The principal festival of the Ahirs is the Diwali, falling about the
beginning of November, which is also the time when the autumn crops
ripen. All classes observe this feast by illuminating their houses
with many small saucer-lamps and letting off crackers and fireworks,
and they generally gamble with money to bring them good luck during
the coming year. The Ahirs make a mound of earth, which is called
Govardhan, that is the mountain in Mathura which Krishna held upside
down on his finger for seven days and nights, so that all the people
might gather under it and be protected from the devastating storms of
rain sent by Indra. After dancing round the mound they drive their
cattle over it and make them trample it to pieces. At this time a
festival called Marhai is held, at which much liquor is drunk and
all classes disport themselves. In Damoh on this day the Ahirs go to
the standing-place for village cattle, and after worshipping the god,
frighten the cattle by waving leaves of the basil-plant at them, and
then put on fantastic dresses, decorating themselves with cowries,
and go round the village, singing and dancing. Elsewhere at the time
of the Marhai they dance round a pole with peacock feathers tied to the
top, and sometimes wear peacock feathers themselves, as well as aprons
sewn all over with cowries. It is said that Krishna and Balaram used
to wear peacock feathers when they danced in the jungles of Mathura,
but this rite has probably some connection with the worship of the
peacock. This bird might be venerated by the Ahirs as one of the
prominent denizens of the jungle. In Raipur they tie a white cock
to the top of the pole and dance round it. In Mandla, Khila Mutha,
the god of the threshing-floor, is worshipped at this time, with
offerings of a fowl and a goat. They also perform the rite of _jagana_
or waking him up. They tie branches of a small shrub to a stick and
pour milk over the stone which is his emblem, and sing, 'Wake up,
Khila Mutha, this is the night of Amawas' (the new moon). Then they
go to the cattle-shed and wake up the cattle, crying, 'Poraiya,
god of the door, watchman of the window, open the door, Nand Gowal
is coming.' Then they drive out the cattle and chase them with the
branches tied to their sticks as far as their grazing-ground. Nand
Gowal was the foster-father of Krishna, and is now said to signify a
man who has a lakh (100,000) of cows. This custom of frightening the
cattle and making them run is called _dhor jagana_ or _bichkana_, that
is, to wake up or terrify the cattle. Its meaning is obscure, but it is
said to preserve the cattle from disease during the year. In Raipur the
women make an image of a parrot in clay at the Diwali and place it on
a pole and go round to the different houses, singing and dancing round
the pole, and receiving presents of rice and money. They praise the
parrot as the bird who carries messages from a lover to his mistress,
and as living on the mountains and among the green verdure, and sing:
"Oh, parrot, where shall we sow _gondla_ grass and where shall we
sow rice?
"We will sow _gondla_ in a pond and rice in the field.
"With what shall we cut _gondla_ grass, and with what shall we
cut rice?
"We shall cut _gondla_ with an axe and rice with a sickle."
It is probable that the parrot is revered as a spirit of the forest,
and also perhaps because it is destructive to the corn. The parrot
is not, so far as is known, associated with any god, but the Hindus
do not kill it. In Bilaspur an ear of rice is put into the parrot's
mouth, and it is said there that the object of the rite is to prevent
the parrots from preying on the corn.