Note 33 — Chapter I · NATURE POWERS.

The Swastika is considered as an emblem of peace and prosperity, and for this reason Bráhman women draw a figure of the Swastika in front of their houses.33 The custom of moving round such sacred objects as the Banyan, the Pipal, the Tulsi or sweet basil plant, the Umbar, the Avala (Phylanthus emblica), etc., is prevalent in the district of Kolhápur. There are no cases recorded in which women after child-birth are exposed to the Sun. But on the 12th day after her delivery, the mother puts on new bangles and new clothes; cocoanuts, betelnuts and leaves, grains of rice, plantains and grains of wheat are placed in her lap. She then comes out and bows to the Sun. Wealthy persons on this occasion perform a homa sacrifice in their houses by kindling the holy fire and feeding Bráhmans. No one in this district believes that conception is caused, or is likely to be caused, by exposure to the rays of the Sun.