FAL-GOON, FEBRUARY.
The Thole-jatha. This means the amusement of Krishto and his female
friends with a swing. In the temple hall, or on some high altar, a
throne is set, and the images are placed upon it. This comes in the
time of the full moon. A few days previous to this the boys become
very troublesome to each other, and to the men in general. They buy
small hand-pumps, made of bamboos or tin, fill some jars with colored
water, station themselves by the wayside, and seeing men pass by,
pump out the water on their clothes. There is no remedy against this
plague, for you do not know where they are; they lie in ambuscades,
and, to your surprise, wet you with the red or yellow colored water.
They will take you unawares, as did the Indians the troops of General
Braddock. Sometimes they meet you in the street, four or five at once,
and trouble you from every direction. As they seldom attack men with
dirty clothes, one might escape the boys by wearing a less showy dress.
Again, they make a kind of seal, by cutting an apple into halves, which
they dip into ink and stamp on your side, breast, or back. This is
worse indeed, for sometimes it is difficult to wipe out the stain-mark
by several washings.
In the evening before Thole-jatha, the image of Krishto is conducted to
witness _Cha-churr_. A long bamboo, covered with straw, is stuck
into the ground by the side of the river or in the field. The Brahmuns
who carry the idol and its throne on their shoulders walk round the
bamboo post seven times, while the drums, flutes, violins, are playing
by hundreds. They then set fire to the post, and fireworks of various
descriptions are burned. Early in the next morning the idols are
placed on the hanging throne. The people witness the scene with great
pleasure, for it is said, “The sight of Krishno will effect salvation.”
There is some trouble, again, arising from the chief amusement of the
day. Abeer, a kind of red powder which the god is especially fond of,
is scattered everywhere. They make balls of it, and hit each other’s
face and eyes. Fortunately, Abeer does not blind the eyes; for when it
falls in, it waters them a little while, and thus makes them brighter
than before. In a rich man’s house, the guests are almost buried with
Abeer, without which the Thole-jatha is nothing.
The feast and music are as usual, for even a poor man must entertain
“twelve Brahmuns” on any religious holiday. This is one leading feature
in Brahmunism. It distinctly commands its believers to entertain
Brahmuns and other castes in the time of the idol-worship. Thus it
makes hospitality a part of the ceremony, and upon this the attention
of the gods is particularly directed. There is a beautiful story to
this effect. A man, according to his promise, offered a thousand
mangoes to the sacred Gunga, by emptying the baskets into its waters.
A poor man picked up one, and ate it. Now the goddess visited the rich
man in a dream, and demanded the full payment of mangoes, acknowledging
the receipt of _one_, which the poor man had eaten.