Note 9 — A

Tattooing. 22. All the Dravidian tribes of Mirzapur, the Kharwâr, Majhwâr, Patâri, Panka, Ghasiya, Bhuiya, Parahiya, Bhuiyâr, Korwa, Agariya, etc., have their bodies tattooed. This is done both to married and unmarried girls as soon as they attain to puberty. A widow cannot get herself tattooed, unless she marries again by the sagâi form. If a widow gets tattooed it is believed to bring trouble on the village. There are twenty-four forms of tattoo, any of which may be used by any woman of any of the castes. In general opinion tattooing is a sacred rite by which the body is sanctified. They say that the road to the heaven of Parameswar is full of difficulties, and at the end is a great gate guarded by terrible demons. The keepers will let no woman pass who is not tattooed. Accordingly every woman has to be tattooed, and in particular it is advisable to have the mark of some god marked on the body. They also believe that women who are not tattooed during life are tortured by the keepers of the gate of heaven. They burn them in the fire and brand them with a hot iron. They also roll them among thorns and afflict them in sundry ways. Some are taken to the top of the gate and flung down from thence. The only ornament which accompanies the soul to the other world is the godna or tattoo.9 Besides being a religious obligation the tattoo is used as a decoration, and it hence takes the form of various kinds of jewelry. The tattooing is done by the women of the Bâdi or Malâr tribes of Nats. The remuneration varies according to the wealth of the patient and the character of the ornament. It ranges from half an anna to four annas. Women get themselves tattooed on the wrists, arms, shoulders, neck, breast, thighs, knees and below the knees. It is done with lamp-black mixed with the milk of the patient. If a woman be unmarried or barren, the milk of another woman of the family is used. If the milk of a woman of another caste be used it is considered most injurious to health. While the operation is going on, the patient is kept amused by the recitation of verses usually obscene. Tattooing is also used as a remedy for pains in various parts of the body. The black substance is made by burning the roots of certain jungle plants known as the gaihora and Chainshora. Opium is also mixed with the black pigment to reduce the pain. A favorite remedy for barrenness is to tattoo the part of the stomach below the navel. In the same way a woman whose children are unhealthy and die gets a tattoo mark made on her armpit or stomach.