I lo Wilber Theodore Elmore 



In the case of Kotappa Konda Swami it seems that a local inci- 

 dent, viz., the murder of a man, has caused him to become a god, 

 whom the Hindus have later adopted as an incarnation of Siva. 

 There is another method of uniting Dravidian and Hindu origins 

 in which the god is first Hindu, and the Dravidian love of local 

 legends has gradually built up a local history. The following in- 

 stance is an illustration of this method. 



In the village of Ulavapadu, Nellore District, lives a rich Sudra 

 widow, named Kotamma, who has built a great temple to Ven- 

 agopala Swami, and supports a large number of Brahman priests. 

 The worship is Vaishnava. 



Although Kotamma is still living, already a strange story of 

 the origin of the temple has arisen among the villagers. It is to 

 the effect that at one time Kotamma had a Brahman cook who 

 did not please her. She drove him away with words that were 

 very humiliating to a Brahman. The cook went to another place 

 and secured work, but Kotamma wrote a letter to his new em- 

 ployers, and caused him to lose that place. The Brahman then 

 wrote the history of the entire matter on a palm leaf, tied it to his 

 waist, and drowned himself in a well. 



Kotamma had a son at school in Ongole at this time. Soon he 

 fell sick with fever. Then a demon appeared to him, saying, " I 

 am the Brahman whom your mother killed. Did you think that 

 you could do such a deed and escape ? Don't think that you are 



of Narsaravupett. They amount to so much that the government levies 

 income tax on them. The festival is a great fair where cattle, and all sorts 

 of produce, and even timber, are bought and sold. One of the evil results 

 of the festival is that because of unsanitary conditions it is very often ac- 

 companied by an outbreak of cholera which is scattered far and wide by 

 returning pilgrims. In 1909, at the time of the political unrest in India, a 

 riot broke out at this festival in which the police and every one suspected 

 of being connected with the government were attacked. About twenty 

 people were killed. One police constable was tied up in kaffir corn stalks 

 and burned to death. For these murders one man was hanged, and four- 

 teen others were either imprisoned or transported. After this trouble 

 there was an attempt made to transfer the festival to a hill near Sattena- 

 palle, some fifteen miles away. It was announced that the god had 

 changed his residence, but the effort was a failure, and the old festival at 

 the usual place still continues. 



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