The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12) - Mirrors

288 The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12)[245]to the god Jankari for the purpose of obtaining good crops. Theceremony was generally performed on the Sunday before or afterthe Pongal feast. For the most part the victim was purchased, anduntil the time for the sacrifice came he was free to wander aboutthe village, to eat and drink what he liked, and even to lie withany woman he met. On the appointed day he was carried beforethe idol drunk; and when one of the villagers had cut a hole in hisstomach and smeared the blood on the idol, the crowds from theneighbouring villages rushed upon him and hacked him to pieces.All who were fortunate enough to secure morsels of his fleshcarried them away and presented them to their village idols. 745The Gonds of India, a Dravidian race, kidnapped Brahman boys,and kept them as victims to be sacrificed on various occasions.At sowing and reaping, after a triumphal procession, one of thelads was slain by being punctured with a poisoned arrow. Hisblood was then sprinkled over the ploughed field or the ripecrop, and his flesh was devoured. 746 The Oraons or Uraonsof Chota Nagpur worship a goddess called Anna Kuari, whocan give good crops and make a man rich, but to induce her todo so it is necessary to offer human sacrifices. In spite of thevigilance of the British Government these sacrifices are said to bestill secretly perpetrated. The victims are poor waifs and strayswhose disappearance attracts no notice. April and May are themonths when the catchpoles are out on the prowl. At that timestrangers will not go about the country alone, and parents willnot let their children enter the jungle or herd the cattle. Whena catchpole has found a victim, he cuts his throat and carriesaway the upper part of the ring finger and the nose. The goddesstakes up her abode in the house of any man who has offered hera sacrifice, and from that time his fields yield a double harvest.The form she assumes in the house is that of a small child. Whenthe householder brings in his unhusked rice, he takes the goddess745 North Indian Notes and Queries, i. p. 4, § 15 (April 1891).746 Panjab Notes and Queries, ii. pp. 127 sq., § 721 (May 1885).