THE USE OP AMULETS IN THE PREVENTION OP DISEASE. 243 



woman with a black body smeared with oil, and a vermilion face, clothed in a black 



sari and riding- upon an ass, L or, sometimes, a crocodile. Her 

 Sma " i, °- body is studded with brass or copper to represent the rash, because 



she cures her devotees by taking the disease upon herself. She is crowned with a 

 winnowing-fan, carries a pot under her left arm, and holds a broomstick in her right 

 hand. She is worshipped by the oldest women of the household in a room (usually 

 the Thakurghar of the house), which is freshly smeared with cowdung and conse- 

 crated by being sprinkled with Ganges water. An earthen pitcher, wrapped in a new 

 cloth dyed yellow with turmeric, is placed in the centre, and connected with the 

 image by cotton thread similarly dyed. Incense is burned in a flame which is fed 

 with ghi, and flowers and sandal paste are thrown before the feet of the goddess. 

 The women of the household keep vigil all night, and at day-break bathe and offer luchi 

 (bread cooked in ghi) and pay as (rice boiled in milk and sugar). The offerings are 

 distributed among the worshippers. No mantras are recited. A similar ritual is observed 

 in Jalpaiguri in the worship of Borma Thakurani, another smallpox godling, but in this 

 case no image is used. Women also go singing to the temple of S'itala on Tuesdays 

 and Saturdays and worship with sweetmeats, paramanna (rice boiled in sugar and 

 milk), betel- nuts and leaves, vermilion, cakes of flour and gur, cooling fruits and 

 drinks, such as chana pana (a mixture of water, curds, gur and plantains) and wet 

 gram, intended for her ass. In Purnea it is regarded as essential that these offerings 

 should be begged by women from seven families. Goats and pigeons are often sacrificed, 

 and, in the case of the lower castes, pigs also. S'italastaka (eight hymns in honour of 

 the goddess) are sometimes chanted before her by Brahmans, Ganaks or Malis. Her im- 

 age is occasionally taken from the temple and carried round the village at nighttall, in 

 procession, with cymbals and drums, in a wooden palki covered with red cloth, in which 

 are placed offerings of vermilion, oil, and pice. In Western Bengal the sixty- four 

 Yogini who attend on S'itala and spread smallpox are worshipped on the same day, 

 under a tree on the outskirts of the village. Jvarasura or Jvara-putra, her minister, 

 Ghantakarna, her husband, Raktabali, her maid-servant, Manasa, and, in Bihar, Bhag- 

 vtai, are also worshipped. 



In Bihar a triangular pit is sometimes dug at cross-roads and partially filled with 

 fire, whilst the ground near is smeared with cowdung. A Brahman mutters mantras and 

 recites the Durga Stotra, and the fire is fed with incense, ghi, cocoanuts, pice, flowers 

 and other offerings. 



In Orissa, where S'itala. is also known as Basanta Thakurani, no image is used, and 

 she is believed to dwell in a stone under a banyan tree. A Brahman is attached to the 

 spot. An annual festival is held on the day before the Caitra full moon, when an ear- 

 then vessel, whitened with lime and containing cactus branches, is placed at each corner 

 of every house. During an epidemic the chief female member of each family fasts and 

 wears a ring of straw round her neck. If anyone in the house should be attacked, she 



• It is believed that asses' milk is a remedy for smallpox, and that their bray prevents the entry of smallpox into a village. 

 Asses are sometimes fed with wet gram during an epidemic. 



