Similarly the Gonds and Baigas revere the mahua tree and consider the
liquor distilled from its flowers as sacred and purificatory. At a Gond
wedding the sacred post round which the couple go is made of the wood
of the mahua tree. The Bhatras of Bastar also use the mahua for the
wedding post, and the Sonkars of Chhattisgarh a forked branch of the
tree. Minor caste offences are expiated among the Gonds by a fine of
liquor, and by drinking it the culprit is purified. At a Gond funeral
one man may be seen walking with a bottle or two of liquor slung to
his side; this is drunk by all the party on the spot after the burial
or burning of the corpse as a means of purification. Among the Korwas
and other tribes the Baiga or priest protects the village from ghosts
by sprinkling a line of liquor all round the boundary, over which the
ghosts cannot pass. Similarly during epidemics of cholera liquor is
largely used in the rites of the Baigas for averting the disease and
is offered to the goddess. At their weddings the Mahars drink together
ceremoniously, a pot of liquor being placed on a folded cloth and
all the guests sitting round it in a circle. An elder man then lays a
new piece of cloth on the pot and worships it. He takes a cup of the
liquor himself and hands round a cupful to every person present. At
the Hareli or festival of the new green vegetation in July the Gonds
take the branches of four kinds of trees and place them at the corners
of their fields and also inside the house over the door. They pour ghi
(butter) on the fire as incense and an offering to the deities. Then
they go to the meeting-place of the village and there they all take a
bottle or two of liquor each and drink together, having first thrown
a little on the ground as an offering. Then they invite each other
to their houses to take food. The Baigas do not observe Hareli,
but on any moonlight night in Shrawan (July) they will go to the
field where they have sown grain and root up a few plants and bring
them to the house, and, laying them on a clean place, pour ghi and
a little liquor over them. Then they take the corn plants back to
the field and replace them. For these rites and for offerings to the
deities of disease the Gonds say that the liquor should be distilled
at home by the person who offers the sacrifice and not purchased from
the Government contractor. This is a reason or at any rate an excuse
for the continuance of the practice of illicit distillation. Hindus
generally make a libation to Devi before drinking liquor. They pour
a little into their hand and sprinkle it in a circle on the ground,
invoking the goddess. The palm-tree is also held sacred on account of
the tari or toddy obtained from it. "The shreds of the holy palm-tree,
holy because liquor-yielding, are worn by some of the early Konkan
tribes and by some of the Konkan village gods. The strip of palm-leaf
is the origin of the shape of one of the favourite Hindu gold bracelet
patterns." [283]