Note 44 — Chapter VI · SOME RURAL FESTIVALS AND CEREMONIES.

In the Panjâb, on the first day of sowing, sweetened rice is brought to the field, the women smear the outside of the vessel with it, and it is then distributed to the workmen. Next morning a woman puts on a necklace and walks round the field, winding thread on a spindle. This forms a sacred circle which repels evil influence from the crop. On the night of the Deothân, when Vishnu wakes from his four months’ sleep, lamps are lighted on the cane mill, and it is smeared with daubs of red paint.44