134 THE LATE REV. P. DEHON ON 



his horse Ansaj Prakraj and would not let him go before he explained to them how they 

 could live. These are household tutelary divinities who, however, might become trouble- 

 some if they were not properly propitiated. 



The Uraons compare the puja offered to them to the tajia of the Muhammadans. The 

 expenses to be incurred by the votaries are so great that only well-to-do people can afford 

 to perform the rite. The others are satisfied with a vow or bachchia bandhna, which is 

 formulated thus : " When we shall be able to do it, we promise you to offer the usual sacri- 

 fice." This vow is ratified by putting some arwa rice into a bhanda (small earthen pot) 

 which they suspend from the rafters of the house with a rope of sabai. Arwa rice 

 means a sacrifice; the rope of sabai means a bullock. , 



A day having been fixed for the puja, the man who is to officiate is notified eight 

 days previously and invitations are issued to as many as possible. Not only are all the 

 people of the village invited, but also those of the surrounding villages. On the eve of 

 the sacrifice they assemble at the house of the votary. Before commencing the cere- 

 monies the man officiating sticks into the roof, on either side of the house, two chigris, i.e., 

 two bamboos 10 feet long used for carrying thatching grass. Hence thepujais called the 

 chigrinad puja. By this time all the inmates of the house have come out, and an 

 earthen vessel called tawa is boiling full of oil on the fire close to the entrance of the house ; 

 five cakes have been prepared with rice flour. The man officiating before entering the 

 house, cooks these in the boiling oil and stirs the whole with his hand without (as they 

 say) getting burned. When the cakes are cooked he distributes them to the people. 

 This is done in the evening ; and from that time till next day at 4 p.m. they keep fasting, 

 but they are allowed to drink rice-beer, and this they do with a vengeance. Small shatni- 

 anas made of green branches of trees have been erected in front of the house, and through 

 the whole night and the following day rice-beer is most liberally distributed. The man 

 officiating in the meantime has gone inside the house accompanied by a servant, and is 

 supplied with two big pots of rice-beer. From that time he is not allowed on any account 

 to come out of the house till next day at 4 p.m. A light is burning in the middle of the 

 room, and the offerer of the sacrifice sits with two combs in his hands in front of the light, 

 combing his hair and moving his body from right to left, following the whole time the 

 motion of the flame. This is done in remembrance of the Asur woman who worked 

 the bellows. At about 4 p.m. the next day, the man officiating issues forth carrying the 

 small pot with arwa rice that had remained hanging as an ex-voto. Two cocks, a 

 white one and a black one, are carried by a boy, whilst a coolie carries two pots of rice- 

 beer. A procession is formed by the men alone, and they march to the nearest ant-hill. 

 A hole is bored from south to north right through it. The bhanda is deposited in it, and 

 the man officiating, after feeding the cocks with arwa rice, sacrifices one on each side of 

 the hole, throws their heads into the bhanda, closes its orifice with a lighted chirga and 

 surrounds the hole with thorns and mud. The bodies of the birds are then entrusted to 

 the boys to be duly cooked. When shutting the openings with mud, the master of cere- 

 monies says, " Now that you have had your dasturi, protect us and spare us." They then 

 partake of the meat and rice-beer. The puja being now considered to be over, they re- 

 turn home and make merry at the expense of the master of the house. 



