The Music of Hindostan c6.175

c6.175

Two Pāṇans now appeared. This tribe formed in old days the band of the Rajah, but has sunk now into the position of an inferior caste. They are recognized magicians. An astrologer settles what is the form (mūrti) of the demon, and the Pāṇans are called in to exorcise it. They perform the exorcism (teyāttam) with drum and pipe; occasionally they wear masks. Their pollution distance, that, namely, within which they may not approach a Brahman, is 36 feet. The usual time of year for exorcism is July and August, when demons are apt to be specially prevalent and malicious, when in fact the rains have developed a certain amount of malaria.