THE RELIGION AND CUSTOMS OF THE URAONS. 139 



(3) All the eligible men being assembled, as many clods of earth as there are men, 

 are placed in the middle, each clod of earth representing one of the men present. A child 

 is called, and a curry-stone is put in his hand. It is said that the curry stone will drag the 

 child to the clod of earth representing the man who has to be elected. 



The pahan teaches that — 



Pat is the master of all the village bhuts who are immediately under his control. 

 He is a great friend of the pahan who through him has great authority over the bhuts. He 

 lives on a hill close by from which he can see all that is going on in the village. He is a 

 good devta and does not allow the bhuts to cause too much disturbance in the village. If 

 Pat was not there to forbid them, the bhuts would upset everything and kill everyone. 



Pat being in authority, must have a chaprassi, and he has one : his name is Duharia. 

 He lives in the boundaries of the village and is always on the watch for the village bhuts, 

 his office being exactly the same as that of the village chowkidar. Every day he has to 

 consult with Pat and report what is going on among the bhuts. 



Chola Pacho or the Lady of the grove lives in the sarna or sacred grove. She has 

 nothing to do with the bhuts. She is credited with the power of giving rain and consequently 

 good crops. She is the shade of the old woman who received Dharmes and washed his 

 wounds when he came down on earth to punish the Asurs. Dcswali is the faithful dame 

 a" honour of the Lady of the grove. 



All the dcvtas have a proper place assigned to them in the village, and are represen- 

 ted by a stone marked with Sendur. 



These are the shades of the Asurs who were punished by the Bhagwan. They are 

 separated from their first wives, but they have married Bhula wives. 



There are also two other devtas, viz., Chandi the goddess of hunting and Gaurea the 

 tutelary divinity for cattle. Though they do not belong to the Pahan exclusively, they 

 may be introduced now ; their worship will be explained afterwards. Khunt is the 

 generic name for all the bhuts that have taken their habitat in the village, and are, as it 

 were, the first settlers or bhuniyars of the place. They seem to have the same organisa- 

 tion as that of a band of banditti. They belong to both sexes. Their leaders are Darha 

 and Dakhin his wife. Just as all booty goes first to the leaders, so no sacrifice is offered 

 to the other bhuts without the knowledge or participation of Darha and Dakhin. Khunt 

 would be better known under the name of Darha & Co. Darha & Co. are like darogas 

 and constables. When they receive bribes they go shares, but the daroga's is always the 

 lion's share. Darha 's band is billeted in the village, some living in caves, some in fields, 

 others in trees, others in ravines. There is not a queer-looking place which has not its 

 bhut or bhuts. Some of them live like hermits ; here and there you have a mother with her 

 daughter, and so on. The Baiga and the Oj'ha have to know all by name and to be familiar 

 with each one. In every village they are known by different names, but their chief is 

 always Darha, and they are all Khunt or Khunta. Churil means the shades of all the 

 women of the village who have died in pregnancy and have been buried within the 

 boundaries of the village. They always remain near their burial-place, and the people take 

 great care that they should not roam about the village. When, therefore, a woman dies 

 whilst pregnant or in childbirth, or as long as the navel string has not fallen, she is held 



