1884.] 
of Religion in the Himalaya. 
83 
asks for long life and prosperity, and to be truly effective this prayer 
should be said when the past year of the native’s life merges into the 
coming year. Then the names of the principal deities are repeated in 
the form of a short litany, and their aid and assistance during the ensuing 
year are invoked. Should the anniversary fall on a Tuesday or Saturday 
which are regarded as unlucky days, the ceremony cannot take place, but 
in its stead, the person who desires to derive benefit from the rite should 
bestow gifts on Brahmans and in charity, and in this way he shall obtain 
all the advantages which the performance of the complete ceremony is 
supposed to ensure. It is only in this abbreviated form, moreover, that 
the majority of Hindus in Kumaon observe this rite. 
Karnavedha. —The karnavedha or piercing the ear may, according to 
the family or tribal custom, take place at any time between the third and 
seventh year. The rite is said to have been established by Yyasa, and the 
date for its performance is always fixed by the family astrologer. The 
father of the boy must rise early and perform the Gfanesa-y^^^’d and state 
precisely the object by giving place, time, name, &c., and declaring that 
it is for the increase in length of life, strength, wisdom and good fortune 
of his son, whose name is also given. He then goes through the Mdtri- 
pujd, Ndndd-sraddha, &c., as in the preparatory ceremonies already de¬ 
scribed. The mother takes the child in her lap and gives him sweetments 
whilst the operation of piercing the ear is performed : first the right and 
then the left ear with appropriate mantras, winding up with the usual 
gifts to the astrologer and purohita. Then follows the ahhisheka or asper¬ 
sion and the presentation of flowers and the niahdmrdjana, in which the 
family barber appears with a brazen tray bearing five lamps made of 
dough, four at the corners of a square and one in the centre in which the 
wick floats in molten clarified butter. These are waved in the manner 
of a censer in front of the assembly, who each make an offering to the 
barber according to his ability.* 
Worship of the planets. —The Upanayana or ceremony of putting on 
the janeo or sacrificial thread is always preceded by the worship of the 
planetary bodies. For this purpose a yajnasdld or hall of sacrifice is pre¬ 
pared to the east or north of the house and purified with the pancha- 
gavya,-f whilst prayers are read as each article of the mixture is used. 
As a rule, however, the ceremony is performed in the cow-shed, in the 
* I omit the ceremony styled Aksharasvihdra vidydramhha, which takes place 
when a boy first goes to school, as I have never heard of its having been nsed. It 
consists principally of an enumeration of all the books, teachers and schools of philo¬ 
sophy known to the compiler with laudatory verses and prayers that they should be 
present and assist in the ceremony and in the youth’s studies, 
t Already described. 
