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J. HORNELL ON 



rites is the incising, scratching, or daubing of the crude outline of an eye C|^; on 

 each bow (fig. i8, p. 174). This ceremony is termed " opening the eye " {^sk^pai^p ^.). 

 Some of the older men state that their idea in doing this is to endow the boat with life.' 

 This custom is obviously related to that followed in the fashioning of metal and stone 

 images of Hindu deities, where ritual prescribes that the putting in of the pupils of 

 the eyes shall be the final touch put by the artist, indeed this is not done until just 

 before the instalment or consecration of the image in its shrine. New brass and bronze 

 images of gods sold from shops in Hindu towns are always blind ; among strictly 

 orthodox families the e3^es should be " opened "—the pupil to be marked —before 

 they are suitable for worship. Till then they are mere lifeless images without sanctity. 

 When we find a similar custom of " opening the eyes " of a newly-built boat just before 



Fig. 32. — Bow of a Ganges cargo boat showing oculus in brass on a black ground and a garland 



hung from the stem. (Original). 



launching, the fact clearly confirms my contention that the puja ceremonies are in- 

 tended to instal a deity in the boat itself and to merge the boat's individuality in 

 that of the goddess whose protection is sought. This idea is supported also by the 

 lack of any subsequent attention to these eyes. Once they are opened, no further 

 attention is bestowed upon them ; in the course of a short time all trace of them dis- 

 appears, the slight scratch made, becoming obliterated either by weathering or by the 

 coat of paint or of tar sometimes applied to the top strake of these boats. 



A most interesting survival of what I infer to have been originally a human 

 blood sacrifice takes place after the puja ceremonies are completed; as the boat is 

 launched down the shelving beach to take her first plunge through the surf, a pump- 

 kin is placed in the way and the boat dragged over it, smashing tt to pulp. The 



i others say it is done simply as an ornament, but this is said either from ignorance — old customs are dying fast- 

 or from that peculiar reticence common the world over, regarding customs based upon superstitious beliefs, 



