io6 Wilber Theodore Elmore 



immemorial, even though their worship has long been nominally 

 a part of Hinduism. 



If the influence of the Dravidian deities has been but little in 

 modifying the ceremonies of Hinduism, the counter influence of 

 Brahmanism on Dravidian ceremonies has been even less. The 

 Dravidians have conceded almost everything else to the Brah- 

 mans, and give them divine reverence, but in the matter of their 

 own peculiar religion they stand where their ancestors did when 

 they worshiped devils in the gloomy forests at the time of the 

 Aryan invasion. The people have consented to have their wor- 

 ship called by Hindu names, but in nature it is unchanged. 



Brahmanism, while practically unchanged as to ritual, has not 

 been uninfluenced by Dravidian ideas. One line of influence is 

 in the matter of forming new deities. The ordinary Hindu deity 

 is the offspring of deities, while the usual Dravidian deity has had 

 a human career as an ordinary person. Hindu deities have their 

 avatars and live on earth, but as divine persons, and not as ordi- 

 nary human beings. The following stories will show the tend- 

 ency for Hindu gods also to be formed locally in the same man- 

 ner as Dravidian gods. 



Near the Tettu railway station in the Nellore District is a 

 small hill on the top of which is a little temple to the god, Mala 

 Konda Swami. The worship is purely Hindu, with no evidence 

 that any of the rites for Dravidian gods have ever been per- 

 formed there. The story of the origin of this god is, however, 

 that of a local Dravidian deity. It runs in this way. 



Many years ago a small Brahman boy herded cattle daily in the 

 forest land about Tettu, and commonly drove his cattle to this hill 

 to graze. One day, while playing with the other boys on the hill, 

 he trod on a black stone, and kicked it contemptuously with his 

 foot, rolling it over a few times. That night the boy took his 

 usual bath and went to bed, but soon he was in a high fever, 

 tossing with delirium, and terrifying the entire household. In 

 the morning, however, he was well again, and went as usual with 

 his cattle. 



The second night the fever was still higher, and the boy shrieked 



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