DEMODURA, a variety of the Saligrama. DE MON.
Esprit, FR I Demonio, . . . IT. , SP.
Geist, GER I Demon-worship is observed amonast all the non-Aryan races in India, but is perliaps carried out to its fullest extent, and mostopenly, amongst the Shanar people in the south of the Peninsula. This worship ha.s little or no similarity to any cultus, being mostly. directes1 to appease e ma'ignancy of evil spirits, the Shades or saya of Persons who have recently died. In some parts of India there is a mixing up of demon and spirit worship and hero-worship with that of the Hindu deities. In the Dekhan the deified sage Vithoba and his early expounders are extensively wor shipped as local divinities. Byroba, the local deity of herdsmen, is largely worshipped in the Delthan, as also is Kandoba, the deified hero of shepherds. Outside almost every Hindu village in the Dekhan, is a circle of large stones, sacred to Vetal, a demon-god of the non-Aryan races. Amongst the evil genii of all India is a being or beings called Rakshasa, of giant bulk, terrible teeth, who feast on dead bodies ; and theRakshasais recognised by Aryan and non-Aryan. The bhoot, acknowledged all over India, more resembles the ghost of Europe. The Rev. Dr. Caldwell, in his work on the devil worship of the Shanar, has shown how continu ously the people of India are making new deities or demons. On the left bank of the stream, at the village of Assaye, at which Sindia's artillery was posted during that battle, is a tree beneath which is the tomb of an officer who fell during the battle, and his spirit is punctually worshipped by all the people of the nekghbonrhood. Sir Bartle Frere found an order in existence at Government House, Dapoorie, handed down by each non commissioned officer, for the native sentry on guard, to present arms if a cat or dog, jackal or goat, entered or left the house or crossed near his beat during certain hours of the night, because it was a ghost of a former governor, who was still remembered as one of the best and kindest of rulers. The raja of Wanparty, one of that Reddi race who have founded small principalities along the banks of the Kistna river, died in 1868 at Hyderabad. He had led a turbulent life, and re tained to the last much of the spirit of his youth. At the close of that year an outbreak of cholera occurred in that neighbourhood, which the people attributed to the spirit of Wanparty, and they made a clay image of him, riding on an elephant, and placed near him the clay image of a Brinjari, and worshipped all with the Mahabali sacrifice.
In India, the Jan, the Gin of the Arabian Nights, is only known amongst the Mahomedans. In Sind, the Jan resembles the Pwecca, or Puck of Britain ; the Jan of the Baluch hills is wayward and often morose, but not necessarily malignant. He is described as dwarfish, with large eyes, and covered with long hairs, and often changes to the form of a camel, goat, or other animal. On meeting a Jan, it is essential not to be alarmed, to use civil language. The Jan can become the servant of man, and work hard.
The deep-rooted belief in devils and in demon iacal possession was proved by the mortuary statistics of the N.W. Provinces of India for the year 1865, from which it appears that in 3463 cases, the relatives of the deceased would assign no other causes of death than witchcraft, evil spirits, and devils.
In Ceylon is a class of demigods, vrho, under the name of Yakshyo, are supposed to inhabit the waters, and dwell on the sides of Mount Meru, and who are distinguished not only for gentleness and benevolence, but even by a veneration for Buddha, et who, in on -eaf his earlier transmigrations, was himself born tiAder the form of a Yakshyo. The Yakka, malig ant spirits of Ceylon, are the authors of indefinite evil; and the Singhalese have a demon or Sanne for each form of disease, who is supposed to. be its direct agent and_inflictor, and who is accordingly invoked for its removal ; and others, who delight in tho miseries of ' inankind, are to be propitiated before the arrival of any event over which their pernicious influence might otherwise prevail. Hence, on every domestic occurrence, as well as in every domestic calamity, the services of the Kattadia or devil-priests aro sought, and their ceremonies performed, generally with observances so barbarous as to be tho most revolting evidence still extant of the uncivilised habits of the Sin ghalese. Especially in cases of sickness and danger the assistance of the devil-dancer is implicitly relied on. An altar, decorated with garlands, is erected within sight of the patient, and on this an animal, frequently a cock, is to be sacrificed for his recovery. Another kind of demon-worship in Ceylon is a debased form of Hinduism, where the priest or Kapua is the performer.