242 THE SUPERINTENDENT OF ETHNOGRAPHY, BENGAL, ON 



In the Orissa Tributary States a somewhat similar but less elaborate ceremony is observed. 

 Rice is strewn at cross-roads in the form of a square, and a wide-mouthed earthen 

 pot containing milk, plantains, and other eatables is placed in the centre. A flag 

 bearing the figure of Hanuman is planted near it. 



Garlands of flowers which have been offered to Jagannath or some other of the greater 

 gods are often hung up over house doors, as Yogini is believed to fear their power. 



Other ceremonies are performed with the object of passing the disease on to another 

 village. In Hazaribagh the Pahan takes a goat, sheep, pig or buffalo at midnight to 

 the mounds haunted by the spirit which presides over the disease, besmears it with a mix- 

 ture of vermilion and ghi, and garlands it with red flowers. He worships, and the animal 

 x s then taken in procession round the village, whilst the Pahan carries a lighted lamp in 

 which rice, gur, vermilion and ghi are placed. The animal is finally taken to the village 

 boundary and driven out. The lamp is placed on the ground, and a fowl is sometimes left 

 there as well. It is believed that anyone who crosses the path of the party whilst this 

 ceremony is being performed will die of cholera. If the animal returns to the village the 

 ceremony must be repeated. It is not touched by the people of any village which it may 

 enter, but is driven away if possible. 



In Orissa the corresponding ceremony is known as Balibotia. A host of gods, 

 including Gram Devati, and gods of the forest and burning-ghat are worshipped at cross- 

 roads. A rectangle is drawn on the ground with turmeric, and as many cones of rice are 

 offered within it as there are gods to be invoked. A goat, whose head is painted vermi- 

 lion and its eye-lids black, and which is dressed in cloth, is then presented and driven out 

 by night. It is believed that the first person whom it sees will die. 



In Bihar a small platform of dust is raised at cross-roads and a new pitcher is placed 

 upon it. After worshipping with st'ndur and flowers, the villagers dedicate a pigeon and 

 let it fly to a neighbouring village. To effect a cure, rice and pice touched by a patient 

 are sometimes tied round an animal's neck and it is driven away. 



Another Bihar custom is for the villagers to assemble at midnight in an open place 

 or at cross-roads and call loudly to some person of a neighbouring village. If he re- 

 plies, the disease will be transferred to him. 



In Dinajpur the disease godling is worshipped in a patient's house and the offerings 

 are placed in the pathway leading to another house in an earthen pot or a rag dyed with 

 turmeric, in the belief that the disease will be transferred to anyone who treads on 

 them. 



In Faridpur the iniquitous practice of placing the excreta of a cholera patient in an 

 earthen pot, which is then floated down the river, with a similar object, is said to be ob- 

 served, but is fortunately rare. 



Rice and cloves touched by a patient are sometimes thrown into a well other than 

 that which he uses, whilst a green bamboo, from which the branches have not been 

 removed, is stuck in his own well so that the top projects a few feet above the ground. 



The special practices observed during an epidemic of smallpox are almost all con- 

 nected with the worship of S'itala, its patron deity. She is regarded as one of the seven 

 forms ot Adi Sakti or primordial energy, and, in Bengal, is usually represented as a 



