ON THE FESTIVALS AND FOLKLORE OF GILGIT. 109 



crops, the female population of the village proceeded to the Devi in their best attire. 

 They sang on their way, and when they reached their destination presented a goat to the 

 "Boh Bin." He then threw up some small branches of the juniper in the air, and the 

 women attempted to catch them before they fell to the ground. It was believed that a 

 woman would be blessed with as many children as the branches she succeeded in 

 catching. Descendants of the original "Boh Bin " still remain, but the ceremony is 

 no longer observed. 



A stone of this kind is also found at Barmas near Gilgit. The ceremony performed 

 upon this stone was exactly the same as stated above, but it has a different name, viz : 

 "Mulkum." 



"Rato" or "Chili." 



At Farfuh, a village in the Bagrot valley, there are five small portions of land situa- 

 ted at the foot of a mountain and called Chuto Rato, Shilo Rato, Surgon Rato, Chilko 

 Rato and Thoko Rato. In these tracts there are five very large boulders and five small 

 stones, called respectively " Dev-ai-Maron " and " Mos Samaran Ken " {i.e., stone for 

 distributing flesh). Here the " Rato " ceremony, also called " Chili," used to be performed 

 as follows. During the first six days of the ceremony, which lasted for seven days, the 

 people wore new and clean clothes, the sexes being separated and inhabiting different 

 houses. On the seventh or the last day, all the people of the different communities or 

 families of the village assembled separately and went to their respective " Ratos" with a 

 goat and some young branches of the chili or Junipcrus macrocarpa. These branches 

 were placed upon the " Dev-ai-Maron," and the blood of the goat which was now sacri- 

 ficed was thrown on. The meat was placed on the " Mos Samaran Ken " and distributed 

 among those present, who roasted and ate it at the same place. It was never given to 

 any woman or to a man of any family other than that of " Rato." The shoulder-blade 

 of the goat killed was then placed on a high stone and fired at by marksmen amidst the 

 noisy acclamations of the people, and a dance was held in honour of the sacred cere- 

 mony. After this the people assembled round the "Dev-ai-Maron," while the oldest 

 man present or the headman of the village sat quite close to the stone and addressed it 

 in the following manner: "O iron-like Rato, O Shri Bagartham, we have come to 

 thee to express our wants. We have no progeny : kindly endow us with children. We 

 are destitute of money : kindly favour us with gold and silver. We are in want of grain : 

 please supply us." In the same manner he related all their desires for cattle, clothes, 

 goods, etc., while the other men followed him and expressed their assent to what he 

 said by crying "Amen." The women of the village now appeared in their best attire, 

 with some dry flour and small fiat loaves. They threw the atta on the chili branches 

 and prayed in the same manner for the fulfilling of their desires. The loaves were 

 distributed among the men, who eat and rejoiced. At some places the women were 

 strictly prohibited from going near the Rato stone. This ceremony was performed and 

 known by the same name throughout the whole of Gilgit, but on stones of different 

 names, so that the stones at Datuchi and Bulchi were called " Aju Bin," at Sinakar 

 " Shri Bin," at Gilgit and Dainyor " Rato-denaken," and at Naugam " Shri Bai." The 

 Mem. A.S.B. 



