Note 212 — K (continued 6)

The Koravas are extremely superstitious, and take careful notice of good or bad omens before they start on a criminal expedition. They hold a feast, at which the assistance of the goddess Kolāpuriamma or Perumāl is sought. A young goat, with coloured thread attached to its horns, and a garland of margosa leaves with a piece of turmeric round its neck, is taken to an out-of-the-way shrine. Here it is placed before the deity, and cocoanuts are broken. The god is asked whether the expedition will be successful. If the body of the animal quivers, it is regarded as an answer in the affirmative; if it does not, the expedition will be abandoned. If in addition to quivering, the animal urinates, no better sign could be hoped for. The Koravas make it a point of honour to pay for the goat used for this religious purpose. It was information of this ceremony having been performed which led to the detection of a torchlight dacoity in the Cuddapah district in 1896. The expedition was in the first instance successful, for the Koravas broke into a Kōmati’s house in the middle of a village, and carried off a quantity of jewels. The Kōmati’s arm was broken, and he and other inmates of the house were badly burnt by lighted torches thrust against their faces and bodies. Among other methods of consulting the omens is to sacrifice a fowl at a shrine, and sit in front thereof listening for the direction whence the chirping of lizards issues. If the omens are auspicious, the members of the expedition start off, armed as a rule with lātis (sticks) and axes. If they attack a cart, they commence by throwing stones at it, to ascertain if the occupant has fire-arms with him. Houses are generally broken into by means of a hole made in the wall near the door-latch. In the Ceded Districts, where the houses are as a rule substantially built of rough stone, and have flat roofs of salt earth, an opening is frequently effected through the roof. The Koravas are often extremely cruel in the methods which they adopt to extort information from inhabitants of houses as to where their valuables are concealed. In common with other Hindus, they avoid the shadow of the thandra tree (Terminalia belerica), in which the spirit of Sanēswaradu is believed to reside. In this connection the following legend is recited.212 In the city of Bīmanapuram there ruled a king named Bīmarāju, who had a beautiful daughter named Damayanti, with whom the gods, including Nalamahārāju, fell in love. Damayanti had never seen Nalamahārāju, but loved him on account of the stories which reached her of the justice with which he governed his kingdom, and his chastity. To avoid being charged with partiality in disposing of his daughter’s hand, Bīmarāju determined to invite all the gods to his house, and the one to whom Damayanti should throw a garland of flowers should claim her as his wife. The day fixed on arrived, and all the gods assembled, except Sanēswaradu, who appears to have been unavoidably detained. The gods were seated in a circle, and a fly guided Damayanti to Nalamahārāju, on whose neck she threw the garland. Nalamahārāju at once claimed her as his wife, and started off with her to his kingdom. On the way they met Sanēswaradu, who demanded an explanation of their being in each other’s company. He was told, and was very angry because the matter had been settled in his absence, and swore a mighty oath that they should be separated. To this end, he caused all sorts of difficulties to come in their way. Under his spell, Nalamahārāju took to gambling, and lost all his property. He was separated from Damayanti, and lived in poverty for years. The spell of Sanēswaradu could, however, only last for a certain number of years, and, when the time expired Nalamahārāju set out for Bīmanapuram, to find Damayanti who had returned to her father’s house. On the way, under a thandra tree, he met Sanēswaradu, who confessed that he was the cause of all the troubles that had befallen him, and begged that he would look leniently on his fault. Nalamahārāju would not forgive him, but, after cursing him, ordained that he should live for ever in the thandra tree, so that the area over which he could do wrong should be limited. It is for this reason that all wandering tribes avoid pitching a camp within the shadow of this tree. A tree (Terminalia Catappa) belonging to the same genus as the thandra is regarded as a lucky one to camp beneath, as it was under one of these trees that Rāma made a bower when he lived with Sīta and Lakshmana after his banishment to the forest of Dandaka.