Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
"Every village in Canara," Mr. Stuart writes further, [83] "has its
Bhutasthanam or demon temple, in which the officiating priest or
pujari is usually a man of the Billava caste, and shrines innumerable
are scattered throughout the length and breadth of the land for the
propitiation of the malevolent spirits of deceased celebrities, who,
in their lifetime, had acquired a more than usual local reputation
whether for good or evil, or had met with a sudden or violent death. In
addition to these there are demons of the jungle and demons of the
waste, demons who guard the village boundaries, and demons whose only
apparent vocation is that of playing tricks, such as throwing stones
on houses, and causing mischief generally. The demons who guard the
village boundaries seem to be the only ones who are credited with even
indirectly exercising a useful function. The others merely inspire
terror by causing sickness and misfortune, and have to be propitiated
by offerings, which often involve the shedding of blood, that of a
fowl being most common. There are also family Bhutas, and in every
non-Brahman house a room, or sometimes only a corner, is set apart for
the Bhuta, and called the Bhutakotya. The Bhutasthanam is generally a
small, plain structure, 4 or 5 yards deep by 2 or 3 yards wide, with
a door at one end covered by a portico supported on two pillars. The
roof is of thatch, and the building is without windows. In front
of it there are usually three or four T-shaped pillars. Flowers are
placed, and cocoanuts broken on them at ceremonies. The temples of the
more popular Bhutas are often substantial buildings of considerable
size. Inside the Bhutasthanam there are usually a number of images,
roughly made in brass, in human shape, or resembling animals, such
as pigs, tigers, fowls, etc. These are brought out and worshipped as
symbols of the Bhutas on various ceremonial occasions. [84] A peculiar
small goglet or vase, made of bell-metal, into which from time to time
water is poured, is kept before the Bhutas, and, on special occasions,
kepula (Ixora coccinea) flowers, and lights are placed before them. In
the larger sthanas a sword is always kept near the Bhuta, to be held
by the officiating priest when he stands possessed and trembling
with excitement before the people assembled for worship. [85] A bell
or gong is also found in all Bhutasthanams. In the case of Bhutas
connected with temples, there is a place set apart for them, called
a gudi. The Bhutasthanam of the Baiderlu is called a garudi.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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