The caste especially revere Mahadeo or Siva, who gave them the
oil-mill. In the Nagpur country they do not work the mill on Monday,
because it is Mahadeo's day, he having the moon on his forehead. They
revere the oil-mill, and when the trunk is brought to be set up in
the house, if there is difficulty in moving it they make offerings
to it of a goat or wheat-cakes or cocoanuts, after which it moves
easily. When a Teli first sets the trunk-socket of the oil-press in the
ground he buries beneath it five pieces of turmeric, some cowries and
an areca-nut In the northern Districts the Telis worship Masan Baba,
who is supposed to be the ghost of a Teli boy. He is a boy about three
feet in height, black-coloured, with a long black scalp-lock. Some
Telis have Masan Baba in their possession, and when they are turning
the oil-press they set him on top of it, and he makes the bullocks keep
on working, so that the master can go away and leave the press. But
in order to prevent him from getting into mischief a cake of flour
mixed with human hair must be placed in front of the press; he will
eat this, but will first pick out all the hairs one by one, and this
will occupy him the whole night; but if no cake is put for him he
will eat all the food in the house. A Teli who has not got Masan must
go to one who has and hire him for Rs. 1-4 a night. They then both
go to the owner's oil-press, and the hirer says, 'I have hired you
to-night,' and the owner says, 'Yes, I have let you for to-night';
and then the hirer goes away, and Masan Baba follows him and will turn
the oil-mill all night. A Teli who has not got Masan Baba puts a stone
on the oil-mill, and then the bullock thinks that his master Masan is
sitting on it, and will go on turning the press; but this is not so
good as having Masan Baba. Some say that he will repay his hirer the
sum of Rs. 1-4 by stealing something during the year and giving it to
him. Masan may perhaps be considered as a divine personification of
the oil-press, and as being the Teli's explanation of the fact that
the bullock goes on turning the press without being driven, which he
does not attribute simply to the animal's docility. In Chhattisgarh
Dulha Deo is the household god of the caste, and he is said not to
have any visible image or symbol, but is considered to reside in a
cupboard in the house. When any member of the family falls ill it
is thought that Dulha Deo is angry, and a goat is offered to appease
him. Like the other low castes the Telis of the Nagpur country make
the sacrifice of a pig to Narayan Deo or the Sun at intervals.