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viduals (if any) in any of these classes who do not
take the drug. Their use of it is rarely excessive.
It is moderate. They generally take hemp as a
beverage. They do not smoke. They say that
the drink cools the belly, opens the bowels and
assists in digesting food. This is true. A man
who takes bhang can digest sweetmeats worth two
rupees, while we could not digest four annas'
worth. These men are also robust and able-bodied.
Unless they were so, they could not do the hard
work that falls to them.
These temple servants are very numerous.
There are about seven hundred houses of suars or
cooks. That would give, say, fifteen hundred
men. They have to cook both for those who are
employed in the temple and also for bairagis,
widows, etc., who are living in Puri, dependent
on the temple and either paying for their food or
receiving it as charity. Of the poshupalaks there
will be about one hundred houses, and about one
hundred of pandas. Of the pariharis or watch-
men there are a thousand houses at least. All
the servants or sewaks probably amount to three
thousand. Then these people have gomastas,
who go all over the country to bring in pilgrims.
There are about three thousand such gomastas. I
know one man, Harihar Guru, chief of the pariharis,
who has five hundred gomastas of his own. Two-
thirds of these gomastas are generally absent from
Puri on duty. The rest are present. They all
take bhang. Only pandas, who are very poor
and cannot afford a gomasta, go out as pilgrim
recruiters themselves. All these temple servants
get part of the bhoj from the temple, and also
receive presents from the pilgrims.
These men rarely smoke; only the spoiled men
among them smoke. They, for the most part,
drink hemp. They use Gurjat ganja. This
ganja is the flower mixed with the leaves or patti
or bhang. These men often use Bengal siddhi
when it is available. But they do not like it so
well as Gurjat ganja, because they say it is not so
effective. The Gurjat ganja is stronger, more
agreeable to these people from their habits, and
said to be more cooling than Bengal siddhi.
These men do not take the Rajshahi ganja to drink
at all unless they are obliged to do so. If they
can get nothing else they take it. They took it
when Gurjat ganja was prohibited. But they
said it was too strong. They say it heats the
body too much and causes dysentery and the pass-
ing of blood. So far as I remember, there was
no Bengal siddhi available then.
Sometimes the leaf of the Gurjat ganja, which
falls or is broken off from the plant, is used alone
as bhang by those who only take a little bhang
for pleasure. But those who have labour to do,
mix the ganja flowers up in their bhang with the
leaves. The Gurjat siddhi or leaves without the
flowers is very weak.
The population of the town of Puri is by the
census 25,000. Among this population there is a
large proportion of males. About one-half or
seven-sixteenths may be deducted for women and
children. The men are about twelve thousand five
hundred. Of these, perhaps five thousand take no
intoxicant regularly; but the remainder take opium,
ganja or siddhi. I think that the majority take
siddhi. There is almost no ganja-smoking among
the temple servants; but bairagis and common
people do smoke. For smoking, Rajshahi ganja is
preferred. It is only, I believe, where it cannot be
obtained that Gurjat ganja is smoked. The Raj-
shahi ganja is far stronger. It is said that to drink it
is very injurious, because it is so strong. I do not
know that this is true if it is smoked. I have heard
that the people who are accustomed to smoke Gurjat
ganja say it is better; but I know that the smoker
of the Rajshahi stuff prefers that, and any man
who has smoked the Rajshahi ganja prefers it.
That is because it is stronger, I suppose.
Gurjat siddhi and Gurjat ganja are not imported
separately. They are brought in, as a rule, on the
one plant in bundles. If the leaves break off they
are brought in separately, but under the same
license as the ganja. I understand that the pro-
hibition against Gurjat ganja has been withdrawn
and that it can be imported by license. When the
ganja flowers break off from the leaves, the latter
are brought in also. They are very rarely drunk
apart from the flowers. Certainly none of the
temple servants would use the leaves without the
flowers, because they want their bhang to be strong
and intoxicating. What is known as Gurjat ganja
is used in the town simply as siddhi or bhang. It
is stronger than the Rajshahi siddhi, which is only
leaves; but it is weaker than the Rajshahi
ganja.
I do not think that Gurjat ganja is much used in
the interior of the district for smoking, not so much
as is the case with Rajshahi ganja. The latter is
preferred where it can be got. The lower orders
drink toddy when they drink, and the higher
classes siddhi. I have myself seen siddhi or
Gurjat ganja drunk by baniyas, Brahmans, Telis,
cultivators, etc. This was at a festival. It is
not, however, the custom for cultivators to drink
siddhi or ganja. If they take hemp, they usually
smoke it. Brahmans, on the other hand, drink it
as a rule. Similarly bairagis smoke, but pandas,
etc., usually drink hemp. The people not only use
hemp for stimulant, but also because they generally
believe that it is good for elephantiasis, which is
common here, and for other diseases brought on
by this climate.
There is a great deal of smuggling of Gurjat
ganja. That is, I believe, the principal source of
supply. The smugglers are servants and con-
sumers principally. The servants bring it for
their masters to use or sell. There are about fifty
thousand pilgrims at the Car festival in an ordi-
nary year, and not less than fifty thousand more
throughout the year. I know nothing of their
habits while here. I cannot say how many use
hemp. They may give ganja to the temple serv-
ants. But no ganja is presented to the temple.
Ganja is only given in Siva temples.
If the Gurjat ganja were stopped, there would
be discontent. There were complaints when it
was formerly stopped. I heard that some six people
died from not getting Gurjat ganja and having to
drink Rajshahi ganja. They died within a year
or two. They had dysentery and such diseases.
They were shopkeepers and people of that class,
not temple servants. I do not think that Bengal
siddhi would satisfy people accustomed to drink
Gurjat ganja. But if it were available, there
would be less discontent. I am doubtful, how-
ever, if it would be so beneficial to health as
Gurjat ganja. I think that Gurjat ganja is good
for the health. I have taken it myself on the
doctor's recommendation and also in social feasts,
and have found it beneficial. I should be against
stopping Gurjat ganja too suddenly. We cannot
stop smuggling without harsh measures. Harsh
measures should be avoided.