A goat and some cocks are then sacrificed to the spirits residing in the cemeteries and at the boundary of the…
- Date of account
- Published 1915
- Source
- Folk Lore Notes. Vol. II—Konkan
- Reference
- Folk Lore Notes. Vol. II—Konkan · selected passage 9
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-25
Record summary
A goat and some cocks are then sacrificed to the spirits residing in the cemeteries and at the boundary of the village
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention onlyA goat and some cocks are then sacrificed to the spirits residing in the cemeteries and at the boundary of the village. Cocoanuts besmeared with gulál red powder are also offered to these ghost godlings. A goat decorated with garlands and red powder is then made to walk round the village three times at night, accompanied by the villagers, who throw láhya parched rice while passing. This rite is called Siwa Bándhane or binding the boundary, and is supposed to protect the village crops and cattle. No farmer dares to sow his seed unless this rite has been performed. After this rite has been performed, every farmer appeases his family deity, i.e. Khandoba, Bahiroba, Kankoba, etc., by performing a ceremony at home called Deopan or Devaski, which relates to the worship of ancestors. Most of the farmers regard one of their dead ancestors as their chief deity, and represent him in their house by a cocoanut. They do not enter on any new business without first offering prayers to this cocoanut, and they also believe that they can bring evil upon their enemies by simply cursing them before the deified cocoanut.
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice compares motifs and reported features without assuming that a traditional being is a biological species or that similar stories document one external cause.
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