Note 72 — Chapter VII · TREE AND SERPENT WORSHIP.

In some places, Bhagats or devotees of Mātāji are invited to dinner along with a number of exorcists, who are generally Rabāris. After they have assembled at the house of the patient, they start out in a procession headed by one who holds in his hand a bunch of peacock feathers, to bathe in a river. On their way to and back from the river they sing songs in praise of the goddess to the accompaniment of drums and other musical instruments. After their return from the river, the whole party are treated to a feast, which is supposed to cure the patient of the effects of the snake-bite.72