Note 81 — Chapter III · TOTEMISM AND FETISHISM.

There are also many instances of the transition from human sacrifices to those of a milder form. Thus, when Ahmadâbâd was building, Mânik Bâwa, a saint, every day made a cushion, and every night picked it to pieces. As he did so the day’s work fell down. The Sultân refrained from sacrificing him, but got him into a small jar and kept him there till the work was over.81 The Villâlis of Pûna on the fifteenth day after a death shape two bricks like human beings, dress them, and lay them on a wooden stool. They weep by them all night, and next day, taking them to the burning ground, cremate them. Among the Telugu Brâhmans of Pûna, if a man dies at an unlucky time, wheaten figures of men are made and burnt with the corpse. The Konkani Marâthas of Kanara on the feast of Raulnâth get a man to cut his hand with a knife and let three drops of blood fall on the ground.82 Formerly in Hoshangâbâd, men used to swing themselves from a pole, as in the famous Bengal Charakh Pûjâ. In our territories this is now uncommon, as the village headmen being afraid of responsibility for an accident, generally, instead of a man, fasten up a white pumpkin, which they swing about.83