The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-11
HErHEa.

From hs N,nstsenth CsniMry.


feature OF the religion Of the masses. Out
Of the 800. 0OO, 600 inhabitants Of India about
1000 900. 900 are Hindus. some s.. 900 Mo-
hammedAns. and the rest Christians. Sikhs.
jams. Parsees. Jews and Animists. Hinduism.
then. IN In India the religion Of the masses.
But IL must not be supposed that Hinduism
In, like Christianity or Mohammedanism. a
single religion with. o dsnnits creed. On the
contrary. 10 10 q conGlomerate Of beliefs and
customs belonging 70 different ages and
expressing often Inconsistent IDEAS and SEN
timents. Wo may roughly divide IL into
three main forms Of religion. First, there
are the six systems Of Hindu philosophy. OF
which the most popular 10 vedAntism. a subtle
and refined form Of Pantheism. which forms
the creed Of a small and educated minority.
SECONDLY, there h the popular worship OF
Siva and vishnu. silva representing the de-
structive power Of nature and Vishnu Its
power OF preservation, This is not the an
Gent religion OF the vedas. the sacred books
OF the Hindus. but q comparatively modern
form OF worship that originated about the
time OF the decay and determination OF
Buddhism between the first and sixth CEN
turtles A. D.. aud represents a combination
or the abstract Philosophical IDEAS OF the
Ary@n Brahmins with the groeser forms OF
worship OF the original inhabitants Of India.
1t is the form OF Hinduism which IL most
in evidence and with which English people
in India are most familiar. The large tem-
pies in town and village are nearly all dedi-
Gated to Siva or Vishnu, and q traveller who
visited India and saw only the surface Of the
religious life Of the Hindus would naturally
imagine that this worship Of silva and vishnu.
with It's various amihca tons. formed the sum
total OF popular Hinduism.
But In south India there In q third element
In Hinduism. which lie Just as important as
the worship OF silva and vishnu and has its
roots deeper down In the thoughts and feel
ings Of the masses. namely. the worship Of viii
lage deities. Every village In south India Ia
believed by the people to be surrounded by
evil spirits. who are always on the watch to
infiict disease and misfortunes on the I'M
happy villagers. They lUrk everywhere. on
the tops OF the palmyra trees, In caves and
rocks. in ravines and chasms. They fy about
In the air. like birds OF prey. ready to pounce
upon any unprotected victim. and the viii
layers pass through life In constant dread
Of these invisible enemies. At the same time
each village has also its guardian spirit or
spirits. whose function 1t is to ward OF evil
spirits and protect the villagers from epi-
demic OF cholera. smallpox, cattle disease.
famine and all the manifold ills that flesh Ia
heir to in an Indian village. The sole object
OF the worship Of these village deities is to
propitiate them and put them In a good tenn
per. so as to insure their protection or avert
their wrath. There Is hardly any trace Of
praise or thanksgiving, or any expression of
gratitude and love In the whole eystem, and
no desire for moral and spiritual "a.
The one great object OF all the rites and cere-
monies lie to get rid OF epidemics or to obtain
material prosperity. The worship. therefore.
in most villages only takes place occasionally.
In some there is an annual sacrifice. but in
the majority sacrifices are only offered when
an epidemic or cattle disease breaks out.
The general attitude OF the villager toward
his village deitIes is "let sleeping dogs lie;
~ AR - Aa iii - -
Is no disease a~fhicting man or beast II seems
safest to let them alone. but when misfortune
comes II is a sign that they are out OF temper
and require Precipitation. While, ther efore,
silva and Vishnu may be more dignlned be-
ings. with far more imposing shrines and
temples. still when calamity overtakes q
village. and famine. pestilence or cattle dis
ease makes its appearance. IL is to the village
deities that the whole body Of the villagers
turn for protection, as q more present help
In trouble and as being more in TINA tely con-
cerned with the happiness and prosperity Of
the people.
The origin Of this form Of Hinduism is lost
in antiquity; but II is quite certain that il
represents a pre-Aryan religion. more or less
modified in various parts Of south India by
Bra and Aryan influence. There
are three special features Of the system which
broadly distin guish IL from the worship Of
silva and Vishnu. First. the village DEF
ties. with very few exceptions. are female.
silva and Vishnu are male deities. and their
wives are distinctly subordinate 20 them.
On the other hand. nearly all the village
deities are ROddesses. gh they have male
attendants who guard their shrines and carry
out their commands. In the Telu GA country
there is a male deity called Potu-Razu. or
the Royal Man. who figures sometimes a.
the husband and sometimes a. the brother
of the Roddesses. and in the Tamil country
n &. - 800 H.. ~ -
lyenar. who acts as guardian and night
Waterman and Is supposed to patrol the |
village every night, with flowing locks and
flaming eyes. mounted on RhoStly steeds. 10
scare away the evil spirits. Then. sec
Ondly. the villa &c deities are propit ia ted with
animal sacrifices. No animal sacrifices are
offered TO silva or vfshnu. but to the village
deities buraloes. sheep. goats, pigs and fowls
are freely offered, sometimes by the thou
sand. In some places az many as IOyOOo
animals will be sacrificed in a single day. In
the Tamil country. where Brahmin influence
is strong and the sheddin ing Of blood is there
fore discredited. the animals are sometimes
offered 10 the male attendants instead OF TO
the Rodde sses Themselves, and a curtain ia
drawn before the images Of the goddesses to
prevent their seeing the killing Of the victims.
and no animal sacrifices are ever offered to
Iyenar. But II IL clear that these are later
notifications Of the system. and that orig
inally all village delties were wOrshipped
with animal sacrifices. Then. thirdly, the
pujaris. |. r., the men who perform the sac-
rihces and Oflciate as priests, are not Brah-
Minis. The priestly caste in Hindu society
Is the Brahmin caste. and In the temples Of
vlshnu and silva all the ceremonies are per-
formed by Brahmin priests; but the priests
OF the villaR re deities are drawn from all castles
except that Of the Brnhmins, and in the
Telugu and Canarese countries an important
part Of the sacrifices Ia taken even By the ont
cast Pariahs. In the more primitive villages
where primitive customs still prevail, IL ia
remarkable how great a numbe of mople
take an Official part in the periodical sacri-
nces-the potter. the carpenter, the toddy
drawer. the washerman. the Kurnam. or
Magistrate. and the different sections of the
Pariahs all have their appoin ted parts 10 play.
and. in striking con trast to the Aryan wor-
ship controlled by the Brshmins, the wor-
ship Of the village deities is marked by a
conspicuous absence OF sacerdotalism.
The names Of the villa &c deities are le-
gion. and some OF them are uninteIIiRible 10
the people themselves, but many OF them have
meaning s which show the close connection OF
the deities with country life. e T., the Village
Goddess" the Great Mother" the Little
Mother. " the Water Goddess " "tha noddn..