Storia do Mogor 281.21.5

281.21.5

Next he took his station with his face turned to the altar, and the catechist who acted as a sort of master of the ceremonies, or rather Brahman, took his post beside the altar towards the south, his face to the north, just as laid down in the ritual and usage of the Hindu idolaters. Our man thus posed, they brought to him a large banyan, or fig leaf, on which was spread uncooked rice, and they added two small yellow copper pots, called in the Indian tongue tambias (tambiya), or calsia (kalsa), each of them encircled several times with a thread. This last thing is never omitted by the Hindus from their sacrifices, of however insignificant a nature they may be. These tambiyas contained nothing beyond pure water, but on the edge of each they placed five mango leaves, and on these a coco-nut.