Omens and Superstitions of Southern India

A curious mock marriage ceremony is celebrated among Brahmans, when an individual marries a third wife. It is believed that a third marriage is very inauspicious, and that the b...

3. Badi (fetter), a ridge of hair directed upwards on one or both forearms on the outer side, and said to indicate that the owner of the animal will be sent to jail.

"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...

It is recorded by Bishop Whitehead [32] that, in some parts of the Tamil country, e.g., in the Trichinopoly district, at the ceremony for the propitiation of the village boundar...

Sometimes people leave their house, and sleep elsewhere on the night preceding an inauspicious day, on which a journey is to be made. Unlucky days for starting on a journey are...

There is, in Malabar, a class of people called mantravadis (dealers in magical spells), who are believed to possess an hereditary power of removing the effects of snake poison b...

"I visited the festival on one occasion, and purchase was made of a few offerings such as are made to the temple in satisfaction of vows--a very rude representation of an infant...

There is a belief that the urine of wild dogs (Cyon dukhunensis) is extremely acrid, and that they sprinkle with it the bushes through which they drive their prey (deer and wild...

Ant (i.e., white-ant, Termes) hills, which have been repeatedly referred to in this chapter, are frequently inhabited by cobras, and offerings of milk, fruit, and flowers are co...

A detailed account of the odi cult, from which the following information was obtained, is given by Mr Anantha Krishna Iyer. [282] The disciple is taught how to procure pilla thi...

On the last day of the Gangajatra festival at Tirupati, a figure is made of clay and straw, and placed in the tope (grove), where crowds of all classes, including Paraiyans, pre...

It is on record that, at the battle of Seringapatam in 1799, an officer took from off the right arm of the dead body of Tipu Sultan a talisman, which contained sewed up in piece...

In a note on serpent worship in Malabar, [135] it is stated that "even to-day some corner of the garden of every respectable tarawad [136] is allotted for snakes. Here a few tre...

By the Kotas (artisans and cultivators) of the Nilgiris, a seed-sowing ceremony is celebrated in the month of Kumbam (February-March) on a Tuesday or Friday. For eight days the...

The festival of Ayudha Puja (worship of tools or implements) is observed by all Hindu castes during the last three days of the Dasara or Navarathri in the month of Purattasi (Se...

The following case was brought to my notice by the Chemical Examiner to Government. In Malabar, a young man, apparently in good health, walked home with two other men after a fe...

"Of the hill tribe Codooloo (Kondh), there are said to be two distinct classes, the Cotia Codooloo and Jathapoo Codooloo. The former class is that which is in the habit of offer...

"Vishu, the feast of the vernal equinox, is celebrated on the first of the Malabar month Medom, between the 10th and 14th of April. To the Tamulians it is the New Year's day, bu...

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...

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 han...

Human sacrifice is considered efficacious in appeasing the earth spirit, and in warding off devils during the construction of a new railway or big bridge. To the influence of su...

"Far away in rural Malabar, I witnessed the ceremony in which the Velichchapad exhibited his quality. It was in the neighbourhood of a Nayar house, to which thronged all the nei...

"The presence of large glands in connection with the eye afford some justification for the Malay's belief that the dugong weeps when captured. They regard the tears of the ikan...

[141] The pipal or aswatha (Ficus religiosa). Many villages have such a tree with a platform erected round it, on which are carved figures of the elephant god Ganesa, and cobras...