Abkāri (liquor) license, used as medicine, 187
Agricultural ceremonies, 60, 279, 289–304
Alagarswāmi, 169 Alangium Lamarckii, magic oil, 228
Albino crow, 69 Alstonia scholaris, sorcery figure, 249
Amputation of finger, 241
Ancestor, 51, 56, 68, 290, 291, 302, 303
Animal sacrifice, 14, 15, 22, 33, 37, 38, 41, 55, 57, 65, 68, 69, 75, 82, 92, 119, 136, 137, 146, 148, 149, 150, 152, 156, 165, 171, 175, 177, 183, 187, 201, 205–7, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 217, 245, 246, 248, 249, 252, 253, 263, 267, 279, 282, 284, 287, 295, 296, 302, 303
Animals, form assumed by human beings, 226, 228, 260–2
Ant-hill, 36, 129, 132, 133–6, 156, 187, 253
Antelope (black-buck), 82
Araikāsu Nāchiyar, 170
Aranai (lizard) 99
Aravān or Kūttāndar, festival, 152–3
Areca nut, 20–1, 31, 49, 68, 283, 286
—— palm (Areca Catechu), 130, 177
Arka (Calotropis gigantea), 51–2, 53, 68, 186, 195; marriage, 51
Arrack, 236, 242, 245, 251, 253, 295
—— vendors, superstition, 32
Ashes, ceremonial use, 21,
45, 115, 138, 186, 220, 229, 293, 296;
effigies, 44, 307;
from burial ground, 242;
of meriah victim, 204; omens,
16, 18;
sacred, 103, 182, 212,
270–1, 294, 306
Astrologer, 45, 127; Kaniyan, 273–7
Āvaram (Cassia auriculata), clothing tied to, 156
Ayilyam festival, 125
Ayudha pūja (worship of tools and implements), 174–5
Bābūl (Acacia arabica), 153, 155
Badaga, 14, 35, 49, 85, 116, 141, 232–4, 300
Bael or bilva (Ægle Marmelos), 33, 184, 277
Bakuda, 81 Balanites Roxburghii, in lying-in chamber, 53
Bamboo, 113, 114, 148, 192, 212, 229, 260, 265, 293
Bangle insect, 107–8
—— offered to cholera god, 176;
to village goddess, 155;
worn as vow, 161
Banyan (Ficus bengalensis), 177, 219, 288
Bathing, ceremonial, 29, 31, 43, 51, 55, 67, 72, 81, 104, 117, 130, 135, 150, 185, 229, 252, 285, 286, 294, 301, 303
Bats, 83 Bauhinia variegata, 118, 229
Bauri or Bāwariya, 41
Bead necklets offered to cholera god, 176
Beads worn as vow, 138
Bejjo sorcerer, 32
Bēju sorceress, 263
Bells tied on trees, 154
Bēpāri, 74
Betel, 20–1, 31, 32, 39, 40, 47, 49, 68, 117, 118, 147, 177, 188, 244, 249, 270, 277, 283, 298, 301
—— insect (vettila poochi), 106–7
Bhagavati, 128, 250, 278, 292, 296
Bhairava, the dog-god, 196
Bilimagga, 118
Billaikāvus (cat-eaters), 77
Bird excrement, fouling by, 34, 67, 87
—— superstitions, 86–9
Birds, omens, 15, 16, 21, 23, 34, 36, 37, 50, 56, 65–70, 280
Birth, symbolical, from cow, 79–80
Bison, 81–2
Black buffalo, 45;
cloth, 31, 112;
face painted, 116;
fowl, 284;
goat, 45, 267, 284;
pig, 284;
rope, 111;
sheep, 52, 191;
thread, 220;
wool, 191
Blood, human, a cure for fever, 239;
offered to idol, 221;
sacrificed victim, 201, 202, 207, 221;
sprinkling with, 145;
sucked by witch, 261, 262
—— of bullock, 80;
devil-dancer, 212;
fish, 102;
monkey, 73
—— of sacrificed animals, 22, 33, 37, 38, 65, 68, 69, 119, 175, 183, 187, 189, 212, 245, 246, 252, 255, 263, 282, 284, 295, 302
Blood-sucker (lizard), 99–100
Boar, wild, 189
Boddu-rāyi (navel-stone), 60, 211
Bones burnt in lying-in chamber, 53;
from burial-ground in sorcery, 242;
omens, 56, 57;
used by toddy-drawers, 76, 82
Bottling evil spirits, 250
Boundary ceremony, 60, 175;
dispute, 38;
flesh of victim interred, 201;
goddess, 37–8, 184;
oath, 36;
sacrifice, 211, 263
—— stone, birth ceremony, 176–7;
reverence, 184;
sacrifice, 37
Bow and arrow in magic, 33, 100, 192, 226, 244, 263
—— in rain-making ceremony, 308
Brāhman, 15, 17, 22, 26, 27, 28, 31, 43, 45, 50, 51, 52, 58, 59, 66, 67, 68, 79–80, 90, 102, 119, 122, 123, 124, 125, 133, 135, 139, 140, 148, 157, 170, 174, 239, 288, 297
——, Konkani, 172
——, Nambutiri, 85, 192, 193, 239, 292
——, Shivalli, 136
Brāhmani bull, 63; mock marriage, 165–6
—— lizard (aranai), 99
Branding of body, 146
Brinjal (Solarium melongena), 295
Budubudukala, 280–2
Buffalo, 45, 76, 81,
202, 263;
sacrifice, 22, 38, 137,
148, 201, 205, 206–7, 217
Bug, 105
Bull, omen, 21
Burial jars, prehistoric, supposed to contain sacrificed virgins, 216
——, mock, 211–3
—— of charm, 181,
186, 187, 229, 246, 252;
of fowl with corpse, 69;
of placenta, 55;
of sorcery figure, 247, 249 Butea frondosa, leaf-cup,
33
Butter, 79, 116, 185, 213. See Ghī
Cakes at village festival, 282;
in pregnancy ceremony, 54;
waved against evil eye, 116–7
Camphor, 50, 115, 117, 177, 184, 229, 244, 245, 249, 260, 278, 284, 285, 287, 293 Canthium parviflorum, thorn, 252 Cassia Fistula, 18, 289
Castor-oil, 97, 105, 116, 185, 258
Cattle, 44, 60, 62–5,
79, 139–40, 210,
211, 291, 296;
sickness, 77, 154, 165,
183, 184, 209
Caves as shrines, 178
Charcoal, 22, 119, 176, 185, 244, 286, 307
Charm cylinder, 113, 185, 187, 188, 189, 192–5, 219
Charms used by servants of Europeans, 197
Chauri (yak-tail fan), 297
Chedipe sorceress, 261–2
Chenchu, 194
Cheruman, 121, 290, 291, 295, 296
Childbirth, 53, 54, 77, 79, 176–7, 186, 189, 191, 193, 196
Chillies, 22, 115, 116, 119, 243, 253
Cholam (Sorghum), 60, 302, 306
Cholera, 36, 83, 98, 119, 148, 166, 175, 176, 183, 184, 236, 259, 263, 279
Chunam, 21, 22, 31, 44, 106, 113, 114, 117, 170, 212, 244, 246, 295
Clay bangles offered to deity, 176;
effigies, 148, 247, 308–9;
figures, offerings, 14, 162, 166–8