1884.] 
47 
of Beligion in the Himalaya. 
Bhddo. —Tlie fourth of the dark half of Bhado is known as the 8an~ 
JcasM chaturtM when Ganesa is worshipped and offerings of duh grass and 
the sweetmeat called ladii composed of sugar and sesamum seed are made. 
These sweetmeats are here called modak, of which ten are usually pre¬ 
sented, and of these five belong to the officiating priest and five to the 
worshipper. This observance is common amongst all Hindus. The 
eighth of the dark half is the well-known JanmAshtamf a great festival 
amongst the Vaishnavas, held in honour of the birth of Krishna. The 
eve of this festival is spent in worship in the temples. Local festivals are 
also held during this month in honour of Kelu Pir, Ganganatha, Kartti- 
keya, I)ipa Devi and Pushkara Kaga. The eleventh of the dark half is 
known as the AjdmhiJcd elmdasi and that last day is called the Kusdvarti 
amdvasyd, when the Jcusa grass is collected by Brahmans for use in their 
ceremonies. Locally amongst the Tiwari Brahmans the ceremony of 
changing the sacrificial thread is performed on the third of the light half 
of Bhado, which is commonly known as the Haritdli triUyd from the 
Hasta nahshatra or asterism. The fourth is known as the Ganesa-cha- 
turtlii and is the date of a fair at Thai Kedar in Waldiya and at Dhvaj- 
patikeswar near Jarkandar in Askot. The fifth, is known as the Ndga or 
Bislii or Birura-panchami. 
Ndga-pancliamd. —This is the great day on which the serpents are 
worshipped and the date of the fair in honour of IJgyara Maharudra at 
Papoli in Kakura and Karkotaka Kaga in Chhakhata. Rikheswar is a 
title of S'iva as lord of the Kagas, a form in which he is represented as 
surrounded by serpents and crowned with a chaplet of hooded snakes. 
The people paint figures of serpents and birds on the walls of their 
houses and seven days before this feast steep a mixture of wheat, gram 
and a sort of pulse called gahat {Boliclios uniflorus') in water. On the 
morning of the Ndga-panchami they take a wisp of grass and tying it up 
in the form of a snake dip it in the water in which the grain has been 
steeped (hirura) and place it with money and sweetmeats as an offering 
before the serpents. 
The chief festival, however, in Bhado is that held on the Nand- 
dslitami or eighth of the Sudd or light half. It is popular all over the 
upper pattis (sub-divisions) of the two districts and is the occasion of a 
great assembly in Almora. Great numbers of kids are sacrificed and 
occasionally young male buffaloes. At Almora a young buffalo is offered 
and Raja Bhim Singh, the representative of the Chand Rajas, gives 
the first blow with a talwar and afterwards the others kill the animal. 
In several villages this is made the occasion of a cruel custom. The 
animal is fed for the preceding day on a mixture of ddl and rice and on 
the day of the sacrifice is allowed sweetmeats and, decked with a garland 
