[Ancestor worship.] 18. On the day of the Phagua (Holi) they feed a fowl with gram and kill it in the name of the sainted dead. But they recognise no deceased ancestor beyond their father and mother, in whose name after the sacrifice they pour a little water on the ground. Only the members of the family eat the flesh of the victim. They do not employ Brâhmans at funerals; they have no Srâddha, and the sister’s son has no special functions on this occasion. [Religion.] 19. They call themselves Hindus, but worship none of the regular Hindu deities. In the month of Aghan they get the Baiga to worship the village gods (dih). The offering consists of five fowls and a goat. The Baiga chops off the heads of the victims with his axe and takes the heads as his perquisite, while the worshipper and his family cook and eat the rest of the meat at the shrine. In the month of Pûs they worship the tribal deity—the goddess of iron—Lohâsur Devi. To her is offered a female goat which has never borne a kid and some cakes made of flour and molasses fried in butter. These cakes are broken into pieces before dedication. A fire offering (hom) is lit and some of the scraps of cake are thrown into it. The remainder are eaten by the worshippers. There is no temple or image of this deity. Brâhmans are never employed by them, and they do all their religious business themselves, except the worship of the village gods, which is entrusted to the Baiga. Among them the Baiga is always one of the Parahiya (q.v.) caste. The village gods are worshipped at their special shrine; offerings to Lohâsur Devi and the sainted dead are made in the court-yard of the house. It is only in the case of the sacrifice to the local gods that the Baiga receives the head of the victim; in other cases the whole of the meat is consumed by the worshippers themselves. No substitutes are used in sacrifice, and they do not offer parts of their own bodies, such as locks of hair, drops of blood, etc. [Festivals.] 20. Their festivals are the Phagua or Holi and the Baisâkhi called after the months in which they occur. At both they sacrifice to deceased ancestors and drink liquor. Both these are regular fixed feasts. They have no other Hindu holidays, nor at the Phagua do they light the holy fire as Hindus do. Before they offer the black goat to Lohâsur Devi they worship it, and before sacrificing it pour water on its head. Ancestors are worshipped to ward off evil from the household. They do not sacrifice animals at funerals, nor do they make any funeral offerings. [Ghosts.] 21. They dread the ghosts of the dead who appear in dreams, not because their obsequies have not been duly performed, but because they have not received their customary periodical worship. They are then appeased by the sacrifice of goats and fowls.