At Kolhápur, the Banyan and Pipal trees are considered very holy, and offerings of rags, coins, etc., are made to them. It is a custom among the Hindu women to worship the Banyan tree on the full moon day of Jestha. Offerings of cloth and fruit are made to this tree, and copper or silver coins are given as dakshana. Some women make a small model in gold, silver, or copper of the Banyan tree or of its leaf, and present it to the Bráhman priest along with a present of money. All these rites are required to be strictly performed as enjoined in the Shástras. [393] At Nágothane in the Kolába District, it is believed that men who are well versed in the mantras of witchcraft and sorcery sometimes transfer diseases from one person to another. [394] Vaccination is believed to be a method of transferring disease to other persons. [395] At Málád in the Thána District a method of transferring disease from one person to another is in practice among the Shudras. It is as follows:--A woman without a child cuts secretly a little piece from the garment of a woman who has children. She then burns the piece, puts the ashes into water, and the mixture is then drunk by the barren woman. It is believed that, by so doing, the evil spirit of the disease that is troubling the barren woman is transferred to the other who has children. The barrenness of the first woman then disappears, and she begets children. It is said that if the second woman comes to know of the mischief before using that garment, she discontinues the use of the same, and no harm is done to her. [396] In the Umbergaon taluka of the Thána District the methods of transferring disease are called Muth Márane, i.e., a bewitched lime is sent to the person to whom the disease is to be transferred. Various mantras are also secretly repeated with the object of transferring the disease to an enemy. [397] At Kolhápur, there are no methods of transferring disease to other persons, but it is said that the following ceremony is practised in the case of persons suffering from swollen glands. Rice, Udid grain etc. are tied in a yellow cloth, and three knots are made in it. This is then kept for one night under the pillow of the diseased person. It is taken out the next morning and thrown away at a place where three roads meet. It is then supposed that the person who steps on the bundle first is attacked with the disease, and the one for whom the rite is performed is cured. [398]