And when the
[monks] of a convent[2] desire to make a feast to their god, they send
for all those consecrated damsels and make them sing and dance before the
idol with great festivity. They also bring meats to feed their idol
withal; that is to say, the damsels prepare dishes of meat and other good
things and put the food before the idol, and leave it there a good while,
and then the damsels all go to their dancing and singing and festivity for
about as long as a great Baron might require to eat his dinner. By that
time they say the spirit of the idols has consumed the substance of the
food, so they remove the viands to be eaten by themselves with great
jollity. This is performed by these damsels several times every year until
they are married.[NOTE 18]
[The reason assigned for summoning the damsels to these feasts is, as the
monks say, that the god is vexed and angry with the goddess, and will hold
no communication with her; and they say that if peace be not established
between them things will go from bad to worse, and they never will bestow
their grace and benediction. So they make those girls come in the way
described, to dance and sing, all but naked, before the god and the
goddess. And those people believe that the god often solaces himself with
the society of the goddess.
The men of this country have their beds made of very light canework, so
arranged that, when they have got in and are going to sleep, they are
drawn up by cords nearly to the ceiling and fixed there for the night.
This is done to get out of the way of tarantulas which give terrible
bites, as well as of fleas and such vermin, and at the same time to get as
much air as possible in the great heat which prevails in that region. Not
that everybody does this, but only the nobles and great folks, for the
others sleep on the streets.[NOTE 19]]
Now I have told you about this kingdom of the province of Maabar, and I
must pass on to the other kingdoms of the same province, for I have much
to tell of their peculiarities.
NOTE 1. - The non-existence of tailors is not a mere figure of speech.
Sundry learned pundits have been of opinion that the ancient Hindu knew no
needle-made clothing, and Colonel Meadows Taylor has alleged that they had
not even a word for the tailor's craft in their language. These opinions
have been patriotically refuted by Babu Rajendralal Mitra. (Proc. Ass.
Soc. B. 1871, p. 100.)
Ibn Batuta describes the King of Calicut, the great "Zamorin," coming down
to the beach to see the wreck of certain Junks; - "his clothing consisted
of a great piece of white stuff rolled about him from the navel to the
knees, and a little scrap of a turban on his head; his feet were bare, and
a young slave carried an umbrella over him." (IV.