1884.] of Religion in the Himalaya. 59 
buffaloes or more generally of goats. At Purnagiri in Tallades, Hat in 
Gangoli and E-ancbula Kot in Katyur, the consort of S'iva, in lier most 
terrible form, lias attained an unenviable notoriety as having been in 
former times appeased by human sacrifices. In the neighbouring country 
of HepH,* it is recorded that the custom of offering human sacrifices tc 
Bachhla Devi, another form of Kali, was introduced by S'iva-deva-varma, 
and that when one of his successors, Yisva-deva-vanna, considered it a 
piece of great cruelty and desired to abolish it ‘‘ Kara-siva made a great 
noise. Whereupon the Raja went to see what was the matter and the 
Kara-siva came to seize him. The Raja, being pleased at this, gave him 
a largo jdgir which remains to the present day.” In Bhavabhuti’s charm¬ 
ing drama of Malati and Madhava we have an account of the attempt 
made by Aghoraghanta to offer Malati as a sacrifice to Chamunda Devi 
when she is rescued by Madhava.f In the collection of legends known 
as the Katha-sarit-sagara frequent mention is made of the sacrifice of 
human victims by the barbarous tribes inhabiting the forests and mountains 
and we know that up to the present day the practice has existed amongst 
the wild tribes in Khondistan. In the Dasa Kumara Charitra, also, we 
are told of Praharavarma, Raja of Mithila, being attacked by the S'avaras 
and losing two of his children who were about to be offered by the bar¬ 
barians to Chandi Devi when they were fortunately rescued by a Brah¬ 
man. The Kalika Purana, too, gives minute directions for the offering 
of a human being to KMi, whom, it is said, his blood satisfies for a thou¬ 
sand years. Both at Purnagiri and Hat a connection and oneness with 
the great Kali of Calcutta is asserted and cocoanuts are much esteemed 
as a subsidiary oblation. In the latter place the sacrificial weapon used 
in the human sacrifices is still preserved. J 
HoU .—The Holi commences on the eighth or ninth and ends on the 
last day of Phalgun 8udiy locally known as the chharari day. Some de¬ 
rive the name Holi from the demon Holika, who is one with Putana ; but 
the Bhavishyottara Purana, which has a whole section devoted to this 
festival, gives a different account which may be thus briefly summarised : 
—In the time of Yuddhishthira there was a Raja named Raghu who 
governed so wisely that his people were always happy, until one day the 
Rakshasi Dundha came and troubled them and their children. They 
* Wright’s Nepal, 126, 130 : Sivadeva lived about the tenth century. 
t Wilson, XII, 58. 
J Those who are desirous of investigating the subject of human sacrifices fur¬ 
ther are referred to Wilson’s works, I, 264 ; II, 247 ; III, 353 : IV., 143 ; Max Muller’s 
History of ancient Sanskrit Literature, 408 : Muir’s Sanskrit Texts, I., 355 : II., 184 ; 
IV., 289 : Wheeler’s History of India, I, 403 : Wilson’s India, 68, and Colebrooke’s 
Essays 34. 
