[Religion.] 13. Their chief deities are Sairi, a vague female form sometimes known as Devi, Sîtala, the goddess of small pox, and the Dih, or aggregate of village gods, which are worshipped both by men and women. Fowls, goats, and pigs are sacrificed to the Manes, the victim being fed on some rice and marked on the head with red lead in the name of the sainted dead before being sacrificed. During the period of mourning they do worship to the disembodied spirit (pret) with an offering of a young pig. For their special worship in the Hindu form they employ a low body of Sarwariya Brâhmans. The worship of the village gods is done by a Baiga of their own tribe, and this local priest is generally the president of the village tribal council. The Baiga pretends to great personal purity, and is supposed to fast on the day he makes the offering. They have apparently quite abandoned the system of triennial sacrifices which prevails among the Eastern branch of the tribe; [251] but their tribal traditions show that their discontinuance is comparatively recent. The site of the Chero shrine (deohâr) is usually under a nîm tree where rude earthenware images of horses are collected. The offering very often takes the form of what is called newaj, balls of sweetened flour fried in butter. These after being offered are eaten by the family of the worshipper and the Baiga. All their sacrifices are done in public, except those to Dulhadeo, the godling of marriages, who is little more than a household deity, and whose worship is in the hands of the women. [Festivals.] 14. Their festivals are the Anant Chaudas, on the 14th day of the light half of Bhâdon; the Jiutiya, during the fortnight sacred to the dead (pitra paksha), in Kuâr, when women fast for a day and night to procure long life (jiw) for their sons and husbands; and the Phagua or Holi. Some Sundays are consecrated to the spirits of the dead, and are called pretak, when a fast is imposed, and on Sundays generally as well as at the Anant Chaudas, they do not eat salt. They do the Phagua like ordinary Hindus. In the Pitrapaksha for ten days they pour water on the ground in the name of the dead, and on the eleventh day shave and put on clean clothes. On that day each family gives the Brâhman two and a-half sers of uncooked grain (sîdha). The only family festival is the Jiutiya, which some observe to bring good luck on the family, and some in the hope of male offspring. One platform in the house is the residence of the sainted dead and the Devi. They are much afraid of the ghosts of persons drowned (bûrna), and whenever they pass a place where such an accident occurred they raise hands in an attitude of supplication.