The principal deity of the Marathas is Khandoba, a warrior incarnation
of Mahadeo. He is supposed to have been born in a field of millet
near Poona and to have led the people against the Muhammadans in
early times. He had a watch-dog who warned him of the approach of
his enemies, and he is named after the _khanda_ or sword which he
always carried. In Bombay [216] he is represented on horseback with
two women, one of the Bania caste, his wedded wife, in front of him,
and another, a Dhangarin, his kept mistress, behind. He is considered
the tutelary deity of the Maratha country, and his symbol is a bag
of turmeric powder known as _bhandar_. The caste worship Khandoba on
Sundays with rice, flowers and incense, and also on the 21st day of
Magh (January), which is called _Champa Sashthi_ and is his special
festival. On this day they will catch hold of any dog, and after
adorning him with flowers and turmeric give him a good feed and let
him go again. The Marathas are generally kind to dogs and will not
injure them. At the Dasahra festival the caste worship their horses
and swords and go out into the field to see a blue-jay in memory of
the fact that the Maratha marauding expeditions started on Dasahra. On
coming back they distribute to each other leaves of the _shami_ tree
(_Bauhinia racemosa_) as a substitute for gold. It was formerly held
to be fitting among the Hindus that the warrior should ride a horse
(geldings being unknown) and the zamindar or landowner a mare, as more
suitable to a man of peace. The warriors celebrated their Dasahra,
and worshipped their horses on the tenth day of the light fortnight
of _Kunwar_ (September), while the cultivators held their festival
and worshipped their mares on the ninth day. It is recorded that the
great Raghuji Bhonsla, the first Raja of Nagpur, held his Dasahra on
the ninth day, in order to proclaim the fact that he was by family
an agriculturist and only incidentally a man of arms. [217]