Note 138 — Volume II. (continued 2)

Religion. 16. Their special deity is Mahâdeva in the form of the lingam. As local deities they worship Sewanriya, the deity of boundaries, and Dharti Mahâdeva, the earth-god. These local deities have a shrine on the village boundary consisting of a mud platform under a semal (bombax heptaphyllum), bahera (terminalia bellerica), or pîpal (ficus indica) tree. A small red flag marks the shrine, near which are placed images of elephants. This is the shrine of Sewanriya, the deity of boundaries. In the name of Dharti and Mahâdeva two stone pillars are set up in the ground on the outskirts of the village. When the harvest is cut both these are propitiated by a burnt sacrifice (hom) of sugar and butter (gur, ghi). People who are in trouble make vows there, and, when the evil is removed, sacrifice a goat or fowl, and sprinkle some liquor through the Baiga. For this he receives some grain and a couple of pice. The women have a special worship to Amina Devi,138 in which men do not join. They make a burnt offering and light a lamp in her honour. If this deity is not worshipped the deity mounts on their heads and drives them into a fit of ecstacy (abhuâna). They have the usual custom of boring the ears (kanchhedan) of children when they are five years old. That day special food is served, and after this the child must conform to caste usages in the matter of food. Their religious business is done by a low class of Pânrê Brâhmans. On the day a child’s ears are bored a goat is offered to Juâla-mukhi Devi, and the meat is consumed by the worshippers and their friends.