"A block of lead is moulded into the effigy of a man about a span
in length. The stomach is opened, and the name and star of the
intended victim are inscribed along with a charm on a lead plate,
and placed therein. The effigy is laid recumbent on a plantain
leaf, on which a little water mixed with sandal has first been
sprinkled, and the smoke of an extinguished wick is passed thrice
over it. Then nine little square pieces of plantain leaf (or leaves
of Strychnos Nux-vomica) are placed round the effigy, and in each
square some rice-flour, and chouflower petals. Beside the effigy
are shells holding toddy and arrack (liquor), a burning lamp,
and several little wicks. One of the wicks is lighted, and the
flame passed thrice over the collection. Nine wicks are lighted,
and put on the nine squares. The charm inscribed on the lead plate
is at this stage repeated fervently in an undertone no less than
twenty-one times. This preamble, or one closely resembling it,
is generally the beginning of the mantravadi's programme. The rest
of it is guided by the special circumstances of each case. Let us
suppose that the wizard, having a victim in view, wishes the latter
to be afflicted with burning pains and insufferable heat all over
his body. The following is the ceremony he would perform. Thinking
of the victim, he drives a thorn of Canthium parviflorum into
the effigy, and then, folding up the collection detailed above
in the plantain leaf, he proceeds to a tank or pool, and immerses
himself up to the neck. He places the bundle on the surface of the
water--he tells you it will float despite the lead--and, calling
for a cock, cuts off its head, permitting the blood and the head
to fall on the bundle. He presses the bundle down into the water,
and submerges himself at the same time. Coming to the surface, he
goes ashore, whistling thrice, and being very careful not to look
behind him. Within twenty-one days, the charm will take effect. In
order to induce a boil or tumour to appear in a victim's foot,
the mantravadi inscribes a certain charm on a sheet of lead,
and stuffs the plate into a frog's mouth, repeats another charm,
and blows into the batrachian's mouth, which is then stitched
up, after which the creature is bound with twenty-one coils of
string. The frog is next set down on a plantain leaf, the ritual
already described with the squares, toddy, etc., is performed,
the frog is wrapped up together with the various substances in
the leaf, and buried at some spot where two or more roads meet,
and which the victim is likely to pass. Should he cross the
fateful spot, he will suddenly become conscious of a feeling in
his foot, as though a thorn had pricked him. From that moment
dates the beginning of a week of intense agony. His foot swells,
fever sets in, he has pains all over his body, and for seven days
existence is intolerable. The cherukaladi is another form of
odi mantram, and the manner in which it is performed is extremely
interesting. The wizard takes three balls of rice, blackens one,
reddens another, and passes through the third a young yetah fish
(Bagarius yarrellii), after having put down its throat seven green
chillies, seven grains of raw rice, and as many of pepper. In the
carapace of a crab some toddy, and in the valve of a particular
kind of mussel, some arrack is placed. The sorcerer conveys
all these things to a hill built by termites (white-ants). The
crown of the hill is knocked off, and the substances are thrown
in. Walking round the mound thrice, the magician recites a charm,
and comes away without looking over his shoulder. [316] Within a
very short time, similar effects are produced as those resulting
from the previously described form of sorcery."
A grandha (palm-leaf book), describing how an enemy may be struck down,
gives the following details. The head of a fowl with dark-coloured
flesh is cut off. The head is then split open, and a piece of cadjan
(palm-leaf), on which are written the name of the person to be injured,
and the name of the star under which he was born, is stuck in the
split head, which is then sewn up and the tongue stitched to the
beak. The head is then inserted into a certain fruit, which is tied
up with a withe of a creeper, and deposited under the enemy's gateway.
In Malabar, a wooden figure is sometimes made, and a tuft of a woman's
hair tied on its head. It is fixed to a tree, and nails are driven
into the neck and breast, to inflict hurt on an enemy. Sometimes a
live frog or lizard is buried within a cocoanut shell, after nails have
been stuck into its eyes and stomach. The deaths of the animal and the
person are supposed to take place simultaneously. [317] When a Tamil
woman of the Parivaram caste who commits adultery outside the caste is
punished with excommunication, a mud image representing her is made,
two thorns are poked into its eyes, and it is thrown away outside the
village. [318] At Bangalore in the Mysore province, a monthly festival
is held in honour of Gurumurthi Swami, at which women disturbed by the
spirits of drowned persons become possessed. The sufferer is dragged
by the hair of the head to a tree, to which a lock of the hair is
nailed. She flings herself about in a frenzy, and throws herself on
the ground, leaving the lock of hair torn out by the roots fastened
to the tree by the nail. Eventually the spirit goes up the tree,
and the woman recovers. [319] In the Madura district, women possessed
by devils may be seen at the great temple at Madura every Navaratri,
waiting for release.
"There are many professional exorcists, who are often the pujaris
(priests) at the shrine of the local goddess. At dead of night
they question the evil spirit, and ask him who he is, why he
has come there, and what he wants to induce him to go away. He
answers through the mouth of the woman, who works herself up into
a frenzy, and throws herself about wildly. If he will not answer,
the woman is whipped with the rattan which the exorcist carries,
or with a bunch of margosa (Melia Azadirachta) twigs. When he
replies, his requests for offerings of certain kinds are complied
with. When he is satisfied, and agrees to leave, a stone is
placed on the woman's head, and she is let go, and dashes off
into darkness. The place at which the stone drops to the ground
is supposed to be the place where the evil spirit is content to
remain, and, to keep him there, a lock of the woman's hair is
nailed with an iron nail to the nearest tree." [320]
Sometimes a sorcerer makes an evil spirit take a vow that it will not
trouble any one in the future, and, in return, offers to it the blood
of fowls, a goat, etc. He then orders the spirit to climb a tree,
and drives three large iron nails into the trunk thereof. As iron is
disliked by evil spirits, the result is to confine the spirit in the
tree, for it cannot descend beyond the nails. In the Telugu country,
when a person is supposed to be possessed by a devil, it is often
the practice to take him to some special tree, which is believed
to be a favourite residence of demons, and drive a nail into the
trunk. If the devil has any proper feeling, he thereupon leaves the
man or woman, and takes up his abode in the tree. This ceremony is
performed with certain religious rites, and involves considerable
expenditure. Sometimes, devil drivers are called in, who "seat the
woman in a fog of resin smoke, and work upon or beat her until she
declares the supposed desires of the devil in the way of sacrifice;
and, when these have been complied with, one of her hairs is put in
a bottle, formally shown to the village goddess, and buried in the
jungle, while iron nails are driven into the threshold of the woman's
house to prevent the devil's return." [321]
At the first menstrual ceremonies of a Pulaya girl in the Cochin
State, she stands on the morning of the seventh day before some
Parayas, who play on their flute and drum, to cast out the demons,
if any, from her body. If she is possessed by them, she leaps with
frantic movements. In this case, the demon is transferred to a tree by
driving a nail into the trunk, after offerings have been made. [322]
When an Odde (Telugu navvy) girl reaches puberty, she is confined in
a special hut, in which a piece of iron, and other things, are placed,
to keep off evil spirits. In some castes, when a woman is in labour, an
iron sickle is kept on the cot for a similar purpose. After delivery,
she keeps iron in some form, e.g., a small crowbar, knife, or nails,
in the room, and takes it about with her when she goes out. At a Nayar
funeral in Malabar, the chief mourner holds in his hand, or tucks into
his waist-cloth, a piece of iron, generally a long key. [323] At a
marriage among the Musu Kammas in the Telugu country, an iron ring is
tied to the milk-post. For curing sprains, it is said to be a common
practice to keep near the patient a sickle, an iron measure, or any
article of iron which is at hand. A ceremony, called Dwara Pratishta,
is performed by Lingayats when the door-frame of a new house is set up,
and an iron nail is driven into the frame, to prevent devils or evil
spirits from entering the house. A former Raja of Vizianagram would
not allow the employment of iron in the construction of buildings in
his territory, because it would inevitably be followed by smallpox
or other epidemic. [324]
A few years ago, a Native servant was charged with beating with a cane
a woman who was suffering from malarial fever after her confinement,
in order to drive out a devil, which was said to be the spirit of a
woman who was drowned some time previously. The woman died three days
after the beating, and various abrasions were found on the head and
body. The sub-magistrate held that the hurt was part of the ceremony,
to which the husband and mother of the woman, and the woman herself,
gave their consent. But, as the hurt was needlessly severe, the
servant was fined twenty-five rupees, or in default five weeks'
rigorous imprisonment.
The practice of extracting or knocking out some of the teeth of
a magician is widespread throughout Southern India. In connection
therewith Mr R. Morris writes to me as follows:--
"A sorcerer's spells depend for their efficacy upon the
distinctness with which they are pronounced. The words uttered
by a man, some or all of whose front teeth are damaged, are
not so clear and distinct as those of a man whose teeth are
intact. Consequently, if a sorcerer's front teeth are smashed,
he is ruined as a sorcerer. And, if the front teeth of his corpse
are broken or extracted, his ghost is prevented from bewitching
people. It is necessary to mutilate a corpse, in order to prevent
the ghost doing what the live man unmutilated could have done. For
example, when a man is murdered, he is hamstrung, to prevent the
ghost from following in pursuit."
In connection with sorcery among the Oriyas, Mr S. P. Rice tells us
[325] that a girl was suffering from mental disease, and believed
to be possessed by a devil. She declared that she was bewitched by a
certain man, who had to be cured of his power over her. Accordingly,
the friends and relatives of the girl went to this man's house,
dragged him out into the road, laid him on his back, and sat on his
chest. They then proceeded to extract two of his front teeth with a
hammer and pincers. Mr Rice adds that it does not appear how the cure
was to work--whether the operators thought that words of cursing or
magic, coming through the orifice of the teeth, would be mumbled, and
thus lose some of their incisive force, and therefore of their power
for evil, or whether it was thought that the devil wanted room to fly
out. Attacks upon supposed sorcerers are said to be not uncommon in the
Jeypore Agency. In one instance, a wizard's front teeth were pulled
out by the local blacksmith, to render him unable to pronounce his
spells with the distinctness requisite to real efficiency. [326] In the
Vizagapatam district, where a village was supposed to contain a witch,
a Dasari (religious mendicant) was called upon to examine his books,
and name the person. He fixed on some wretched woman, whose front
teeth were knocked out, and her mouth filled with filth. She was then
beaten with a switch made from the castor-oil plant. A few years ago,
a woman in the North Arcot district was suffering from severe pain
in the abdomen, and she and her husband were made to believe that
she was possessed by a devil, which a Bairagi (religious mendicant)
offered to expel. His treatment went on for some days, and the final
operations were conducted by the side of a pond. The Bairagi repeated
mantrams, while the woman was seated opposite him. Suddenly she grew
violently excited, and possessed by the deity Muniswara. She pulled the
Bairagi backwards by his hair, and cried out, "Break his teeth." She
then opened his mouth by pulling up the upper lip, and her husband
took a small stone, and broke some of the incisor teeth. The woman
continued to cry out, "He is chanting mantrams; pour water into his
mouth, and stop his breathing." A third party brought water, and the
woman's husband poured it into the Bairagi's mouth. A struggle ensued,
and the woman called out, "I am losing my life; he is chanting; the
mantram is in his throat; he is binding me by his spell; put a stick
into his throat." The third party then brought the Bairagi's curved
stick (yogathandam), which the husband thrust into the Bairagi's mouth,
with the result that he died. The woman was sent to a lunatic asylum,
and her husband, as there was no previous intention to cause death,
and he was evidently under the influence of blind superstition,
received only four and a half months' imprisonment. In a further case
which occurred in the North Arcot district, a man was believed to have
great power over animals, of which he openly boasted, threatening to
destroy all the cattle of one of his neighbours. This man and his
friends believed that they could deprive the sorcerer of his power
for evil by drawing all his teeth, which they proceeded to do with
fatal results. In the Kistna district, a Mala weaver was suspected
of practising sorcery by destroying men with devils, and bringing
cholera and other diseases. He was met by certain villagers, and asked
for tobacco. While he stopped to get the tobacco out, he was seized
and thrown on the ground. His hands were tied behind his back, and
his legs bound fast with his waist-cloth. One man sat on his legs,
another on his waist, and a third held his head down by the kudumi
(hair-knot). His mouth was forced open with a pair of large pincers,
and a piece of stick was thrust between the teeth to prevent the
mouth closing. One of the assistants got a stone as big as a man's
fist, and with it struck the sorcerer's upper and lower teeth several
times until they were loosened. Then nine teeth were pulled out with
the pincers. A quantity of milk-hedge (Euphorbia) juice was poured
on the bleeding gums, and the unfortunate man was left lying on his
back, to free himself from his bonds as best he could. [327] In the
Tamil country, the Vekkil Tottiyans are supposed to be able to control
certain evil spirits, and cause them to possess a man. It is believed,
however, that they are deprived of their power as soon as they lose
one of their teeth.
The Kondhs of Ganjam believe that they can transform themselves
into tigers or snakes, half the soul leaving the body and becoming
changed into one of these animals, either to kill an enemy, or to
satisfy hunger by having a good feed on cattle. During this period
they are said to feel dull and listless, and, if a tiger is killed
in the forest, they will die at the same time. Mr Fawcett informs me
that the Kondhs believe that the soul wanders during sleep. On one
occasion, a dispute arose owing to a man discovering that another
Kondh, whose spirit used to wander about in the guise of a tiger,
ate up his soul, and he fell ill. Like the Kondhs, some Paniyans of
Malabar are believed to be gifted with the power of changing themselves
into animals. There is a belief that, if they wish to secure a woman
whom they lust after, one of the men gifted with the special power
goes to the house at night with a hollow bamboo, and goes round it
three times. The woman then comes out, and the man, changing himself
into a bull or dog, works his wicked will. The woman is said to die
in the course of a few days. For assuming the disguise of an animal,
the following formulae are said [328] to be effective:--
1. Take the head of a dog and burn it, and plant on it a vellakuthi
plant. Burn camphor and frankincense, and adore it. Then pluck the
root, mix it with the milk of a dog, and the bones of a cat. A mark
made with the mixture on the forehead will enable a person to assume
the form of any animal he thinks of.
2. Worship with a lighted wick and incense before a stick of the
malankara plant. Then chant the Sakti mantram one hundred and one
times. Watch carefully which way the stick inclines. Proceed to the
south of the stick, and pluck the whiskers of a live tiger. Make with
them a ball of the veerali silk, string it with silk, and enclose it
within the ear. Stand on the palms of the hand to attain the disguise
of a tiger, and, with the stick in hand, think of a cat, white bull, or
any other animal. Then you will appear as such in the eyes of others.
The name Chedipe (prostitute) is applied to sorceresses in the Godavari
district. The Chedipe is believed to ride on a tiger at night over
the boundaries of seven villages, and return home at early morn. When
she does not like a man, she goes to him bare-bodied at dead of night,
the closed doors of the house in which he is sleeping opening before
her. She sucks his blood by putting his toe in her mouth. He will
then lie like a corpse. Next morning he feels uneasy and intoxicated,
as if he had taken ganja, and remains in this condition all day. If
he does not take medicine from some one skilled in the treatment of
such cases, it is said that he will die. If he is properly treated,
he will recover in about ten days. If he makes no effort to get cured,
the Chedipe will molest him again, and, becoming gradually emaciated,
he will die. When a Chedipe enters a house, all those who are awake
will become insensible, those who are seated falling down as if they
had taken a soporific drug. Sometimes she drags out the tongue of the
intended victim, who will die at once. At other times, slight abrasions
will be found on the skin of the victim, and, when the Chedipe puts
pieces of stick thereon, they burn as if burnt by fire. Sometimes
she will find him behind a bush, and, undressing there, will fall
on any passer-by in the jungle, assuming the form of a tiger with
one of the legs in human form. When thus disguised, she is called
Marulupuli (enchanting tiger). If the man is a brave fellow, and
tries to kill the Chedipe with any instrument he may have with him,
she will run away; and, if any man belonging to her village detects
her mischief, she will assume her real form, and say blandly that
she is only digging roots. The above story was obtained by a Native
official when he visited a Koyi village, where he was told that a
man had been sentenced to several years' imprisonment for being one
of a gang who had murdered a Chedipe for being a sorceress.
In the Vizagapatam district, the people believe that a witch, when she
wishes to revenge herself on any man, climbs at night to the top of his
house, and, making a hole through the roof, drops a thread down till
the end of it touches the body of the sleeping man. Then she sucks at
the other end, and draws up all the blood out of his body. Witches
are said to be able to remove all the bones out of a man's body,
or to deposit a fish, ball of hair, or rags in his stomach. The town
of Jeypore was once said to be haunted by a ghost. It was described
as a woman, who paraded the town at midnight in a state of nudity,
and from her mouth proceeded flames of fire. She sucked the blood
of any loose cattle she found about, and, in the same way, revenged
herself on any man who had insulted her. [329]
I am informed by Mr G. F. Paddison that, in cases of sickness among
the Savaras of Vizagapatam, a buffalo is tied up near the door of the
house. Herbs and rice in small platters, and a little brass vessel
containing toddy, balls of rice, flowers, and medicine, are brought
with a bow and arrow. The arrow is thicker at the basal end than
towards the tip. The narrow part goes, when shot, through a hole in
front of the bow, which is too small to allow of the passage of the
rest of the arrow. A Beju (wise woman) pours some toddy over the
herbs and rice, and daubs the patient over the forehead, breasts,
stomach, and back. She croons out a long incantation to the goddess,
stopping at intervals to call out "Daru," to attract the attention
of the goddess. She then takes the bow and arrow, and shoots twice
into the air, and, standing behind the kneeling patient, shoots balls
of medicine stuck on the tip of the arrow at her. The construction
of the arrow is such that the balls are dislodged from its tip. The
patient is thus shot at all over the body, which is bruised by the
impact of the medicine balls. Afterwards the Beju shoots one or two
balls at the buffalo, which is taken to a path forming the village
boundary, and killed with a tangi (axe). The patient is then daubed
with the blood of the buffalo, rice, and toddy, and a feast concludes
the ceremonial. Mr Paddison once gave some medicine to the Porojas of
Vizagapatam during an epidemic of cholera in a village. They took it
eagerly, but, as he was going away, asked whether it would not be a
quicker cure to put the witch in the next village, who had brought on
the cholera, into jail. In the Koraput taluk of Vizagapatam, a wizard
once had a reputation for possessing the power of transplanting trees,
and it was believed that, if a man displeased him, his trees were
moved in the night, and planted in some one else's grounds.
It is recorded [330] by the Rev. J. Cain that the Koyis of the
Godavari district "assert that the death of every one is caused by
the machinations of a sorcerer, instigated thereto by an enemy of
the deceased, or of the deceased's friends. So, in former years,
inquiry was always made as to the person likely to have been at
such enmity with the deceased as to wish for his death; and, having
settled upon a suspicious individual, the friends of the deceased
used to carry the corpse to the accused, and call upon him to clear
himself by undergoing the ordeal of dipping his hands in boiling oil
or water. [331] Within the last two years, I have known of people
running away from their village because of their having been accused
of having procured by means of a wizard the death of some one with
whom they were at enmity about a plot of land."
According to another account, [332] "some male member of the family
of the deceased throws coloured rice over the corpse as it lies on the
bed, pronouncing as he does so the names of all the known sorcerers who
live in the neighbourhood. It is even now solemnly asserted that, when
the name of the wizard responsible for the death is pronounced, the
bed gets up, and moves towards the house or village where he resides."
The Rev. J. Cain [333] once saw a magician at work in the Godavari
district, "discovering the cause of the sickness which had laid
prostrate a strong Koyi man. He had in his hand a leaf from an old
palmyra leaf book, and, as he walked round and round the patient,
he pretended to be reading. Then he took up a small stick, and drew
a number of lines on the ground, after which he danced and sang
round and round the sick man, who sat looking at him, evidently much
impressed with his performance. Suddenly he made a dart at the man,
and, stooping down, bit him severely in two or three places in the
back. Then, rushing to the front, he produced a few grains, which
he said he had found in the man's back, and which were evidently the
cause of the sickness."
In another case, a young Koyi was employed to teach a few children in
his village, but ere long he was attacked by a strange disease, which
no medicine could cure. As a last resource, a magician was called in,
who declared the illness to have been brought on by a demoness at
the instigation of some enemy, who was envious of the money which the
lad had received for teaching. The magician produced a little silver,
which he declared to be a sure sign that the sickness was connected
with the silver money he was receiving for teaching.
A riot took place, in 1900, at the village of Korravanivasala in the
Vizagapatam district, under the following strange circumstances. A
Konda Dora (hill cultivator caste) named Korra Mallayya pretended that
he was inspired, and gradually gathered round him a camp of four or
five thousand people from various places. At first his proceedings were
harmless enough, but at last he gave out that he was a reincarnation
of one of the five Pandava brothers, the heroes of the Mahabharata,
who are worshipped by the Konda Doras. [334] He further announced
that his infant son was the god Krishna; that he would drive out the
English, and rule the country himself; and that, to effect this,
he would arm his followers with bamboos, which would be turned by
magic into guns, and would change the weapons of the authorities
into water. Bamboos were cut, and rudely fashioned to resemble guns,
and, armed with these, the camp was drilled by the Swami (god),
as Mallayya had come to be called. The assembly next sent word that
they were going to loot Pachipenta, and, when two constables came to
see how matters stood, the fanatics fell upon them, and beat them to
death. The local police endeavoured to recover the bodies, but, owing
to the threatening attitude of the Swami's followers, had to abandon
the attempt. The district magistrate then went to the place in person,
collected reserve police from various places, and rushed the camp to
arrest the Swami and the other leaders of the movement. The police
were resisted by the mob, and obliged to fire. Eleven of the rioters
were killed, others wounded or arrested, and the rest dispersed. Sixty
of them were tried for rioting, and three, including the Swami, for
murdering the constables. Of the latter, the Swami died in jail,
and the other two were hanged. The Swami's son, the god Krishna,
also died, and all trouble ended.
A Kapu (Telugu cultivator) in the Cuddapah district once pretended
to have received certain maxims direct from the Supreme Being, and
forewarned his neighbours that he would fall into a trance, which
actually occurred, and lasted for three days. On his recovery, he
stated that his spirit had been during this time in heaven, learning
the principles of the Advaita religion from a company of angels. One
of his peculiarities was that he went about naked, because, when once
engaged in separating two bullocks which were fighting, his cloth
tumbled down, after which he never put it on again. This eccentric
person is said to have pulled a handful of maggots from the body of
a dead dog, to have put them into his mouth, and to have spat them
out again as grains of rice. A shrine was built over his grave. [335]
A few years ago, a Muhammadan fakir undertook to drive away the plague
in Bellary. Incantations were performed over a black goat, which was
sacrificed at a spot where several roads met. A considerable sum
of money was collected, and the poor were fed. But the plague was
not stayed.
On one occasion, an old woman hearing that her only son was dangerously
ill, sought the aid of a magician, who proceeded to utter mantrams,
to counteract the evil influences which were at work. While this was
being done, an accomplice of the magician turned up, and, declaring
that he was a policeman, threatened to charge the two with sorcery
if they did not pay him a certain sum of money. The woman paid up,
but discovered later on that she had been hoaxed.
Two men were, some years ago, sentenced to rigorous imprisonment under
the following circumstances. A lady, who was suffering from illness,
asked a man who claimed to be a magician to cure her. He came with his
confederate, and told the patient to place nine sovereigns on a clay
image. This sum not being forthcoming, a few rupees and a piece of a
gold necklace were accepted. These were deposited on the image, and it
was placed in a tin box, which was locked up, one of the men retaining
the key. On the following day the two men returned, and the rupees
and piece of gold were placed on a fresh image. Becoming inspired by
the god, one of the men announced that the patient must give a gold
bangle off her wrist, if she wished to be cured quickly. The bangle
was given up, and placed on the image, which was then converted into
a ball containing the various articles within it. The patient was
then directed to look at various corners of the room, and repeat a
formula. The image was placed in a box, and locked up as before, and
the men retired, promising to return next day. This they failed to do,
and the lady, becoming suspicious, broke open the box, in which the
image was found, but the money and ornaments were missing.
A case relating to the supposed guarding of treasure by an evil
spirit came before the Court in the Coimbatore district in 1908. Two
Valluvans (Tamil astrologers) were staying in a village, where they
were foretelling events. They went to the house of an old woman,
and, while telling her fortune, announced that there was a devil in
the house guarding treasure, and promised to drive it out, if twenty
rupees were given to them. The woman borrowed the money, and presented
it to them. In the evening the Valluvans went into the kitchen, and
shut the door. Certain ceremonies are said to have been performed,
at the conclusion of which the woman and her son entered the room,
and, in the light of a flickering torch, were shown a pit, in which
there was a copper pot, apparently full of gold sovereigns. One of the
astrologers feigned a sudden attack from the devil, and fell down as
if unconscious. The other pushed the people of the house outside the
door, and again shut it. Eventually the men came out, and announced
that the devil was a ferocious one, and would not depart till a wick
from an Erode paradesi was lighted before it, for obtaining which a
hundred rupees were required. If the devil was not thus propitiated, it
would, they said, kill the people of the house sooner or later. The old
woman borrowed the sum required, and her son and the two astrologers
went to Karur to take the train to Erode, to meet the paradesi. At
Karur the two men took tickets for different places, and the son,
becoming suspicious, informed the police, who arrested them. On them
were found some circular pieces of card covered with gold tinsel.
A few years ago, a Zamindar (landowner) in the Godavari district
engaged a Muhammadan to exorcise a devil which haunted his house. The
latter, explaining that the devil was a female and fond of jewelry,
induced the Zamindar to leave a large quantity of jewels in a locked
receptacle in a certain room, to which only the exorcist, and of course
the devil, had access. The latter, it was supposed, would be gratified
by the loan of the jewels, and would cease from troubling. The exorcist
managed to open the receptacle and steal the jewels, and, such was
the faith of his employer, that the offence was not suspected until
a police inspector seized Rs. 27,000 worth of jewels in Vizagapatam
on suspicion, and they were with difficulty traced to their source.
In a note on wonder-working in India, the Rev. J. Sharrock narrates
the following incident.
"A Sanyasi (ascetic) was ordered with contempt from the house of a
rich Zemindar. Thereupon, the former threatened to curse his house
by despatching a devil to take possession of it that very night. On
one of the doors of the inner courtyard he made a number of magical
passes, and then left the house in high dudgeon. As soon as it
grew dark, the devil appeared on the door in flickering flames
of phosphorus, and almost frightened the Zemindar and the other
inmates out of their five senses. Wild with terror, they fled to
the Sanyasi, and begged and entreated him to come and exorcise
the devil. Of course he refused, and of course they pressed him
with greater and greater presents till he was satisfied. Then he
came with kungkuma (a mixture of turmeric, alum, and lime-juice),
and rubbed the fiery demon off with the usual recitation of
mantras. During the rest of his stay, the Sanyasi was treated
with the most profound respect, while his sishyas (disciples)
received the choicest food and fruits that could be obtained."
The following cases are called from the annual reports of the Chemical
Examiner to the Government of Madras, in further illustration of the
practices of pseudo-magicians.
(a) A wizard came to a village, in order to exorcise a devil which
possessed a certain woman. He was treated like a prince, and was
given the only room in the house, while the family turned out into
the hall. He lived there for several days, and then commenced his
ceremonies. He drew the figure of a lotus on the floor, made the woman
sit down, and commenced to twist her hair with his wand. When she
cried out, he sent her out of the room, saying she was unworthy to sit
on the lotus figure, but promising nevertheless to exorcise the devil
without her being present. He found a half-witted man in the village,
drugged him with ganja, brought him to the house, and performed his
ceremonies on this man, who, on becoming intoxicated with the drug,
began to get boisterous. The wizard tied him up with a rope, because
he had become possessed of the devil that had possessed the woman. The
man was subsequently traced by his relatives, found in an unconscious
state, and taken to hospital. The wizard got rigorous imprisonment.
(b) Some jewels were lost, and a mantrakara (dealer in magical spells)
was called in to detect the thief. The magician erected a screen,
behind which he lit a lamp, and did other things to impress the crowd
with the importance of his mantrams. To the assembly he distributed
betel-leaf patties containing a white powder, said to be holy ashes,
and the effect of it on the suspected individuals, who formed part
of the crowd, is said to have been instantaneous. So magical was the
effect of this powder in detecting the thief, that the unfortunate
man ultimately vomited blood. When the people remonstrated with
the magician for the severity of his magic, he administered to the
sufferer an antidote of solution of cow-dung and the juice of some
leaf. The holy ashes were found to contain corrosive sublimate,
and the magician got eighteen months' rigorous imprisonment.
I may conclude with a reference to an interesting note on the Jesuits
of the Madura Mission in the middle of the seventeenth century by
the Rev. J. S. Chandler, who writes as follows:--
"Dr Nobili lodged in an incommodious hut, and celebrated mass in
another hut. The older he got, the more he added to the austerity
of his life. The Pandarams [336] (non-Brahman priests) made a new
attempt against his life. One fine day they held a council as to
the death he should die, and decided on magic. They summoned the
most famous magician of the kingdom. Every one knew of it. When
the day came, the magician presented himself, followed by a crowd,
all alert to witness the vengeance of their gods. He insolently
arranged his machines, and then described circles in the air. Dr
Nobili regarded him with a composed air. Soon the ceremonies
became more noisy. The features of the magician became decomposed,
his eyes inflamed, his face contracted like that of one possessed;
he ground his teeth, howled, and struck the ground with his feet,
hands, and forehead. Dr Nobili asked what comedy he was pretending
to play. Then he recited magical sentences. Dr Nobili begged him
to spare his throat. The magician said 'You have laughed, now die,'
and threw a black powder into the air, at the same time looking at
his victim, to see him fall at his feet, and then ... skedaddled
from the jeers of the crowd. Dr Nobili addressed the crowd,
and from that time they regarded him as more than human."
Mr Chandler narrates further that [337] "a Jogi (sorcerer and exorcist)
lost in public opinion by pretending to perform a miracle in imitation
of a previous Jogi, by making a stone bull eat. A quantity of rice
and other grains was served to the figure, but the vahanam (vehicle)
of Rudra was not hungry. The Jogi made many grimaces, threatened, and
even employed a rattan cane, but the bull remained motionless. Not
so the spectators, who overwhelmed the Jogi with blows, and he was
only saved by his friends, conducted to the frontier by soldiers,
and forbidden ever again to enter the kingdom."
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