1849.] 



Kdcch, Bodo and Dhimdl People. 



727 



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1*4 



o nd 



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Male, a Penate. 

 Agrang of prior list. 

 Fluviatile deities, malignant, 

 geons sacrificed to them. 



Kamakhya. 



Lakshmi. 



Yama. 



Kuvir, Indian Pluto. 



Raj phusani, 



Agrang kolia, 



Khandab, "| Fluviatile deities, malignant. Pi- 



Jol khiinjara, 



Jol khiinjari, 



Aya, or Ai,* 



Maknar, 



Jomon, 



Jal kiivir, 



Thai kuvir, 



Dhon kiivir, 



I know not that I can add any thing worth preserving to the fore- 

 gone list of the deities of the Bodo and Dhimal save what will fall 

 more appropriately under the head of rites and ceremonies. The list 

 might have been considerably enlarged, but chiefly by importations 

 from the Hindu Pantheon ; and as these consist of mere names, it 

 seems sufficient to observe, once for all, that the Bodo and Dhimal 

 have latterly adopted a good many of the Hindu goddesses, particu- 

 larly the various forms of Durga or Kali, but without any of the rites 

 appropriate to her worship, or even any images of her. The deities 

 of the Bodo and Dhimal are divided into males and females, old and 

 young ; and the latter distinction is material as indicating the relative 

 rank and consideration of the gods : the ancient or venerable (Brai- 

 Baro'i in Bodo, Warang-Berang in Dhimal, according to the sex) are the 

 Dii majores ; the young (Khungar vel Jholou in Bodo, Whante in Dhi- 

 mal), are the Dii minores. It will be noticed that several of the deities 

 bear the title of Rajah ; and, as one of these (Hajo) is a known historic 

 person, it seems probable that this portion of the Bodo and Dhimal 

 pantheon exemplifies the classic and Hindu practice of deifying the 

 mortal benefactors of mankind — -in a word, apotheosis, or hero worship. 

 Madai, in Bodo, is a general term, equivalent to Deity, Divinity : Dir 

 and Gram, are correspondent terms in Dhimal. 



Religious rites and ceremonies. — The rites of the Bodo and Dhi- 

 mal religions are entirely similar, and consist of offerings, sacrifices and 

 prayers. The prayers are few and simple, when stript of their mum- 

 mery ; and necessarily so, being committed solely to the memories of 

 a non-hereditary and very trivially instructed and mutable priesthood . 

 They consist of invocations of protection for the people and their 

 * Unde Ai hun6, the great festival, presently to be described. 



