1844.] and on Gerard s Account of Kunawar. 197 



image is raised upon the shoulders of the people, and if the god press- 

 es heavily to the left, he wishes the election to be postponed ; if he 

 presses to the right, he wishes that it may take place without delay. 



Strictly speaking, the will of the deota can only be ascertained 

 through his priest, but an irregular election is sometimes made, and an 

 opinion forced, as it were, from the reluctant god. 



The priest gets the skin and one-fourth of the flesh of the animal 

 sacrificed. After being chosen for the office, he does not give up his 

 daily occupation as a husbandman or mechanic. The priesthood 

 alone would not subsist him. 



The deotas are masculine, and the people do not talk of local female 

 divinities ; yet in Lower Kunawar, a certain deota, Mansharash, has a 

 wife named Durga, and one of the Hindoo Devis of Kunawar is his 

 sister. The relationship and gender, however, are Brahminical innova- 

 tions, introduced by the people of the neighbourhood doing service 

 about the person of the Raja. The Devi in question is the one at Koti, 

 mentioned under the head of Religion. 



In two villages, Kanam and Shasso, of Upper Kunawar, a deota 

 named Dala is worshipped. He is considered as the companion of, or 

 as dwelling with, the Supreme God. No sacrifices are offered to him, 

 and Lamas will endeavour to ascertain his pleasure by consulting 

 their books. In another village Shalkar, of Upper Kunawar, a Lama 

 is supposed to be possessed by a deota on certain occasions, as is relat- 

 ed under the head of Festivals. These are instances of Buddhism strug- 

 gling with local superstition. 



In Bhotee, the term for deota is Lah. In Kunawar, the same term 

 is used as also Sath and Shu, i. e. Shib. In Bhotee, the priest is term- 

 ed Labdak, and in Kunawaree, Grukchu. The Kunawarees give as 

 the Hindoostanee equivalent ch'hernawala, or teazer or trouble- 

 giver. 



This system of local gods may be deserving of more research. In 

 Lah, we appear to have not only the equivalent, but the sound of 

 the Roman Lares, and of the Arabian Illah. The deota has also 

 some features in common with the Grecian oracle. Lah is evidently 

 the root of lagang and labrang, the present Tibetan terms for a Bud- 

 dhist temple, as also of lapcha, the only altar the Bhotees continue 

 to raise to their ancient deities. Lah is also a term for a pass in the 



