Note 72 — Chapter VI · SOME RURAL FESTIVALS AND CEREMONIES.

Finally comes the indecency of word and gesture, which is a distinct element in the rite. There seems reason to believe that in the worship of certain deities in spring, promiscuous intercourse was regarded as a necessary part of the ceremony.72 This appears at what is called the Kâhi ka Mela in Kulu, in which indecency is supposed to scare evil spirits.73 We have already noticed the practice of indecency as a rain charm, and it seems at least a plausible hypothesis that the unchecked profligacy which prevails among the Hindus at the spring feast and at the Kajalî in autumn may be intended to repel evil spirits which check the fecundity of men, animals, and crops. The same idea probably also underlies the licentious observance of the Karama among the Drâvidian races. The same theory explains similar usages in Europe, such as the Lupercalia, Festum Stultorum, Matronalia Festa, Liberalia, and our own All Fools’ Day, where the indecent part of the performance has disappeared under the influence of a purer faith and a higher morality, and a little kindly merriment is its only survival.