160 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. IX.
acquainted with the habits of the people, as, for example, Maharaja Sir Jotindra
Mohan Tagore, K.C.S.I., Maharaja Durga Charan Law, Raja Piari Mohan
Mukharji, C.S.I., Rai Rajkumar Sarvadhikari Bahadur, Rai Bahadur Kanai Lall
Dey, C.I.E., and others, speak to the prevalence of the custom, its intimate asso-
ciation with the religious devotions of the people, and the innocent harmlessness
of the practice.
Other occasions on which bhang
is used.
434. The custom described above, and which refers solely to bhang as distin-
guished from other preparations of the hemp plant, is
the most important occasion on which bhang is used
as a part of social or religious ceremonies; but there
is evidence to show that the drug in this form is used at other festivals. For
example, at the Holi festival, which is observed more generally in Behar than in
other parts of the Lower Provinces, bhang is commonly consumed; and, accord-
ing to many witnesses, at such festivals as the Diwali, Chait Sankranti, Pous
Sankranti, Sripanchami, Sivachaturdasi, Ramnavami, and indeed on occasions
of weddings and many other family festivities. But, so far as the evidence
shows, the use on those occasions is a matter of social custom observed more
generally in some parts of the province than in others, and, although no
doubt there may be some who consider it essential to their devotions, par-
taking but little of the nature of general religious observance. In Orissa bhang
is largely used by the attendants and worshippers at the temple of Jagannath
at Puri; and there appears also to exist a custom, somewhat similar to that of
the Durga Puja in Bengal, of offering siddhi or bhang in the form of sweetmeats
to the god Ganesh, which are then eaten by the worshippers and their friends
and relatives. This festival, called the Ganesh Chaturthi, occurs in the month
of Bhadro (August-September).
Connection of ganja with the
worship of Siva.
435. It is chiefly in connection with the worship of Siva, the Mahadeo or
great god of the Hindu trinity, that the hemp plant,
and more especially perhaps ganja, is associated.
The hemp plant is popularly believed to have been a great favourite of Siva, and
there is a great deal of evidence before the Commission to show that the drug
in some form or other is now extensively used in the exercise of the religious
practices connected with this form of worship. Reference to the almost universal
use of hemp drugs by fakirs, jogis, sanyasis, and ascetics of all classes, and more
particularly of those devoted to the worship of Siva, will be found in the paragraphs
of this report dealing with the classes of the people who consume the drugs.
These religious ascetics, who are regarded with great veneration by the people
at large, believe that the hemp plant is a special attribute of the god
Siva, and this belief is largely shared by the people. Hence the origin
of many fond epithets ascribing to ganja the significance of a divine pro-
perty, and the common practice of invoking the deity in terms of adoration before
placing the chillum or pipe of ganja to the lips. There is evidence to show that
on almost all occasions of the worship of this god, the hemp drugs in some form
or other are used by certain classes of the people. It is established by the
evidence of Mahamahopadhya Mahesa Chandra Nyayaratna and of other
witnesses that siddhi is offered to the image of Siva at Benares, Baidynath,
Tarakeswar, and elsewhere. At the Shivratri festival, and on almost all occasions
on which this worship is practised, there is abundant evidence before the
Commission which shows not only that ganja is offered to the god and consumed