The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c45: Objects of Fetish Worship
The Chālukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c45
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Objects of Fetish Worship
c45.1
A T Bhatkal and Honāvar, and elsewhere in the Koṅkaṇ, are found odd-looking groups of curious stones under trees, on a hill side, by old temples or in gardens. They are generally of two forms, one a small pillar or cylinder of various degrees of finish, round or octagonal, with or without a finial, and snake stones, that is, small slabs with knotted or single snakes carved upon them in relief. These stones are locally called *jetigas*, and are, in most cases, worshipped once a year by Brahman *pūjāris* attached to some neighbouring temple. It is difficult to find out exactly what these little pillars mean, but it seems certain that they are connected with the worship or appeasing of the spirits of departed ancestors. The snake stones, here, do not seem to have any special connection, if any at all, with the annual snake worship at the *Nāgapanchmi* festival (Plates CLV and CLX).
c45.2
Other objects of a similar nature are the *sati* stones which are found scattered about the country in small numbers. These commemorate the self-immolation of widows upon their husbands' funeral pyres. They are known at once from the representation of a bent arm and hand sculptured upon the face of the slab or projecting from one side of it. Sometimes there are also portraits of the man and his wife upon the stone.