



talkative and somewhat domineering girl. One day she "hid 

 herself," so the villagers say, which evidently means that she 

 died. Soon cholera broke out, and her spirit came upon a diviner 

 and demanded worship. Ankamma is remembered as a jolly vil- 

 lage girl, so her spirit does not inspire unusual terror, and her 

 worship is a time of merry-making with but few blood-offerings. 



The Akka Devatalu of the fishermen are represented by crude 

 earthen images which stand on a knoll overlooking the sea. 

 Their name means sister gods. There were once several sisters 

 in one house who quarreled and killed one another. Later sick- 

 ness appeared in the house, and the sisters spoke through a di- 

 viner, upbraiding the people because they had not prevented the 

 tragedy of their death. " However," they said, " we are females 

 and so desire worship. If you will worship us you may escape." 

 The fishermen always propitiate these gods before going out to 

 sea. It is possible that the ever restless sea on the western shore 

 of the Bay of Bengal, where the tidal waves are always beating, 

 has something to do with the quarrelsome nature of these god- 

 desses.^^ 



Kulagollamma is a village goddess of unusual importance in 

 Kavili. Her temple is larger and more imposing than that of 

 many Hindu gods, and is patterned after them.^* In Sarvaia 

 Palem, near Kavili, there was a reddi or farmer, who had a great 

 crop of the grain called ragi}'' One day some one came to buy 

 grain, and the farmer found that no matter how much he meas- 

 ured out, the ragi in the bin did not decrease. Wondering what 

 could be the reason he overturned the great wicker grain bin, 

 when a black stone fell out. The diviner was called in, and 

 when the possession came upon her she said, " I am Kulagol- 

 lamma, the cause of your prosperity. Build me a temple outside 

 the village where I shall not hear the pounding of the grain, and 



13 There is a sort of taboo connected with these goddesses. The fisher- 

 men say that it means death for any one to touch them. A lady was 

 stricken with typhoid fever soon after touching them, and the fishermen 

 attributed her illness to this rashness. 



1* See page i6, note 2. 



IS Cynosurus coracanus, a very nutritious chocolate-colored grain. 



74 



