THE RELIGION AND CUSTOMS OF THE URAONS. 169 



Handia. — This is an item which should not be forgotten in notes about the Uraons, 

 as this plays a great role in their private life. It is prepared in this way : they put rice in 

 an earthen vessel or gugri, pour over it just as much water as is required to cover it and 

 boil it. When it is nearly cooked they take it off the fire and spread it on a mat to dry. 

 A kind of yeast called rami is then mixed up with it, and the whole shut up in an old ear- 

 then vessel. The secret of making good handia is to have this last pot as well baked as 

 possible, and the old matrons choose always an old one that has been used for a long time 

 in cooking rice. After five or six days the handia is ready. They pour water on the 

 rice, let it soak well, and afterwards strain it. A handia containing three seers of rice will 

 yield three gallons of very good beer, so that the Uraons can easily get drunk without 

 ruining themselves It is a great pity that they cannot indulge in the home brew mode- 

 rately, as it is a very healthy, strengthening and refreshing drink. Handia is as intoxi- 

 cating as ordinary beer, but has not the disastrous effects of darn or native gin. A man 

 under the influence of daru becomes a perfect wild beast solely intent on mischief; 

 whilst a man intoxicated with handia seems to forget all his miseries, becomes talkative, 

 and seems to enjoy life. Look at a group of those wild Uraons sitting before you ; they 

 look like a flock of sheep or a herd of buffaloes at rest. Their look is vacant ; their 

 heads drooping. Ask them some questions and scarcely one or two will be able to talk 

 reasonably. Bring one handia among them and you will see all the eyes fondly 

 following it, and knowing smiles brighten their listless faces. As soon as they have tasted 

 the beer they become different men : they begin to talk and express their opinions freely, 

 and where you could not get any information, you will get more than you wished for. 

 The old handia-drinkers, and they are legion, seem always to be half-asleep, and only 

 awake when under the influence of their favourite drink. 



The Uraons are very sociable beings, and like to enjoy life together. They are pay- 

 ing visits to one another nearly the whole year round. They call this pahi, and it assumes 

 the proportions of a national institution. In these the handia always plays a great part. 

 Any man, who would presume to receive visitors without offering them a handia, would be 

 hooted and insulted by his guests, who would find a sympathising echo from all the people 

 of the village. One may say that from the time of the new rice at the end of September 

 to the end of the marriage-feast, viz., till March, there is a continual going and coming of 

 pahis. For a marriage- feast 40 handias are prepared by the groom's father, and all the 

 people of the village that can afford it supply one also. Each handta gives about three 

 gallons of rice-beer, so that in one day and a half, in a village of 30 houses, about 200 

 gallons of rice-beer are despatched. The Uraons are famous for their dances. They 

 delight in spending the whole night, from sunset till morning, in this most exciting amuse- 

 ment, and in the dancing season they go from village to village. They get, as it were, 

 intoxicated with the music, and there is never any slacking of the pace. On the contrary, 

 the evolutions seem to increase till very early in the morning, and it sometimes happens 

 that one of the dancers shoots off suddenly from the gyrating group, and speeds away 

 like a spent top, and, whirlwind-like, disappears through paddy-fields and ditches till he 

 falls entirely exhausted. Of course it is the devil who has taken possession of him. 

 One can well imagine in what state the dancers are at the first crow of the cock, and when 



