The feats of the Nats as tight-rope walkers used apparently to make
a considerable impression on the minds of the people, as it is not
uncommon to find a deified Nat, called Nat Baba or Father Nat, as
a village god. A Natni or Nat woman is also sometimes worshipped,
and where two sharp peaks of hills are situated close to each other,
it is related that in former times there was a Natni, very skilful
on the tight-rope, who performed before the king; and he promised
her that if she would stretch a rope from the peak of one hill to
that of the other and walk across it he would marry her and make
her wealthy. Accordingly the rope was stretched, but the queen
from jealousy went and cut it half through in the night, and when
the Natni started to walk the rope broke and she fell down and was
killed. She was therefore deified and worshipped. It is probable that
this legend recalls some rite in which the Nat was employed to walk
on a tight-rope for the benefit of the crops, and, if he failed, was
killed as a sacrifice; for the following passage taken from Traill's
account of Kumaon [348] seems clearly to refer to some such rite:
"Drought, want of fertility in the soil, murrain in cattle, and
other calamities incident to husbandry are here invariably ascribed
to the wrath of particular gods, to appease which recourse is had to
various ceremonies. In the Kumaon District offerings and singing and
dancing are resorted to on such occasions. In Garhwal the measures
pursued with the same view are of a peculiar nature, deserving of
more particular notice. In villages dedicated to the protection of
Mahadeva propitiatory festivals are held in his honour. At these
Badis or rope-dancers are engaged to perform on the tight-rope, and
slide down an inclined rope stretched from the summit of a cliff to
the valley beneath and made fast to posts driven into the ground. The
Badi sits astride on a wooden saddle, to which he is tied by thongs;
the saddle is similarly secured to the _bast_ or sliding cable,
along which it runs, by means of a deep groove; sandbags are tied to
the Badi's feet sufficient to secure his balance, and he is then,
after various ceremonies and the sacrifice of a kid, started off;
the velocity of his descent is very great, and the saddle, however
well greased, emits a volume of smoke throughout the greater part of
his progress. The length and inclination of the _bast_ necessarily
vary with the nature of the cliff, but as the Badi is remunerated at
the rate of a rupee for every hundred cubits, hence termed a tola,
a correct measurement always takes place; the longest _bast_ which
has fallen within my observation has been twenty-one tolas, or 2100
cubits in length. From the precautions taken as above mentioned the
only danger to be apprehended by the Badi is from breaking of the
rope, to provide against which the latter, commonly from one and
a half to two inches in diameter, is made wholly by his own hand;
the material used is the _bhabar_ grass. Formerly, if a Badi fell to
the ground in his course, he was immediately despatched with a sword
by the surrounding spectators, but this practice is now, of course,
prohibited. No fatal accident has occurred from the performance
of this ceremony since 1815, though it is probably celebrated at
not less than fifty villages in each year. After the completion of
the sliding, the _bast_ or rope is cut up and distributed among the
inhabitants of the village, who hang the pieces as charms on the eaves
of their houses. The hair of the Badi is also taken and preserved as
possessing similar virtues. He being thus made the organ to obtain
fertility for the lands of others, the Badi is supposed to entail
sterility on his own; and it is firmly believed that no grain sown
with his hand can ever vegetate. Each District has its hereditary
Badi, who is supported by annual contributions of grain from the
inhabitants." It is not improbable that the performance of the Nat
is a reminiscence of a period when human victims were sacrificed
for the crops, this being a common practice among primitive peoples,
as shown by Sir J.G. Frazer in _Attis, Adonis, Osiris_. Similarly the
spirits of Nats which are revered in the Central Provinces may really
be those of victims killed during the performance of some charm for the
good of the crops, akin to that still prevalent in the Himalayas. The
custom of making the Nat slide down a rope is of the same character
as that of swinging a man in the air by a hook secured in his flesh,
which was formerly common in these Provinces. But in both cases the
meaning of the rite is obscure.