served
to him by the hands of the priests. Some among them are so
superstitious that they will not eat what is prepared even by their own
wives, and prefer to cook for themselves.1 The plate upon
which the rice is placed is made of the leaves of a tree pinned
together ; to some extent they resemble our walnut leaves.2 To each there is also given about a quarter of a pound of melted butter in a little cup of copper, with some sugar.
When
dinner is finished, each starts work, the men to excavate the earth,
and the women and children to carry it to the place which has been
prepared as I have said above. They excavate to 10, 12, or 14 feet in
depth, but when they reach water there is nothing more to hope for. All
the earth is carried to this place, men, women, and children draw water
with pitchers from the hole which they have excavated, and throw it
upon the earth which they have placed there, in order to soften it,
leaving it in this state for one or two days, according to the tenacity
of the clay, until it becomes like soup. This done, they open the holes
which they made in the wall to let off the water, then they throw on
more, so that all the slime may be removed, and nothing remain but
sand. It is a kind of clay which requires to be washed two or three
times. They then leave it to be dried by the sun, which is quickly
effected by the great heat. They have a particular kind of basket made
something like a winnowing fan, in which they place the earth, which
they agitate as we do when winnowing grain. The fine part is blown
away, and the coarse stuff which remains is subsequently replaced on
the ground.
All
the earth having been thus winnowed, they spread it with a rake and
make it as level as possible. Then they all stand together on the
earth, each with a large baton of
1
This is due to fear of pollution and witchcraft. In South India it is
only at the marriage ceremonial eating, or confarreatio, that husband
and wife eat together (J. E. Padfleld, The Hindu at Home, 133, and compare Sir J. G. Frazer, Pausanias, iv. 117).
8
In northern India and the Deccan these are the leaves of the Sal,
Shorea robusta, Gaertn., the giant creeper, Bauhinia vahlii, W. and A.,
or the Dhak or Palas, Butea frondosa, Roxb.; in Western India plantain
leaves, or those of the nymphaea lotus are used (Russell, op. cit., ii. 204 ; Forbes, Oriental Memoirs, 2nd ed., i. 52; Mrs. S. Stevenson, Kites of the Twice-born, 240).
