Edgar Thurston
Omens and magic of Southern India
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Table of contents
Preface
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
Preface
Malayan
exorcist with fowl in his mouth.This
book deals mainly with some aspects of what may be termed the
psychical life of the inhabitants of the Madras Presidency, and the
Native States of Travancore and Cochin. In my “Ethnographic Notes
in Southern India”, I stated that the confused chapter
devoted to omens, animal superstitions, evil eye, charms, sorcery,
etc., was a mere outline sketch of a group of subjects, which, if
worked up, would furnish material for a volume. This chapter has now
been remodelled, and supplemented by notes collected since its
publication, and information which lies buried in the seven bulky
volumes of my encyclopædic “Castes and Tribes of Southern India”. The area dealt with (roughly, 182,000 square miles, with a
population of 47,800,000) is so vast that I have had perforce to
supplement the personal knowledge acquired in the course of wandering
expeditions in various parts of Southern India, and in other ways, by
recourse to the considerable mass of information, which is hidden
away in official reports, gazetteers, journals of societies, books,
etc.To
the many friends and correspondents, European and Indian, who have
helped me in the accumulation of facts, and those whose writings I
have made liberal use of, I would once more express collectively, and
with all sincerity, my great sense of indebtedness. My thanks are due
to Mr L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer for supplying me with the
illustrations of Malabar yantrams.
I
OmensIn
seeking for omens, Natives consult the so-called science of omens or
science of the five birds, and are guided by them. Selected omens are
always included in native calendars or panchāngams.To
the quivering and throbbing of various parts of the body as omens,
repeated reference is made in the Hindu classics. Thus, in Kalidāsa’s
Sakuntala, King Dushyanta says: “This hermitage is tranquil, and
yet my arm throbs. Whence can there be any result from this in such a
place? But yet the gates of destiny are everywhere.” Again,
Sakuntala says: “Alas! why does my right eye throb?” to which
Gautami replies: “Child, the evil be averted. May the tutelary
deities of your husband’s family confer happy prospects!” In the
Raghuvamsa, the statement occurs that “the son of Paulastya, being
greatly incensed, drove an arrow deep into his right arm, which was
throbbing, and which, therefore, prognosticated his union with Sīta.”
A quivering sensation in the right arm is supposed to indicate
marriage with a beautiful woman; in the right eye some good luck.During
a marriage among the Telugu Tottiyans, who have settled in the Tamil
country, a red ram without blemish is sacrificed. It is first
sprinkled with water, and, if it shivers, this is considered a good
omen. It is recorded,1
in connection with the legends of the Badagas of the Nīlgiris, that
“in the heart of the Banagudi shola (grove), not far from the
Doddūru group of cromlechs, is an odd little shrine to Karairāya,
within which are a tiny cromlech, some sacred water-worn stones, and
sundry little pottery images representing a tiger, a mounted man, and
some dogs. These keep in memory, it is said, a Badaga who was slain
in combat with a tiger; and annually a festival is held, at which new
images are placed there, and vows are paid. A Kurumba (jungle tribe)
makes fire by friction, and burns incense, throws sanctified water
over the numerous goats brought to be sacrificed, to see if they will
shiver in the manner always held necessary in sacrificed victims, and
then slays, one after the other, those which have shown themselves
duly qualified.”In
many villages, during the festival to the village deity, water is
poured over a sheep’s back, and it is accepted as a good sign if it
shivers. “When the people are economical, they keep on pouring
water till it does shiver, to avoid the expense of providing a second
victim for sacrifice. But, where they are more scrupulous, if it does
not shiver, it is taken as a sign that the goddess will not accept
it, and it is taken away.”2Before
the thieving Koravas set out on a predatory expedition, a goat is
decorated, and taken to a shrine. It is then placed before the idol,
which is asked whether the expedition will be successful. If the body
of the animal quivers, it is regarded as an answer in the
affirmative; if it does not, the expedition is abandoned.If,
in addition to quivering, the animal urinates, no better sign could
be looked for. Thieves though they are, the Koravas make it a point
of honour to pay for the goat used in the ceremony. It is said that,
in seeking omens from the quivering of an animal, a very liberal
interpretation is put on the slightest movement. It is recorded by
Bishop Whitehead
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