Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism 127 



There is, however, a fundamental difference in the conception 

 of the Dravidian and the African. The fetish of the African 

 possesses a spirit of its own, and this spirit is worshiped because it 

 has been found useful to the one possessing the fetish. When 

 this spirit inhabiting the fetish is found to be no longer useful, 

 the fetish is discarded. 



The idol of the Dravidian also possesses a spirit, but it is 

 simply the abiding place of the spirit, usually a ghost. The spirit 

 is in no sense the spirit of the object or idol. Moreover, the 

 Dravidian does not worship his idol for good luck or prosperity. 

 He worships in order to avert calamity ; to pacify the deity so that 

 his prosperity will not be interfered with.^'^ The final object of his 

 worship is to secure prosperity, but his thought is not that the 

 god will bring him prosperity, but must rather be prevented from 

 interfering with his welfare. When the Dravidian throws away 

 the idol it is not because he is dissatisfied with it, but because 

 it has served its purpose, and the deity is no longer in it. When 



5. The worship of a deo, or spirit, a thing without form, and void — the 

 vague impersonation of the uncanny sensation which comes over one at 

 certain places. 



6. The worship of dead relatives, and other deceased persons known in 

 their lifetime to the worshiper. 



7. The worship of persons who had a great reputation during life, or 

 who died in some strange and notorious way — at shrines. 



8. The worship in temples of the persons belonging to the foregoing 

 class, as demigods, or subordinate deities. 



9. The worship of manifold local incarnations of the elder deities and 

 their symbols. 



10. The worship of departmental deities. 



11. The worship of the supreme gods of Hinduism. 



He speaks of 1-4 in the above classification as fetishism. The worship 

 which he describes under these headings, however, is Hindu rather than 

 Dravidian. Under 6-8 he describes what comes largely under the head of 

 Dravidian ceremonies, and he does not mention these as connected with 

 fetishism. The Hindu conception of pantheism seems to lend itself to 

 fetishism more readily than does the Dravidian spirit worship. 



^"^ In the festival of Gowry, people worship their implements. This is, 

 however, a Hindu feast, not Dravidian. This worship of implements is 

 very close to fetishism. See Manual of Administration of the Madras 

 Presidency, I, p. 75. 



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