THE RELIGION AND CUSTOMS OF THE URAONS. 135 



Connected with this puja. is what they call the chigrimad bhayari, which takes place 

 every five or ten years. All the members of the family come together, and after the usual 

 ceremonies a bullock is sacrificed. Its horns are thrust into the ant-hill. 



The Cult of Ancestors. 



In order to understand the cult of ancestors, it should be borne in mind that the 

 Uraons believe that every man has two shades. As the shadow of a man projected on 

 the wall is double, one very thick in front and the other very light a little behind, so a 

 dead man has two shades, the heavy one that goes to Markha or the heaven of the Uraons, 

 and the other one that remains among them. It will be seen by all their practices that the 

 Uraons believe that they are always living among their ancestors, and they are convinced 

 that they still love them, take the same interest in their affairs as before, and can help 

 and protect them in their difficulties. 



Two of their ceremonies will show their belief exactly viz., the chhain bhitrana, 

 which consists in calling back the shade of the departed into the house, and the koman 

 or the re-uniting of the heavy shade with the shades of their ancestors. 



Chhain Bhitrana. — On the day of the burial or burning of the corpse, one of the 

 men of the village is chosen to call back the shade of the departed. In the evening he 

 builds a diminutive hut of branches and straw not far from the burial-place, and after 

 dark sets fire to it. As the fire is blazing he strikes together a ploughshare and a 

 sickle, and pronouncing the name of the departed, shouts three times at the top of his 

 voice, " O so and so, come quick, come quick : your house is burning !" Of course the 

 shade of the deceased cannot resist such a realistic cry of alarm, and when the man 

 thinks that he has given it time enough to reach the place, he leads the way to the old 

 house, beating the whole time the ploughshare and the sickle. 



Inside the house, with the door shut, is the nearest relative, sitting before a burning 

 lamp with a cock in his hand ready to be sacrificed. The man with the ploughshare 

 knocks at the door and introduces the shade of the departed, whilst the man inside hastens 

 to sacrifice the cock and pours the blood in a corner of the house to entice the shade to 

 take its abode there. 



Now that the light shade has come to its resting-place to remain there peacefully 

 among its old acquaintances, they have to take care of the heavy shade, which cannot be 

 reunited to the ancestors until the ceremony of the korman has been performed. This 

 takes place ten days after the burial or the burning of the corpse. During this time the 

 heavy shade is hovering about homeless, between the old house and the burial-place. 

 But they do not forget it ; small leaf cups full of rice are deposited on the way to 

 the burial-place to feed it during the short time of its exile. When the time appointed 

 for the Korman has come, the small courtyard in front of the house of the deceased is 

 cleaned and besmeared with cow-dung, and a round hole is dug in the middle with a 

 ploughshare. All the people invited bring a little rice in a leaf cup and deposit it near 

 the hole. The Sankot, or the man acting in the name of the pane h of the village, makes 

 round the hole the lines of the palkhansna representing the rainbow; inside he puts some 



