“Vol. iN ay 10.] Miniature Tank Worship in Bengal. 503 
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‘tank, whose banks are daubed with rice paste and adorned wi 
marigolds and mustard and kalmi flowers. The tongue, which 
protrudes like that of Kali, is made of the pointed end ofa 
karabi leaf (Neriwm odorwm), and the arms of kacw stems. The 
-stem about six inches in length and placed beside the miniature 
h 
n Chittagong, where the Bel Pukur is also unknown, 
maidens collect small plants of paddy and kalmi and worship the 
‘sun each Sunday in Agrahayan with prayers for an ideal husband. 
In Khulna a miniature tank is filled with milk and water. 
were this case the image is made of binna (a 
kind of straw), and is adorned with mustard flowers and marigolds. 
The ceremony is ormed in the evening. The worshippers 
fast all day, and, after the completion of the pu”, partake of 
+he cakes cooked in milk and sugar which have been offered to 
the deity. 
The Dhanya Pargima Brata is observed in Noakhali on the 
night of the Paus full moon. A plantain and a bamboo are 
planted beside a miniature tank and the moon is worshipped with 
flowers and dirbba grass by a priest 
Th 
of a plantain sheath and floated on the tank. Prayers are offer 
for an ideal husband, and are sometimes combined with curses on 
the co-wife. ‘The following are among the verses recited. :—. 
