Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism 1 1 3 



other hand, they do not deny the truth of the tale, although they 

 turn their backs when it is told. This story reveals no tendency 

 in the Hindu gods to come down to the Dravidian conceptions, 

 but rather for the local gods to climb up into the Hindu pantheon. 

 We may conclude, therefore, that Aranjothi was once a Dravidian 

 goddess who has been adopted by the Hindus. The name, Aran- 

 jothi, is Dravidian, while the Brahmans call her by her Sanskrit 

 name, Arundhati. 



Another result of the impact of Dravidian worship is that oc- 

 casionally Brahmans serve as pujaris for the village goddesses. 

 This is rather unusual, and this degradation of Brahmans is not 

 always easily accounted for. An illustration is found among the 

 Togata caste of weavers of Nandavaram in the Kurnool District. 

 These people worship a goddess, named Chandesvari, and even 

 though the offerings are of blood, the pujaris are Brahmans. 



The story commonly told to show the origin of this strange 

 arrangement is that a South Indian king went with his wife on 

 a pilgrimage to Benares. Unwittingly he incurred a terrible pol- 

 lution. He applied to the Brahmans to cure him, promising them 

 one-half of his kingdom if they were successful. They asked 

 surety and he called upon a local goddess, Chandesvari, who had 

 a temple near the place, to be his witness. The Brahmans then 

 cured him and he returned to South India. 



After a time the Brahmans came south to claim the half of the 

 kingdom which he had promised, but the king denied ever hav- 

 ing made such a promise. They then asked Chandesvari to come 

 and give witness for them. She promised to do so on condition 

 that they should walk ahead and not look back at her. The 

 Brahmans agreed and set forth. All went well until they got as 

 far as Nandavaram, when the curiosity of the Brahmans got the 

 better of them and they looked behind them. Chandesvari im- 

 mediately became an image of stone. The Brahmans were terri- 

 fied, and built her a temple. Fearing to return to Benares they 

 remained at Nandavaram as pujaris for Chandesvari. 



It is difficult to solve the enigma of this story. The goddess is 

 one of the ordinary village deities with the usual bloody sacrifices. 



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