Note 3 — Chapter IV · THE WORSHIP OF THE SAINTED DEAD.

The other Drâvidian tribes follow similar customs. Thus, the Korwas worship their dead relations in February with an offering of goats, which is done by the eldest son of the dead man in the family cook-house. Their ancestors are said not to appear in the flesh after death, but to show themselves in dreams if they are dissatisfied with the arrangements made for their comfort. On the day on which they are expected to appear the householder makes an offering of cakes to them in the family kitchen. The Patâris think that the dead occasionally attend when worship is being done to them. At other times they remain in the sky or wander about the mountains. Sometimes they call in the night to their descendants and say—“Worship us! Give us food and drink!” If they are not propitiated they give trouble and cause sickness. The Kisâns and Bhuiyârs of Chota Nâgpur adore their ancestors, “but they have no notion that the latter are now spirits, or that there are spirits and ghosts, or a future state, or anything.” The Bhuiyas revere their ancestors under the name of Bîr or Vîra, “hero,” a term which is elsewhere applied to ghosts of a specially malignant character. The Khariyas put the ashes of their dead into an earthen pot and throw it into a river. They afterwards set up in the vicinity slabs of stone as a resting-place for them, and to these they make daily oblations. The only worship performed by the Korwas of Chota Nâgpur is to their dead relatives, and the same is the case with other allied races, such as the Bhîls and Santâls.3