FOLKLORE OF WELLS
[Illustration: Floating of lamps during the Kartik Bath.]
FOLKLORE OF WELLS
BEING A STUDY OF
WATER-WORSHIP
IN EAST AND WEST
BY
R. P. MASANI, M.A.
BOMBAY:
D. B. TARAPOREVALA SONS & Co.
1918
Printed by B. Miller, Superintendent, British India Press, Bombay.
Published by D. B. Taraporevala Sons & Co.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Introduction Pages xvii to xxvi.
PART I. FOLKLORE OF BOMBAY WELLS.
CHAPTER I.
_SANCTITY OF WATER._
Origin of fevers—Wrath of Shiva—Story of Ekānterio, the malaria
fiend—Closing of wells—Protests based on religious sentiments
and supernatural beliefs—Scriptural injunctions for the use of
well water—Opinions of Parsi scholars—Some Hindu beliefs and
usages—Ceremonies requiring water drawn from seven wells—Lighting
of lamps in the niches in wells—The unwashed sect of the
Jains—Aversion to bathing—The days of the Drymais 1-8
CHAPTER II.
_WATER SAINTS._
Spirits dwelling in wells—Disasters brought on by pent-up
spirits—The fortunes of the Edwardes Theatre—Mysterious collapse
of barriers—The sacred well of Alice Building—Propitiated
well-spirits avert accidents—Story of two sisters—Oracular well
of Ghoga Street—Midnight and midday visits to wells—Ceremony of
divination at St. Oswall’s well 9-13
CHAPTER III.
_PENALTY FOR DEFILEMENT._
The labourer who spat on the pavement of an oracular well—Fate
of an European girl who offended the saintly spirit of Loveji
Castle—Acts of defilement, whether conscious or unconscious,
offend the spirits—The Nowroji Wadia house tragedy—A Damascus
custom—Destruction of the land of Logres—Concerts of the
nymphs—“The pure one” fountain of Egypt—An Esthonian belief—A
curious variant of the belief concerning defilement—Deliberate
pollution of wells so as to constrain the rain-god—Albiruni’s
interrogatories—Doctrine of negation of knowledge 14-17
CHAPTER IV.
_QUAINT PARSI BELIEFS._
Worship of cabined spirits on full moon eve—Goat-sacrifice
on marriage days—Practice of besmearing the forehead
with the blood of the victim—Non-Aryan cults imbibed
by the Aryans—Hindu and Parsi beliefs in water-spirits
compared—Antiquity of water-worship among the Parsis—Worship
of _Ardevi Sura Anahita_—Influence of the _genii locorum_ on
the community—Mahomedan patron saints of Parsi household—An
anthropological puzzle—Ecstatic possession of a Parsi woman—The
Gunbow well—_Murgha Bâwâ’s_ well—Cures effected by the grace of
water-saints—Beliefs common to the whole world—Association of
life with motion—Water-worship in the East has its counterpart
in the history of Western thought—Professor Robertson Smith’s
description of the worship prevailing in Arabia—Well-worship in
the West probably more widespread and primitive than in the East 18-26
PART II. WATER-WORSHIP IN EAST AND WEST.
CHAPTER V.
_THE MOST WIDE-SPREAD PHASE OF ANIMISM._
Deification of fountains and rivers a general cult—Max Müller’s
theory of poetic personification—The spiritual element uppermost
in the worship of water—Water an important factor during the
first three days of Creation—Rabbi Ismael’s saying—Babylonian
conception of the god Nun—Rising of Shu from water—The Akkad
triad of gods—Worship of streams absorbed by the Hittites into
their pantheon—Two triads sacred to the Phœnicians—The Vedic god
Varuna—How the conception of the night served to convey the idea
of the ocean—Greek beliefs—Okeanos and Skamandros—Neptune, the
Latin sea-god—Nēreus, the Old Man of the Sea—The Scandinavian
god Niörd—Midsuno Kami, the water-god of Japan—The Peruvian
sea-god Virakocha—Worship of Mamacocha, Mother Sea—The Egyptian
Nile-god—Parsi festival in honour of Ardevi Sur Anahita—The Greek
goddess Aphrodite—Wells of water bestowed by Greek saints—Healing
virtues of the waters of Egeria—Dedication of likenesses of
diseased limbs to the water-nymph Egeria—Similar offerings to
Virgin Mary at Mount Mary’s Chapel at Bandra—The holy well of
Smyrna Cathedral—Cures effected with ordinary water just as
well as with the sanctified water—Archæological evidence of the
British cult—American examples of animistic ideas concerning
water—African rites of water-worship 29-39
CHAPTER VI.
_CHRISTIAN TOLERANCE OF THE CULT OF WATER._
A non-Christian custom—Edicts of Kings, Popes and Church Councils
prohibiting the practice—Total eradication of beliefs and customs
of age-long existence impossible—Continuance of pagan worship
under Christian auspices—A dual system of belief—Supplication of
a Scottish peasant at a sacred well—Grimm’s examination of the
result of the Christian tolerance of paganism—Mr. Edward Clodd’s
testimony 40-43
CHAPTER VII.
_HOLY WELLS AND TANKS._
Worship of Khwaja Khizr—Alexander’s ramble in quest of the
blessed waters—Northern India customs—_Khwaja Saheb ka
Dalya_—Water of Zumzum—Mother Ganges and Lady Jumna—Pilgrimage
to the Godavari—Russian ceremony of blessing the waters of the
Neva—Sita’s kitchen—Dr. Buchanan’s visit to the Monghyr well—The
theory of expiating sins by baths—King Trisanku’s deadly sins and
salvation—Washing of sins with the sacred thread—Sacred wells
of India—Rajput woman turned into a male Rajput of the Solanki
class—The legendary lore of the holy wells of England—Thomas
Quiller-Couch’s notes on the holy wells of Cornwall—Sacred wells
of Scotland and Ireland 44-53
CHAPTER VIII.
_HEALING WATERS._
Sanitary guardians of water—Balneotherapy and Hydrotherapy not
unknown in Talmudic times—Indian wells and tanks renowned for
medicinal properties—A milk-bestowing well in Lonavla—The
leper cured by the Lake of Immortality at Amritsar—Virtue of
the confervæ on the surface of the Lalitpur tank—Famous hot
springs—The Devki-Unai—The springs of Vajrabai or the Lady of the
Thunderbolt—The _Vali_ who makes the fire and keeps it burning
at the hot springs at Terka Main—The madness-curing pool at
Hamath—Mad men tumbled headlong in the Altarnum well—The virtues
of St. Tecla’s well—Holywell, the Lourdes of Wales—The Story of
St. Winefride—Recent Holywell cures—The calamity that befell
Holywell—Other healing wells of Great Britain—The dance round the
sacred springs of Enmore Green—St. Conan’s well—Bishop Hall’s
testimony—Sacred springs in Macedonia—Festival at Kaisariani—A
suppressed miracle—Pilgrimage described by Miss Hamilton—Scenes
in Emile Zola’s novel recalled 54-65
CHAPTER IX.
_PROCREATIVE POWERS OF WATER SPIRITS._
Water-spirits conferring the blessings of parenthood—Charms for
childless women—Bathing in the water of seven wells—The Dewali
bath in the Punjab—Fertilizing virtue ascribed to Scottish
springs—General explanation of the cult of the bath—Sterility
believed to be a disease due to demoniacal agency—Another
theory—Procreative power attributed to spirits—Testimony borne by
Professor Curtiss—Hot air vents in Syria—Belief of the Punjabis
that the fertilizing virtue of a well is abstracted by the women
bathing in it—The Jewish belief—Conception possible in a bath—The
theory in vogue among physicians of the twelfth century—A case
recorded by Averroes—Prevalence of the theory in Turkey—Supposed
ancestors of persons bearing the name of the Tweed—A Semong
tradition 66-70
CHAPTER X.
_WISHING AND CURSING WELLS._
Oracular wells inhabited by spirits gifted with powers of
divination—The Baladana _Kund_—Prospects of the harvest divined
by the holy well in Askot—Bread and pins as instruments of
divination—The Amorgos well—The presiding power of the well
of St. Michael—News of absent friends given by a Cornish
well—Two Wishing wells in Walsingham Chapel—The Fairy Well in
Cornwall—Ceremonial observances taught by the priestess of Gulval
Well—Cursing wells—Varied virtues of Holy wells—The Well of St.
Keyne—Strange traditions 71-75
CHAPTER XI.
_MALEFICENT WATER-GOBLINS._
Water-goblins infesting ill-omened streams and
wells—Water-spirits in India regarded as friendly dispensers of
life and fertility—Western folklore abounds in blood-thirsty
water-demons—Some mischievous water-spirits of India—Fallen
souls—A haunted vav in Vadhwan—The _Bhainsasura_ or
buffalo-demon—The _Jaté Buddi_ and _Jakh_ of Bengal—The “cups
of the fairies”—A wicked class of water-nymphs—The Greek
water-nymphs—The Sirens—The Nereids—The Black Giant and the
Drakos—Superstitions concerning drowning—Black’s explanation in
“Folk Medicine”—Prevalence of the superstition in Scotland—No
trace of it in India—Confusion of two distinct ideas 76-83
CHAPTER XII.
_RIVER WRAITHS._
The River of Death—Indian water-furies easily
propitiated—Continental water-deities demand human sacrifices—Peg
O’Nell—Peg Powler—Blood-thirsty Dee—The saying about St. John
the Baptist—Victims demanded by the German rivers on Midsummer
Day—Lord of the Wells—In the Australian theory of disease and
death none more prominent than the water-spirit—A Macedonian
ballad of a Haunted Well—Maleficent deities responsible for
floods—Various modes of pacifying the furies—The Nizam’s offering
to the Musi—Floods caused by offence given to patron saints of
water—The sea-spirits more powerful but less exacting that the
river-wraiths—The _Narali Purnima_ or Cocoanut Day 84-91
CHAPTER XIII.
_WHO WERE THE WATER-DEMONS?_
Race-origin of the _Devas_ or demons of old—Max Müller’s
theory—Myths of malignant spirits connected with traditions of
hostile races—Sir Laurence Gomme’s examination of the mythic
influence of a conquered race—Bombay beliefs—Other Indian
parallels—The Moondahs and the Kathodis—The origin of the
pixies—Examination of Parsi beliefs in Mahomedan guardian-spirits
of wells—A plea for local research 92-96
CHAPTER XIV.
_ANALYSIS OF THE BRITISH CULTS._
Gomme’s analysis—Table showing the effect of incoming
civilisations—Garland-dressing, pins and rag bushes—Variants
of one primitive form of rag-offering—Arguments in favour of a
megalithic date for well-worship and rag-offerings 97-100
PART III. VARIED RITUALS AND OFFERINGS.
CHAPTER XV.
_WATER-DIVINING AND WELL-OPENING CEREMONIES._
Jewish song of the well—Selection of suitable sites for
wells—Water-diviners—An extraordinary incident of the Gallipoli
campaign—Ceremonies connected with the digging of wells 102-108
CHAPTER XVI.
_DECORATIONS AND OFFERINGS._
Indian methods of venerating wells—Human sacrifices—Animal
sacrifices—Ceremonies demonstrably non-Aryan in India in
original non-Aryan in Europe—A Whitsuntide custom—Lamb, a votive
thank-offering—The Ram Feast at Holne—Substitutes for animal
victims—Curious explanation for offerings of coins 109-113
CHAPTER XVII.
_RAG WELLS AND PIN WELLS._
Rag wells and Pin wells of Great Britain—Their geographical
distribution—Henderson’s explanation of the cult—Theory put
forward by Sir John Rhys—Sir Laurence Gomme’s examination of
the theory—Other authorities—Use of wool in hanging up rags 114-120
CHAPTER XVIII.
_A MISUNDERSTOOD INDIAN CUSTOM._
Indian custom of hoisting flags near shrines and sacred
trees—A practice quite distinct from rag-offering—How European
folklorists are misled—Confusion of flags and rags—The flag
is offered only and solely as a thank-offering or as a mark
of respect—How the rag came to be regarded as a vehicle of
disease—An explanation of two conflicting theories 121-127
CHAPTER XIX.
_ANIMAL DEITIES OF WATER._
European belief in the presence of animals or fish as the
presiding spirits of water—These animal gods imperfectly
represented in the waters of the East—The Nags or semi-divine
beings, half men and half serpents—Frogs and trouts and worms and
flies as guardian-spirits of wells in Europe—A pair of enchanted
trout—A medicinal spring and its presiding worm—Another presiding
genius in the semblance of a fly—Divine life of water believed
to reside in the sacred fish—Foundation of the cult the same
everywhere—Difference only in forms and rituals 128-131
ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. Floating of lamps during the Kartik _Bath_.
2. Parsis on the sea-beach in Bombay.
3. Offerings to the Gunbow Well.
4. Ganga Mâi.
5. Marjan Vidhi: Washing away of sins with the changing of the
sacred thread.
6. Ocean-worship.
7. Narali Purnima.
INTRODUCTION.
For literary conceits and dreams of authorship there is no more powerful
antidote than the tedium of official life. It radically cures all such
morbid propensities. This little book, however, owes its inspiration
to office routine. It was in connection with official business that my
interest in the subject of water-worship was awakened about six years ago
when in my capacity as Municipal Secretary of Bombay I received several
protests against requisitions for the closing of wells.
In the course of its campaign against malaria the Municipality had to
call upon owners of wells breeding anopheles mosquitoes to close them.
The owners protested against these orders and in their petitions they
cited traditions concerning the sanctity of water and related stories
of spirits residing in the wells which to one ignorant of the social
organization and customs of the people might appear to be nothing more
than old wives’ tales and babble, or mere pretexts to shirk civic
responsibilities, but which a student of traditional lore has learnt to
prize as priceless fragments of information concerning the condition
of human thought of bygone ages. Often during one’s investigation of
such local accounts one comes across examples where history is in close
contact with popular tradition, illustrating abundantly the inherent
value of what Sir Henry Maine slightingly called “the slippery testimony
concerning savages which is gathered from travellers’ tales.” Looked at
from that point of view, the curious beliefs and customs referred to in
those petitions revealed divers elements of sociological and ethnological
importance leading back to the days of the ancestors of the petitioners,
and affording glimpses of remote, unexplored periods of antiquity when
people unknown to history dwelt in the particular localities from which
the petitioners hailed and left behind them a heritage of their mental
strivings and conceptions concerning wells and springs and other natural
objects. All this local lore of wells established, beyond doubt, the
prevalence of water-worship amongst educated Hindus and Parsis residing
in Bombay. It was, however, a medley of many divergent elements. To
docket and classify all the constituent elements of this folklore, to
trace their origin and to throw fresh light on the different stages of
culture of the early settlers in the island of Bombay, was a task far
beyond my capacity. Nevertheless, it seemed to me it would be a sin to
allow such precious gems of information to remain buried in the dusky
archives of the Municipality. I therefore culled from the official
correspondence such gems as I could lay my hands on, made personal
investigations about local wells, gathered additional information and
read a paper on the Folklore of Bombay Wells before the Anthropological
Society of Bombay on the 30th August 1916.
It was natural that my interest in the subject should grow as I
proceeded. What struck me most during my studies and inquiries was the
striking resemblance in the traditions, customs, rites and ceremonies
prevailing in India and those in vogue in European countries. It was
clear, moreover, that until recently the cult of water flourished in
the West in a more primitive and much ruder form than in India. I was,
therefore, tempted to read before the Society a second paper on the
subject and this was followed by another on the rituals of water-worship
and the sundry offerings to water-spirits in East and West.
It was impossible to bring within the range of these papers all the
materials I had collected. As the series was primarily intended to
expound the lore of wells only, a good deal remained unsaid concerning
the divine seas and springs and tanks and cataracts. I, therefore,
thought of completing the series and publishing a volume embodying the
varied water-cults, localising and classifying them, and tracing, as far
as possible, their genealogy with a view to elucidating the early life
of the people who lived in the different localities from time to time
and their relationship with the ancestors of the long-forgotten races
of other climes in which such ideas and customs also prevailed. It was
a very ambitious project, but I was tempted to set about it as in the
bibliography of anthropological literature I could not find a single
volume specially devoted to the subject. I was, however, unable to make
much progress for some months owing to other engagements.
A few days ago, when I was sitting on the Versova sands, musing on life’s
uncertainties and the vanity of human wishes, recalling Tennyson’s
words “so many worlds, so much to do, so little done, such things to
be,” methought I heard a water-nymph questioning me from under the
pale-green sea-groves: “How many years wilt thou dream away before
thou completest that work? Why not immediately convey to thy readers
our invitation to the concerts of the nymphs?” At once I recalled that
eight years had rolled by since I had resolved to complete another
series of anthropological papers, _viz._, Naming Customs and Name
Superstitions, just as I had thought of elaborating the water-worship
series, but that I had not been able to take the work in hand in the
midst of rapidly increasing daily duties. What chance was there of better
success in regard to this new work? I, therefore, thought it advisable
to publish the papers as read before the Society without further delay.
Their publication in book-form has, however, necessitated a somewhat
unsatisfactory arrangement of chapters, and for this and other demerits I
owe an apology to the reader.
It might perhaps be said that such a gallimaufry of divers tales and
traditions, beliefs and superstitions long current among different
people in different countries treats the reader to nothing new. It might
also be urged that these traditions and customs are mere survivals of a
particular phase of animism with which we are all familiar, that we all
know that from remote ages our ancestors have peopled trees and plants,
stocks and stones, dales and hills, and seas and springs with all sorts
of spirits, visible and invisible, and that it is upon this spirit-world
of prehistoric man that the primeval nature-worship of our Aryan
ancestors was based, upon which again rest the religions and philosophies
of the civilised world. This is all very true. Veneration of water is
undoubtedly a phase of nature-worship. The student of history knows why
from the remotest ages Egypt, Babylon, India and China became centres of
population in the East and why the plains of Lombardy and Netherlands
attracted waves of humanity in the West. Naturally, man gravitated
towards districts where food was easily obtainable. Valleys and plains
fertilized by springs became his home. Water to him was not only the
prime necessity of life, but the birth-place, so to say, of life.
Moreover, the primitive mind associated life with motion. It saw spirits
in rolling stones and swinging boughs. How could it remain unconscious of
the spirits controlling the many-sounding seas and bubbling rivers and
tumbling waterfalls? This is the _raison d’être_ of the universality of
water-worship. No new work on the folklore of wells is needed to tell us
that, but, as I have just stated, such folklore contains valuable details
of social conditions and the early history of races and if it puts in
the hands of the student of antiquities a key to the sealed book of some
unexplored stages of the cultural history, howsoever fragmentary, of
forgotten races, its publication would not be wholly in vain.
Races flourish and vanish, but their concepts and customs live in their
successors. These successors are not necessarily their descendants.
Often they are invaders and conquerors, sometimes refugees, professing
altogether different creeds, but with the estates and objects which they
inherit from their predecessors they also inherit their mental strivings
and traditions and customs and hand these down from generation to
generation. These in their turn influence others, wherever they go. Thus
it is that we see ancient customs and ceremonies observed, even to this
day, with very little variation, by different communities, even though
separated by oceans.
Numerous illustrations may be given of this parallelism of beliefs
prevailing in different places and their persistence in different culture
eras. One remarkable instance is the preservation of the bridge-sacrifice
traditions. It is referred to by Sir Laurence Gomme in _Folklore as
an Historical Science_ in the course of his analysis of the legend of
the Pedlar of Lambeth and the treasure stories centering round London
Bridge. The bridge was the work of the Romans of Lundinium—a marvellous
enterprise in the eyes of the Celtic tribesmen who believed that the
building of the bridge was accompanied by human sacrifice. This is
confirmed by the preservation in Wales of another tradition relating to
the “Devil’s Bridge” near Beddgelert. “Many of the ignorant people of
the neighbourhood believe that this structure was formed by supernatural
agency. The devil proposed to the neighbouring inhabitants that he would
build them a bridge across the pass on condition that he should have
the first who went over it for his trouble. The bargain was made, and
the bridge appeared in its place, but the people cheated the devil by
dragging a dog to the spot and whipping him over the bridge.” When the
Calcutta authorities proposed to build a bridge over the Hoogly River,
the ignorant masses apprehended that the first requirement would be a
human sacrifice for the foundation. The news went to England from the
_London and China Telegraph_ from which the _Newcastle Chronicle_ of 9th
February 1889 copied the following statement:—
“The boatmen on the Ganges, near Rajmenal, somehow came to
believe that the Government required a hundred thousand human
heads as the foundation for a great bridge, and that the
Government officers were going about the river in search of
heads. A hunting party, consisting of four Europeans, happening
to pass in a boat, were set upon by the one hundred and twenty
boatmen, with the cry _Gulla Katta_ or cut-throats, and only
escaped with their lives after the greatest difficulty.”
Thirteen years ago, when the Sandhurst bridge was under construction,
a poor old man suspected of taking a child for being interred in the
foundations of the bridge was mercilessly belaboured in the streets of
Bombay. The boy was inclined to play truant and did not wish to go home
with the old man. Some one started the canard that he had sold the head
of the child for bridge-sacrifice, the mob took it up and only after
great difficulty the unfortunate man was rescued by the Police. Curiously
enough, only a few days ago I gathered from the story of a Mahomedan lad,
who was brought to me for admission to the home of the Society for the
Protection of Children, that another bridge-sacrifice panic had recently
seized the good people of Bankipur. The boy, named Abdulla Bakar, aged
11, being an orphan, was working as a cooly in Bankipur. He told the
Society’s agent, and also repeated to me, that he had been greatly
alarmed by the report he had heard in the streets of that city that
children were buried alive in the foundations of a bridge that was being
built somewhere near.
No less persistent is the traditional dread of spirits haunting pools
and rapids. Until recently we used to hear in Bombay that the spirits
residing in the wells near the Bombay Gymkhana waylaid and drowned
people who disturbed them in the evening. Similar beliefs are still
current in England. In the _Transactions of the Folklore Society_ has
been recorded the following example of persistence of the superstitious
dread of water: A man was drowned in the Derwent in January 1904. “He
didna know Darrant,” commented an old neighbour, with a triumphant tone
in her voice, “he said it were nought but a brook. But Darrant got him!
They never saw his head, he threw his arms up, but Darrant wouldna let
him go. Aye, it’s a sad pity—seven children! But he shouldna ha’ made so
light of Darrant. He knows now! Nought but a brook! He knows now!” “She
talked of the river as if it were a living personage or deity,” wrote
the narrator, “I could almost imagine the next step would be to take it
offerings.” Jenny Greenteeth still lurks under the weeds of stagnant
pools in Shropshire and Lancashire and in the following pages will be
found examples of numerous water-spirits residing in or hovering round
Indian wells and tanks.
Folklore tells us that mermaids threatened floods if offended by drainage
schemes. Would that some fair denizens of the waters of Araby had raised
up their heads from the _pātāls_ when the schemes for the drainage of
Bombay were under consideration and when Worli point was selected for
the outfall! On that occasion even God Varuna, the lord of all waters,
and the Nagas and Nagins, the semi-divine sovereigns of the watery
regions, half men and half serpents, and the whole band of sea-spirits
were mysteriously silent and forbearing, but the well-spirits are not so
tame. They will not allow another municipal atrocity lying down. Some
have exacted the toll of human life, others have evinced their wrath by
breaking open the coverings enforced by the Municipality, while some weak
spirits, for whom the concrete covers have proved too strong, have been
haunting the neighbourhood and inducing the owners of wells and, failing
them, responsive neighbours, to re-open the wells. Only a few weeks
ago, a Hindu member of the Bombay Municipal Corporation told me that a
Parsi residing in a house adjoining his property in Dhus Wadi assured
him that a _sayyid_ residing in the well of his house, which had been
closed in compliance with a municipal requisition, had been visiting the
Parsi in dreams and imploring him to get the well opened, promising him
saintly favours. He could not understand why the cabined spirit should
not seek the assistance of the Hindu inmates or of the Hindu owner of the
very house in which the well was situated, but go instead to the Parsi
neighbour. The reason, however, is not far to seek.
The Bombay Parsi is a born venerator of water. He may be seen any day on
the beach, dipping his fingers in the water and applying it to his eyes
and forehead, lifting his hands in prayers and wafting his soul to the
realms of the Great Unknown. To all that is pure, sublime and beautiful
in the universe the Zoroastrian paid willing homage. Accordingly,
water-worship was a general cult amongst the Parsis in their ancestral
home. It was, however, a means of looking up through nature to nature’s
God. It merely postulated the presence of a beneficent spirit permeating
water. There was no suggestion, whatsoever, of water-goblins haunting
wells and springs. How, then, did the present-day Parsi come to imbibe
the belief in such minor deities and how did he come to give them a local
habitation and a name? This is a question of absorbing interest from
the point of view of the folklorist. India is _par excellence_ the land
of goblindom and it is but natural that the spirit-world of the Parsis
should expand in the land of their adoption. With their mind attuned to
the worship of water they came readily under the influence of the _genii
locorum_. The most curious feature, however, of this Parsi belief in
Moslem water-spirits is that amongst the Mahomedans themselves no such
belief prevails or ever did prevail. They believe, no doubt, in saints
who have endowed springs and wells, but no Mahomedan _sayyid_ or _pir_
has or ever had his home or haunt in water. Neither does a Mahomedan
believe in any other benevolent or malevolent indwelling spirit of
the well. The installation of Mahomedan saints in the wells of Parsi
households is therefore an anthropological puzzle for the solution
of which we must make a joint appeal to history and folklore. It is
evidently a case of substitution and amalgamation of beliefs and it is
cases such as these that call for research in the localisation of popular
beliefs and their ethnic genealogy. People inhabiting modern culture
areas have an anthropological as well as a national or political history
and without the anthropological history it is impossible to explain the
meaning and existence of a number of beliefs and customs prevailing in
a particular community. It is, therefore, necessary to classify all the
Indian cults of water according to their ethnological and geographical
distribution and to carry on research in the genealogy of the different
conceptions and customs prevailing in different parts. In this way we
may arrive at different historical landmarks, working backwards from
which we may get some glimpses of the political, social, psychological
and religious history of the older races that lived in this country.
Water-worship, like stone-worship, is a non-Aryan custom and without some
research in the history of the non-Aryan races that dwelt in the land
before the advent of the Aryans it will not be possible to account for
the savagery of many of the forms and rituals of this worship as it now
prevails amongst the Aryan races.
[Illustration: Parsis on the sea-beach in Bombay.]
[Illustration: Offerings to the Gunbow Well.]
In the following pages I have sought to indicate what scope there is for
such research work and I have devoted a special chapter to Sir Laurence
Gomme’s luminous analysis of the water cults prevailing in Britain and
its isles with a view to indicating the methods of research adopted
by him. If we follow the same lines in tracing the ancestry of the
Indian customs and beliefs, we may hope to throw some fresh light on
the cultural history of the ancestors, or at all events the immediate
predecessors, of the people among whom we now find them prevailing. I do
not profess to have accomplished anything of the kind in this book. It is
really not want of time so much as the consciousness of sheer inability
to do justice to the theme that has deterred me from launching upon a
scientific survey of the varying forms of water-worship. Circumstances
permitting, after further study and research, I may venture to essay it
and place before the public a more studied and comprehensive volume on
the subject, meanwhile this little book will not have been published in
vain if it leads some student of anthropology to embark on such a survey
and I shall be better pleased indeed to see this fascinating subject
comprehensively dealt with by one of the masters of the science of
folklore.
I trust I have duly acknowledged, at the proper places, all the
authorities I have consulted. I cannot conclude, however, without
expressing my special indebtedness to the works of that distinguished
Town Clerk and student of local lore, the late Sir Laurence Gomme.
My thanks are also due to my esteemed teacher and friend, Mr. J. D.
Bharda, for the interest he has taken in this work and for his helpful
suggestions when the sheets were passing through the press.
R. P. M.
BOMBAY, _March 21st, 1918_.
PART I.
FOLKLORE OF BOMBAY WELLS.
CHAPTER I.
SANCTITY OF WATER.
Time was when the whole earth, the fever-stricken isle of Bombay
included, was free from fevers. One unlucky day, however, Daksha
Prajapati and his son-in-law Shiva fell out and their discord brought
with it a whole crop of fevers. The story runs that Daksha Prajapati
once celebrated a great sacrifice to which he did not invite Shiva. All
humanity had to suffer for this insult which greatly incensed Shiva whose
breath during those moments of fury emitted eight frightful fevers.
In the good old days, however, a magic thread (_dora_), or a charm
(_mantra_), was enough to scare the fever-spirit away.[1] In obstinate
cases, no doubt, the spirit had to be exorcised from the body of the
patient by a _Bhuva_ or _Bhagat_ and transferred to some animate or
inanimate object, or perhaps a cock or a goat or a buffalo had to be
sacrificed to propitiate the disease-deity. That, however, was all. A
special offering for the Benares godling _Jvaraharísvara_, “the god who
repels the fever,” was _Dudhbhanga_, a confection of milk (_dudh_),
leaves of the hemp plant (_bhanga_) and sweets.
Of all such remedies and expedients the simplest and the quaintest was
that for driving the malaria fiend away. One had only to listen to the
story of _Ekānterio_, the spirit controlling intermittent fever, and one
got immunity for ever. The legend runs that once a Bania, on his way to
a village, came across a banyan tree where he unyoked his bullocks and
went to a distance in search of water. _Ekānterio_, who resided in this
tree, carried away the Bania’s carriage together with his family. The
Bania was much surprised to miss them, but he soon found out the author
of the trick and pursued _Ekānterio_. That fever-goblin, however, would
not listen to the Bania’s entreaties to return his carriage, and the
matter was at last referred for arbitration to Bochki Bai. She decided in
favour of the Bania, and confined _Ekānterio_ in a bamboo tube whence he
was released on condition that he would never attack those who listened
to this story.[2]
To-day in our midst there are no such story-tellers, no such Bhuvas and
medicine-men, or, if there are any, they are seldom given a chance. We
rather like to listen to the stories of the microscope and pin our faith
to the doctor and the scientist. These men of science scent _Ekānterio_
in every anopheles mosquito and tell us that malarial fever is conveyed
from one human being to another by the bite of this ubiquitous insect.
Therefore, if we wish to stamp out malaria, we must wage a crusade
against this vast army of _Ekānterio_. It is well known that these
mosquitoes breed in water and that they are particularly fond of well
water. One of the measures that the Bombay Municipality has therefore to
enforce in connection with its campaign against malaria is the closing
of wells containing the larvæ of these mosquitoes. In the early stages
of the campaign, however, it gave rise to vehement protests. These
were prompted not merely by utilitarian motives, but also by religious
sentiments and supernatural beliefs. The aggrieved parties gave chapter
and verse to show that their scriptures enjoined the use of well water,
and well water only, in connection with divers ceremonies, and they
further relied on several popular beliefs investing the water of wells
with supernatural efficacy. We shall record a few typical examples of
such beliefs and convictions and a few traditions concerning several
wells of Bombay, culled from the official correspondence on the subject
and other sources, and we shall see in the course of our survey that
these merely present, with a little local colouring, the particular
primitive phase of nature-worship under which all nations inhabiting the
globe have held in the past, and do hold to a certain extent even now,
springs and wells in religious reverence and awe, regarding the water
thereof as a living organism or as a dwelling-place of spirits.
When the owner of an objectionable well is asked by the Municipality
either to fill up the well or to cover it, he invariably prefers the
second alternative, provided he is allowed to cover the well with wire
gauze or at least to provide a wire gauze trap-door for drawing water.
The reason given in most of the cases is that according to tenets and
established customs the water required for religious ceremonies must be
exposed directly to the rays of the sun and that water not so exposed is
rendered unfit for the purpose. The Parsis cite their scriptures and the
Hindus theirs in support of this contention. It is unnecessary for our
present purpose to quote the injunctions of the scriptures, but it is
interesting to note how they are construed and understood.
When the Health Officer, Dr. J. A. Turner, was overwhelmed by all sorts
of religious objections to the closing of wells, he consulted recognised
authorities on Parsi religion as to the precise requirements of the
scriptures and the manner in which the object of the Department could
be carried out without wounding the religious susceptibilities of the
Parsis. Dr. J. J. Modi gave his opinion as follows, referring to a
ceremony of peculiar interest to the students of scriptural lore:—
“As, according to Parsi books, the sun is considered to be a great
purifier, it is required that the well must be exposed to the rays of the
sun. So a well hermetically covered with wood or metal is prohibited.
But one ‘hermetically covered with wire gauze of very fine mesh,’ as
suggested by you, would serve the purpose and would, I think, serve the
Scriptural requirement. As to the question of drawing water from such
a well, a part of the three principal ceremonies performed at a Fire
Temple is known as that of _Jor-melavvi_ (lit. to unite the Zaothra or
ceremonial water with its source). As we speak of ‘dust to dust,’ _i.e._,
one born from dust is in the end reduced to dust, this part of the
ceremonial which symbolizes the circulation of water from the earth to
the air and from the air to the earth requires what we may, on a similar
analogy, speak of as the transference of ‘water to water.’ It requires
that a part of the water drawn for ceremonial purposes from the well
must be in the end returned to its source—the well. So, the provision
of the air-pump, will not, I am afraid, meet all the requirements. I
would therefore suggest that in addition to the hand-pump, a small
close-fitting opening, also made of wire-gauze of fine mesh, may be
provided.”
Shams-ul-ulma Darab Dastur Peshotan Sanjana also gave his opinion to the
same effect and the recommendation of these two scholars was accepted by
the Department.
No Hindu _savant_ appears to have been consulted on the subject, but
a few gems selected from the petitions and protests received by the
Municipal authorities will throw some light on the traditions and customs
of the different Hindu sects. In a letter to the Standing Committee the
Trustees of the Derasar Sadharan Funds of the temple of Shri Anantnathji
Maharaj represented that according to the scriptures of the Jains water
used for religious ceremonies “must be drawn _at one stretch_ from a well
over which the rays of the sun and the light of the moon fall constantly
and which must therefore be open to the sky and no other water could be
used at such ceremonies.”
In another letter to the Committee Messrs. Payne & Co., Solicitors,
wrote on behalf of their client Mr. Kikabhoy Premchand: “Our client is a
staunch Hindu of old idea and he requires the use of water from _seven_
wells for religious ceremonies. For this purpose he uses the two wells
in question and has to go to neighbouring properties to make up the full
number of seven wells. Water drawn by means of a pump cannot be used for
religious purposes and it is absolutely necessary that both the wells
should be provided with trap-doors.”
Even a trap-door would not satisfy the scruples of a large number.
Messrs. Mehta, Dalpatram and Laljee, Solicitors, represented that the
Marjadis never used pipe water, and they observed: “According to the
Marjadi principles if any pot containing water touches any part of the
trap-door, the water cannot be used for any purpose and the pot must be
placed in fire and purified before it can be used again. As, however,
it is exceedingly difficult whilst drawing water to prevent the vessel
from coming into contact with the trap-door, the provision of such door
instead of being a convenience is the cause of much needless irritation
and annoyance.”
Mr. Goculdas Damodar went a step further and urged that his Marjadi
tenants “were drawing water out of the well only in sackcloth buckets and
any other means would conflict with their religious scruples.”
Mr. Sunderrao D. Navalkar raised a further objection. “By asking me to
cover the well,” wrote he, “you will be interfering in our religious
ceremony of lighting a lamp in the niche in the well and performing other
ceremonies regarding it.”
The least objectionable expedient for protecting wells from the malarial
mosquito was to stock them with fish. In many cases it was cheerfully
resorted to as an experimental measure for killing the larvæ. But even
this simple remedy was not acceptable to some. In objecting to it a
member of the Jain community submitted that the fish would devour the
larvæ and that it was against his religion to do any harm to insect life.
It, however, required no very great efforts of casuistry to induce him
to believe that it would be no transgression on _his_ part if he merely
allowed the Department to put the fish into the well.
This incident reminds one of the beliefs current among the great unwashed
sect of the Jains known as the _Dhundhias_. These tender-hearted people
consider it a sin to wash, as water used for bathing or washing purposes
is likely to destroy the germs in it. India is indeed a country of
bewildering paradoxes. The Hindu _Shastras_ enjoin a complete bath not
merely if one happens to touch any untouchable thing or person, but
even if one’s ears are assailed by the voice of a non-Hindu (_Yavana_).
Nevertheless, in this bath-ridden country of religious impressionability
and, what may appear to the western people, hyperbolic piety, people
like the _Dhundhias_ abound. There are also certain Banias who, during
the whole of the winter, consider it useless to have anything to do with
water beyond washing their hands and face.[3]
With this practice of abstinence from washing may be compared the custom
prevailing all over Greece of refraining from washing during the days
of the Drymais. No washing is done there during those days because the
Drymais, the evil spirits of the waters, are supposed to be then reigning.
Let us now turn from these quaint religious customs concerning the use
of well water to some of the beliefs of the people in the existence of
spirits residing in the wells of Bombay.
CHAPTER II.
WATER SAINTS.
When owners of houses are asked to fill up their wells or to cover them,
they generally apply for permission to provide a wire-gauze cover or a
trap-door. In not a few of these cases the application is prompted either
by a desire “to enable the spirits in the well to come out,” or by the
fear “lest the spirits should bring disaster” if they were absolutely
shut up.
Mr. Gamanlal F. Dalal, Solicitor, once wrote on behalf of a client,
regarding his well in Khetwadi Main Road:—
“My client and his family believe that there is a saintly being in the
well and they always personally see the angelic form of the said being
moving in the compound at night and they always worship the said being
in the well, and they have a bitter experience of filling the well or
closing it up hermetically because in or about the year 1902 my client
did actually fill up the well to its top but on the very night on
which it was so filled up all the members of my client’s family fell
dangerously ill and got a dream that unless the well was again re-opened
and kept open to the sky, they would never recover. The very next day
thereafter they had again to dig out the earth with which the well had
been filled up and they only recovered when the well was completely
opened to the sky.”
A Parsi gentleman, who owns a house on Falkland Road, was served with a
notice to hermetically cover the well. He complied with the requisition.
After about a month he went to Dr. K. B. Shroff, Special Officer,
Malaria, complaining that he had lost his son and that he had himself
been suffering from palpitation of the heart. This he attributed to the
closing of the well.
Similarly, a Parsi lady in Wanka Moholla, Dhobi Talao, informed Dr.
Shroff that since the closing of the well in her house her husband had
been constantly getting ill. Likewise, a Parsi gentleman living in the
same locality complained that he was struck with paralysis for having
sealed his well hermetically.
These spirits are believed to influence not only the health and strength
of their victims but also their fortunes. In Edwardes Theatre on
Kalbadevi Road there was a well, which was filled in by its considerate
owner of his own accord during the construction of the building.
Subsequently, the owner went to the Malaria Officer and informed him that
no Indian Theatrical Company would have his theatre as the proprietors
had a sentimental objection pertaining to the well, and that it was
believed that European Companies also did not make any profit, as the
spirit in the well had been playing mischief. He therefore applied for
permission to re-open the well, promising at the same time that he
would cover it over again so as to let the spirit have “a free play
in the water.” This request was granted and the work was carried out
accordingly. “Recently I was informed,” says Dr. Shroff, “that the
theatre was doing better.”
Sometimes the pent-up spirits are not so vindictive. Instead of ruining
the owners of the wells in which they are shut up, they vent their ire
by merely breaking open the barriers. A Parsi lady in Cowasji Patel
Street, Fort, owned a large well about 25 to 30 feet in diameter. The
Departmental deities ordered that the well should be covered over. After
half the work of covering the well had been done, the concrete gave way.
The lady went running to the Malaria Officer urging that that was the
result of offending the presiding spirit of the well and imploring him
to cancel the requisition.[4] The Malaria Officer, however, remained
unmoved by the fear of rousing the ire of the water wraith and the
dejected lady left his house greatly incensed and probably firmly
convinced that the wrath of the spirit would soon be visited on that
callous Officer. He is, however, still hale and hearty. What he did to
appease the spirit or what amulet he wears to charm the water-goblins
away, is not known. However, this much is certain, that he has not
escaped the furious cannon-fire of all the well-worshippers in Bombay
during the last four years.
Whatever may be the attitude of hardened scientists in this matter, there
is no doubt that these well-spirits are everywhere held by the people in
great reverence and awe. Whether one believes in their existence, or is
inclined to be sceptical on that point, wells supposed to harbour spirits
are scrupulously left undisturbed. Mr. Rustomji Byramji Jeejeebhoy, whose
family is known both for munificence and culture, wrote in the following
terms with regard to a well in Alice Building, Hornby Road:—
“There is a superstition connected with the well. It is well-known all
over this part of the town that the well is said to be a sacred well and
much sanctity is attached to it. Out of deference to this superstition,
I had in designing Alice Building to so design it as to leave the well
alone. To me personally the well is of no use, but those who believe in
the superstition come and pray near the well and present offerings of
flowers and cocoanuts to it.”
Not only owners of wells but also building contractors are averse to
disturbing water-spirits. When the Parsi contractor who built the Alice
Buildings had done work worth about Rs. 35,000, he was informed that it
had been proposed that the well had better be filled up. He said he was
prepared to give up the work and forego all his claims rather than lay
irreverent hands on that sacred well.
Once you instal a natural object in the position of a deity, the idea
that the deified power demands offerings and can be easily cajoled
invariably follows, probably based on the conviction that every man has
his price! Offerings to well-spirits are, therefore, believed to insure
good luck and to avert calamities. One day a Parsi lady went to Dr.
Shroff in great excitement and begged of him not to insist on the well
of her house in Charni Road being closed. The well, she urged, was held
in great reverence by people of all communities. Only the day previous,
while she was driving in a carriage to the house to offer a cocoanut,
sugar and flowers to the well, she narrowly escaped a serious accident,
thanks to the protection offered by the well-spirit.
Two sisters owned a house in Dhunji Street near Pydhowni. They were
served with a notice to cover the well of the house. One of the sisters
went running to the Malaria Officer beseeching him to cancel the notice.
She said that her invalid sister strongly believed in the efficacy of
the worship of the well and never went to bed without worshipping it and
offering it flowers. “My poor sister would simply go mad if she sees
the well covered over,” she cried, and she would not leave Dr. Shroff’s
office until that unchivalrous officer left her alone and slipped into
another room.
Several wells are believed to harbour spirits possessing occult powers
and faculties for giving omens. One such oracular well may be seen in
Ghoga Street, Fort. The owner of the house, a Parsi, was allowed, in the
first instance, to stock the well with fish so as to clear it of the
malaria mosquitoes. This, however, failed to give satisfactory results
and there was no alternative but to demand a covering. The owner on the
other hand pleaded that the well had been held in great veneration by
all classes of people and had so high a reputation for divination that
many persons visited it at midnight to “enquire about their wishes.”
“About eight to twelve ladies (of whom none should be a widow) stand
surrounding the well at midnight and ask questions. If any good is going
to happen, fire will be seen on the surface of the water.” The owner
assured Dr. Shroff that he himself had been an eye-witness to these
phenomena.
Indian folklore abounds in stories belonging to the same group. Neither
are such stories unknown to the European folklorist. We shall notice
in due course several oracular and wishing wells in India and other
countries, but the ceremony described by the Parsi owner is purely
local and typical. So far as I have been able to ascertain, there is no
parallel for it in the literature of well-worship. Peculiar also is the
hour fixed for the ceremony. Generally, visiting wells in the midnight
or even midday is believed to bring disasters. It seems, however, from
an account of a rite described by Miss Burne in Shropshire Folklore that
anyone wishing to resort to St. Oswall’s Well at Oswestry had also to go
to the well at midnight. The ceremony was of course different. It simply
required that the votary had to take some water up in the hand and drink
part of it, at the same time forming a wish in the mind, and to throw the
rest of the water upon a particular stone at the back of the well. If
he succeeded in throwing all the water left in his hand upon that stone
without touching any other spot, his wish would be fulfilled.
CHAPTER III.
PENALTY FOR DEFILEMENT.
A tenant of the same house in Ghoga Street informed Dr. Shroff that a
cooly spat on the pavement surrounding the oracular well with the result
that he died instantly on the spot for having defiled the holy ground.
This reminds me of a story related to me about three years ago of a
European girl who took suddenly ill and died within a day or two after
she had kicked aside a stone kept near the pavement of a well in Loveji
Castle at Parel. On this stone people used to put their offerings to the
saintly spirit of the place known by the name of Kaffri Bâwâ. Many are
the stories I have heard of this spirit from a lady who spent her youth
in Loveji Castle, but as this was a tree-spirit and not a well-spirit,
those tales would be out of place here.
As well-water is used for religious ceremonies, wells and their
surroundings are generally kept clean by the Parsis and Hindus alike, but
there is a further incentive to cleanliness in the case of wells which
are regarded as dwelling-places of spirits. It is a common conviction
that any act of defilement, whether conscious or unconscious, offends
the spirits and all sorts of calamities are attributed to such acts. At
the junction of Ghoga Street and Cowasjee Patel Street stands the once
famous house of Nowroji Wadia. Some years ago the property changed hands.
Certain alterations were made in the building and in consequence a place
was set apart close to the well for keeping dead bodies before disposal.
This brought disasters after disasters. Deaths after deaths took place in
the house and bereavements after bereavements ruined the owner’s family.
Too late in the day was it realized that the nymphs living in the well
should not have been thus insulted. Once a well in Barber Lane overflowed
for days together, emitting foul water. It did not occur to anyone to
ascribe this to the sewer-sprite who had just commenced his pranks in
Bombay. Instead, the mischief was unanimously fathered on a Parsi cook
and his wife who used to sleep near the parapet of the well.
From ancient times contiguity of a corpse to water has been regarded as
a source of defilement. In “Primitive Semitic Religion To-day” (1902),
Professor Samuel Curtiss says that he was told by Abdul Khalil, Syrian
Protestant teacher at Damascus, that “if a corpse passes by a house,
the common people pour the water out from the jars.” With this idea of
pollution of water was blended the conviction that the defilement of the
water of a well or spring was tantamount to the defilement of the spirits
or saints residing near them. Once two sects of Mahomedans in Damascus
fell out. One section held the other responsible for the displeasure of
a saint on the ground that it had performed certain ablutions in the
courtyard of his shrine and that “the dirt had come on the saint to his
disgust.”
In Brittany it is still a popular belief that those who pollute wells
by throwing into them rubbish or stones will perish by lightning.[5]
In the prologue to _Chrétiens Conte du Graal_ there is an account,
seemingly very ancient, of how dishonour to the divinities of wells and
springs brought destruction on the rich land of Logres. The damsels who
resided in these watery places fed travellers with nourishing food until
King Amangons wronged one of them by carrying off her golden cup. His
men followed his evil example, so that the springs dried up, the grass
withered, and the land became waste.[6]
Before the well of Nowroji Wadia’s house was unwittingly defiled, the
presiding fairies of the well used to sing and play in it, but this
entertainment ceased after the place had been polluted. Another well,
famous for the concerts of the nymphs, was a well belonging to the Baxter
family in Bhattiawad. There, too, the water damsels regaled the ears of
the inmates with music. I say this on the authority of an old lady who
used to enjoy those subterranean melodies.
There is a fountain called “the pure one,” in Egypt. If anyone that is
impure through pollution or menstruation touches the water, it begins at
once to stink, and does not cease until one pours out the water of the
fountain and cleans it. Then only it regains its fine smell.
Akin to this tradition is the Esthonian belief concerning the sanctity
of water. In Esthonia there is a stream Wohhanda which has long been
the object of reverence. No Esthonian would fell any tree that grew on
its banks or break any reed that fringed its watercourse. If he did, he
would die within the year. The brook was purified periodically and it was
believed that if dirt was thrown into it, bad weather would follow. The
river-god resident in the stream was in the habit of occasionally rising
out of it and those who saw him described him as a little man in blue and
yellow stockings. Like other river wraiths, whom we shall accost later,
this water-sprite also demanded human sacrifices, and tradition records
offerings of little children made to Wohhanda.[7] When a German landowner
ventured to build a mill and dishonour the water, bad seasons followed
year after year, and the country-people burned down the abominable thing.
A strange variant of the popular belief concerning pollution of wells
is found in the curious custom of deliberately defiling wells with the
object of disturbing the water-spirit and thus compelling him to produce
rain. It was a common belief among several nations that one of the ways
of constraining the rain-god was to disturb him in his haunts. Thus when
rain was long coming in the Canary Islands, the priestesses used to beat
the sea with rods to punish the water-spirit for his niggardliness. In
the same way the Dards, one of the tribes of the _Hindu-Kush_, believe
that if a cow-skin or anything impure is placed in certain springs, storm
will follow. In the mountains of Farghana there was a place where it
began to rain as soon as anything dirty was thrown into a famous well. In
his famous work on the Chronology of Ancient Nations, _Athár-ul-Bakiya_,
Albiruni refers to this phenomenon and asks for an explanation. “And
how,” he inquires, “do you account for the place called “the shop of
_Solomon_, the son of David,” in the cave called Ispahbadhan in the
mountain of Tâk in Tabaristan, where heaven becomes cloudy as soon as
you defile it by filth or by milk, and where it rains until you clean
it again? And how do you account for the mountain in the country of the
Turks? For if the sheep pass over it, people wrap their feet in wool
to prevent their touching the rock of the mountain. For if they touch
it, heavy rain immediately follows.” These things, says the author, are
natural peculiarities of the created beings, the causes of which are
to be traced back to the simple elements and to the beginning of all
composition and creation. “And there is no possibility that our knowledge
should ever penetrate to subjects of this description.”
This doctrine of negation of knowledge is typical of Persian poets and
philosophers. The poet Fakhra Razi has beautifully expressed the idea
in the following words:—“I thought and thought each night and morn for
seventy years and two, but came to know this, that nothing can be known.”
CHAPTER IV.
QUAINT PARSI BELIEFS.
Close by Nowroji Wadia’s house was another habitat of spirits. The owner
of the house, a Parsi lady, was asked to cover it. In view of the sad
experience of the fate of the owner of the neighbouring house she was
reluctant to do anything that might offend the spirits, but the Malaria
Department was insistent. She therefore first implored the presiding
deities of the well to forgive her as she had no option in the matter,
and then consented to cover the well provided a wire-gauze trap-door was
allowed so as not to interfere with the work of worship. I understand
that on every full moon eve she opens the trap-door, garlands the well
and offers her _puja_ there.
Further down the same street, once renowned for the abodes of Parsi
_Shethias_, is a house belonging to a well-known Parsi family. A well in
this house was and still is most devoutly worshipped by the inmates of
the house. I hear from a very reliable source that whenever any member of
the family got married, it was the practice to sacrifice a goat to the
well-spirit, to dip a finger in the blood of the victim and to anoint
the bride or bridegroom on the forehead with a mark of the blood. Once
however this ceremony was overlooked and, as fate would have it, the
bridegroom died within forty days.
This practice of besmearing the forehead with the blood of the
sacrifice is a survival of primitive ideas concerning blood-shedding
and blood-sprinkling, the taking of the blood from the place where the
sacrifice was given being regarded as equivalent to taking the blessing
of the place and putting it on the person anointed with the blood. Thus
when an Arab matron slaughters a goat or a sheep vowed in her son’s
behalf, she takes some of the blood and puts it on his skin. Similarly,
when a barren couple that has promised a sacrifice to a saint in return
for a child is blest with the joys of parenthood, the sacrifice is given
and the blood of the animal is put _on the forehead_ of the child.
Remarkable as is the survival of this primitive ritual in Bombay and
its prevalence amongst people such as the Parsis, there is nothing very
extraordinary about it. A little patch of savagery as it appears to be in
the midst of fair fields and pastures new of western culture, it merely
affords an illustration of the fact that localities preserve relics
of a people much older than those who now inhabit them. It also shows
that various systems of local fetichism found in Aryan Countries merely
represent the undying beliefs and customs of a primitive race which the
Aryans eventually incorporated into their own beliefs and rituals, for it
will be seen as we proceed that in India as in Great Britain the entire
cult of well-worship was imbibed rather than engendered by Aryan culture.
What, however, is most extraordinary is that of all the communities in
Bombay the Parsis show the greatest susceptibility to these beliefs.
Amongst the Hindus worship of water is, no doubt, universal. Belief in
spirits is also general amongst them. Amongst these spirits there are
water-goblins also, _Jalachar_, as contrasted with _Bhuchar_, spirits
hovering on earth, mostly inimical, _mâtâs_ and _sankhinis_, _bhuts_, and
_prets_ who hover round wells and tanks, particularly the wayside ones,
and drown or enter the persons of those who go near their haunts. Many of
these goblins are the spirits of those who have met with an accidental
death or the souls that have not received the funeral _pindas_ with the
proper obsequies. The Hindus believe that these fallen souls reside in
their _avagati_, or degraded condition, near the scene of their death
and molest those who approach it. Almost all the old wells in the Maidan
were in this way believed to be the haunts of such spirits who claimed
their annual toll without fail. Thus it was believed that the well that
stood in the rear of the Bombay Gymkhana must needs have at least three
victims, and sure enough there were at least three cases of suicide
in that well during a year! However, so far as domestic well-spirits
are concerned, while almost all the wells of a Parsi house were until
recently and many of them still are under the protection of a _Bâwâ_, or
_Sayyid_, or _Pir_, or _Jinn_, or _Pari_, or other spirits, one rarely
comes across such wells in Hindu household. Wells are worshipped by the
Hindus no doubt, without exception, but it is the sacred character of the
water that accounts for the worship, not the belief in the existence of
well-spirits. Again, as a result of my investigations, I find that the
worship of wells amongst the Parsi community is in some cases much ruder
and more primitive than amongst the Hindus. What can be the explanation
for it? Is it simply a continuation of their own old beliefs in the land
of their adoption? Is it merely old wine in new bottles?
Water-worship was, no doubt, a general cult with the Parsis in their
ancestral home. Of the antiquity of this worship amongst them we have
ample evidence in their scriptures. In the _Aban Yesht_ the spring is
addressed as a mighty goddess, _Ardevi Sura Anahita_, strong, sublime,
spotless, erroneously equated by some authors with the Mylitta of the
Babylonians and the Aphrodite of the Greeks. Ahurarmazda calls upon
Zarathushtra to worship _Ardevi Sura Anahita_:—
The wide-expanding, the healing,
Foe to the demons, of Ahura’s Faith,
Worthy of sacrifice in the material world,
Worthy of prayer in the material world,
Life-increasing, the righteous,
Herd-increasing, the righteous,
Food-increasing, the righteous,
Wealth-increasing, the righteous,
Country-increasing, the righteous.
Who purifies the seed of all males,
Who purifies the womb of
All females for bearing.[8]
Who makes all females have easy childbirth,
Who bestows upon all females
Right (and) timely milk.
All the shores around the Sea Vourukasha
Are in commotion,
The whole middle is bubbling up,
When she flows forth unto them,
When she streams forth unto them,
Ardevi Sura Anahita.
To whom belong a thousand lakes,
To whom a thousand outlets;
Any one of these lakes
And any of these outlets
(Is) a forty days’ ride
For a man mounted on a good horse.
Whom I, Ahura Mazda, by movement of tongue
Brought forth for the furtherance of the house,
For the furtherance of the village, town and country.
The chariot of _Banu Ardevi Sura_ is drawn by four white horses who
baffle all the devils. Ahuramazda is said to have worshipped her in order
to secure her assistance in inducing Zarathushtra to become his prophet,
and the example set by Him was followed by the great kings and heroes of
ancient Iran. It is conceivable that this tribal cult accompanied the
devout descendants of the ancient Persians wherever they went and that
with their mind attuned to the worship of water they readily came under
the influence of the _genii locorum_ in the different parts of this
country and adopted some of the local rituals of the people who resided
there before them. But the question then arises, who were the people
from whom they borrowed these beliefs and rituals? Most of the guardian
angels of their wells point to a Mahomedan origin, and yet amongst the
followers of Islam well-worship is conspicuous by its absence. They have,
no doubt, their _Sayyids_ and _Pirs_ in abundance, almost every shrine
of theirs has its presiding saint, but they scarcely believe in any
spirit residing in wells. In fact, one may safely say that well-worship
amongst these people has died out, if ever it did exist before. During
my investigation I have not come across a single case of such worship
amongst them and all the Mahomedans whom I have consulted testify to the
absence of these beliefs among them. How then, do we account for the
Mahomedan patron saints of the wells of Parsi houses? It clearly cannot
be a case of preservation of old wine in new jars. The intensely local
colouring does not warrant any such assumption. There are distinctly
non-Parsi ingredients in it. From whom and how did they get these?
Well-spirits, like tree-spirits, form no part of any tribal cult. They
are essentially local in nature and the subject needs careful research
in the localisation of beliefs and the genealogy of folklore. We shall
advert to this subject again,[9] meanwhile let us record a few more
instances of sanctified wells in Bombay.
A well of which I heard during my childhood several thrilling stories of
a somewhat singular type was situated in a house in Nanabhoy Lane, Fort,
opposite the Banaji Fire-Temple, which belonged to my great grand-mother.
It was believed to be the abode of a kind-hearted _Sayyid_ (Mahomedan
saint) who used to watch the health and fortunes of the inmates of the
house. Women in labour preferred for confinement no other place to this
auspicious house always mercifully protected by that guardian angel.
It is said that he used to come out of the well regularly and that
his presence was known by the ecstatic possession of a Parsi woman who
used to live on the ground floor. A big basin of _maleeda_ (confection
of wheat flour) was offered to him by the ladies. It was emptied in a
few moments. The inmates of the house related to the saint all their
difficulties and each one got a soothing reply and friendly hints through
the lips of the medium. A young lady used to suffer from constant
headache. Her grand-mother one day asked the _Sayyid_ what to do to cure
the ailment. He gave her a betel-nut and told her that it should always
be kept by the girl with her. This was done and she never suffered from
headache again. An old inmate of the house was once seriously ill. All
hopes of recovery were abandoned, but the saint came to his rescue and
advised the relatives as to what they should do to propitiate the sea
furies who wanted to devour the man. After the furies were propitiated as
advised, the man recovered.
One or two more stories of Bombay wells known after the names of the
saintly spirits residing in them may be noted. The Gunbow Lane is
known after the famous well in the locality. It is generally believed
that the well was sacred to the Saint (_bâwâ_) Gun who resorted to it.
The Bombay City Gazetteer, however, informs us that “the curious name
_Gunbow_ is probably a corruption of _Gunba_, the name of an ancestor of
Mr. Jagannath Shankersett.” Old records show that Gunba Seti or Gunba
Shet settled in Bombay during the first quarter of the 18th century and
founded a mercantile firm within the Fort walls. This Gunbow well was so
big that it was believed that a man could swim from its bottom to another
in the compound of the Manockji Seth Wadi about 500 feet away. Report
has it that swimmers even used to find their way as far as the wells on
the Maidan beyond Hornby Road. When it was proposed to fill in the well,
strong representations were made to the effect that an opening for the
well spirit should be kept, and a portion was left open for years. This
too has been now covered over, but people still take their offerings to
the site. In the same way, a well in the lane by the side of the Manockji
Seth’s Agiary leading to Mint Road, which has been covered over, is seen
strewn with flowers and other offerings.
Another well in Ghoga Street was believed to be the dwelling place of a
Mahomedan saint, _Murgha Bâwâ_. “Murgha” is believed to be a corruption
of Yusuf Murgay, who owned houses in the street which was also known
after his name as _Murgha Sheri_. An esteemed friend, who used to reside
in the house containing this well, tells me that the well was held in
great reverence by the Parsi families residing in the locality. Various
offerings were made, the principal of which was a black _murgha_ or fowl,
the common victim of such sacrifices. It was believed that in the still
hours of the night the saint used to come out of the well and move about
in the house. His steps were heard distinctly on the staircase and his
presence was announced by the creaking sound that was heard round about.
But my friend, who used to burn midnight oil in that house during his
college days and who has since been wedded to science, is inclined to
think that the footsteps were those of the rats infesting the house and
that the creaking sound was made by the wooden book-cases!
A Parsi lady who lived in the same house says that people from various
parts of the town used to take offerings to the spirit of the well,
amongst which were big _thalis_ (trays) of sweetmeat. Children were asked
not to touch these, but this young lady freely helped herself to those
sweets. Another friend, who took similar liberties with the offerings,
was Mr. Jamsetji Nadirshaw. He used to live in Mapla’s house in old
Modikhana. The well of this house was adored by people and young Jamsetji
pilfered a lot of sweets offered to the gods. Sir Dinsha Edulji Wacha,
who lived in the house during his childhood, informs me that his mother
and grand-mother used to tell him many a thrilling story of the queer
ways in which the guardian spirit of the well used to divert them.
A friend living in Karwar Street (Modi Khana) says that the well of
his house is sacred to a Mahomedan _pir_ and that to this day vows are
offered to the saint and his blessings sought whenever the tenants are in
difficulty. On the full moon day the well is decorated with flowers and
the saint is implored to cure cases of illness which defy the doctor’s
skill. Needless to say, these offerings and prayers are speedily followed
by the recovery of the patients.
Another well in Parsi Bazar Street is also believed to harbour a
beneficent _pir_. Only four years ago, a friend was informed that when
doctors despaired of curing a patient, a Parsi carpenter suggested that
the well spirit should be implored to save the patient. He brought
certain people versed in the art of propitiating spirits and asked them
to try their skill. They gratified the well-spirit by placing grain and
other offerings on the surface of the water and by remaining in the water
for days together, muttering incantations. The patient was thoroughly
cured and, no wonder, he attributes the cure to the grace of the water
saint.
These folk beliefs in the efficacy of well-water and the influence of the
spirits dwelling in it are, as already observed, in no way peculiar to
the City of Bombay or to other parts of the country of India and present
no new phase of human thought. They are common to the whole world. In the
concept of primeval man everything had its spirit. Particularly did it
associate life with motion. The spring was ever flowing, ever bountiful,
ever refreshing and fertilizing and came to be regarded as a living
organism, a benevolent spirit supplying man with the prime necessity
of life and endowed with purifying and healing qualities. Everywhere,
therefore, the source of this quickening element that had such charms
came to be adored so that the water-worship in the East has its striking
counterpart in the history of Western thought.
Professor Robertson Smith identifies well-worship with the agricultural
life of aborigines who had not yet developed the idea of a heavenly
God. This is his description of the worship prevailing in Arabia: “The
fountain is treated as a living thing, those properties of its waters
which we call natural are regarded as manifestations of a divine life,
and the source itself is honoured as a divine being, I had almost said a
divine animal.”[10] “This pregnant summary of well-worship in Arabia,”
says Sir Laurence Gomme in his _Ethnology of Folklore_, “may, without the
alteration of a single word, be adopted as the summary of well-worship in
Britain and its isles.” One might even say that well-worship is probably
more widespread in the West than in the East and that some of the rituals
there observed are more primitive than those which distinguish it in the
East.
PART II.
WATER-WORSHIP IN EAST AND WEST.