The Pardhans and Patharis are also, as already stated, village
musicians, and their distinctive instrument the _kingri_ or _kingadi_
is described by Mr. White as consisting of a stick passed through a
gourd. A string or wire is stretched over this and the instrument is
played with the fingers. Another kind possesses three strings of woven
horse-hair and is played with the help of a bow. The women of the Ganda
Pardhan subtribe act as midwives. Mr. Tawney wrote of the Pardhans
of Chhindwara: [406] "The Raj-Pardhans are the bards of the Gonds and
they can also officiate as priests, but the Bhumka generally acts in
the latter capacity and the Pardhans confine themselves to singing
the praises of the god. At every public worship in the Deo-khalla or
dwelling-place of the gods, there should, if possible, be a Pardhan,
and great men use them on less important occasions. They cannot even
worship their household gods or be married without the Pardhans. The
Raj-Pardhans are looked down on by the Gonds, and considered as
somewhat inferior, seeing that they take the offerings at religious
ceremonies and the clothes of the dear departed at funerals. This has
never been the business of a true Gond, who seems never happier than
when wandering in the jungle, and who above all things loves his axe,
and next to that a tree to chop at. There is nothing in the ceremonies
or religion of the Pardhans to distinguish them from the Gonds."