The goddess Devi is the tutelary deity of the caste, as of all those
who ply a disreputable profession. Animals are sacrificed to her
or let loose to wander in her name. The offerings are appropriated
by the village washerman. In Bombay the rendezvous of the Bhamtis
is the temple of Devi at Konali, in Akalkot State, near Sholapur,
and here the gangs frequently assemble before and after their raids
to ask the goddess that luck may attend them and to thank her for
success obtained. [269] They worship their rope-making implements on
the Dasahra day. They both bury and burn the dead. Ghosts and spirits
are worshipped. If a man takes a second wife after the death of his
first, the new wife wears a _putli_ or image of the first wife on
a piece of silver on her neck, and offers it the _hom_ sacrifice
by placing some _ghi_ on the fire before taking a meal. In cases of
doubt and difficulty she often consults the _putli_ by speaking to it,
while any chance stir of the image due to the movement of her body
is interpreted as approval or disapproval. In the Central Provinces
the Bhamtis say that they do not admit outsiders into the caste, but
this is almost certainly untrue. In Bombay they are said to admit all
Hindus [270] except the very lowest castes, and also Muhammadans. The
candidate must pass through the two ceremonies of admission into the
caste and adoption into a particular family. For the first he pays an
admission fee, is bathed and dressed in new clothes, and one of the
elders drops turmeric and sugar into his mouth. A feast follows, during
which some elders of the caste eat out of the same plate with him. This
completes the admission ceremony, but in order to marry in the caste
a candidate must also be adopted into a particular family. The Bhamta
who has agreed to adopt him invites the caste people to his house,
and there takes the candidate on his knee while the guests drop
turmeric and sugar into his mouth. The Bhamtas eat fish and fowl but
not pork or beef, and drink liquor. This last practice is, however,
frequently made a caste offence by the Bhamtis. They take cooked
food from Brahmans and Kunbis and water from Gonds. The keeping of
concubines is also an offence entailing temporary excommunication. The
morality of the caste is somewhat low and their women are addicted
to prostitution. The occupation of the Bhamta is also looked down on,
and it is said, _Bhamta ka kam sub se nikam_, or 'The Bhamta's work is
the worst of all.' This may apply either to his habits of stealing or
to the fact that he supplies a bier made of twine and bamboo sticks at
a death. In Bombay the showy dress of the Bhamta is proverbial. Women
are tattooed before marriage on the forehead and lower lip, and on
other parts of the body for purposes of adornment. The men have the
head shaved for three inches above the top of the forehead in front
and an inch higher behind, and they wear the scalp-lock much thicker
than Brahmans do. They usually have red head-cloths.