Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism 99 



first act was to create three hundred and sixty diseases which they 

 put into a bundle and entrusted to Potu Razu. 



In the meantime the new king had fallen sick with a carbuncle, 

 and was at the point of death. His mother was frightened and 

 proposed that they worship the ammavaru, but he would not con- 

 sent, saying that the ammavaru were the gods of the Madigas, 

 and should not be worshiped in the village. His mother, however, 

 took an offering and went secretly to Mathamma to make her 

 petition. Mathamma replied that if the prime minister's teeth 

 were changed into shells, his ribs into sticks, his stomach into a 

 pot, and his nerves into wires, her son would live.*" 



King Rudra did not consent to these demands, and so Potu Razu 

 went through the village announcing that the next day there would 

 be a jatara. He placed a stone in the middle of the village, and 

 called it Potu Razu for himself. He then opened his bundle of 

 diseases^ and immediately people and cattle in great numbers began 

 to die. Mathamma now appeared as a diviner, and when they 

 consulted her, she said that all this evil had come to pass because 

 they had driven Poleramma out, and she announced, " I am 

 Mathamma, born in the hill of Matanga, If people begin to wor- 

 ship me, all these troubles will go." King Rudra hearing this, 

 consented with all of his people, to worship the ammavaru as they 

 are worshiped by the Madigas, and again the conquerors were con- 

 quered.*^ 



^o It is said that this demanded transformation is now represented by the 

 sithara used by the singers. The instrument often consists of a pumpkin^ 

 or rude bowl which looks like a pot, on which with the aid of sticks are- 

 strung the wires that give the music. Shells are always attached to the 

 instrument. 



*i The name Matanga and the feminine form, Matangi, occur in early 

 Indian literature. See The Ramayan of Valniiki, translated by T. H. 

 Griffith, Benares, 1895, pp. 246, 31S-319, etc. It is probable that there is 

 no connection between these names in the Ramayana and the religious insti- 

 tution of the Matangi, except that the names have a common origin. For 

 an excellent discussion of this question see E. R. Clough, While Sewing- 

 Sandals. New York, 1899, pp. ys sq. Mrs. Clough is inclined to connect the 

 names in the Ramayana with the present institution of the Matangi. 



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