n dies they do the same, and call it Balki
Deo or the bullock god. Here we have a clear instance of the process
of substituting the spirit of the herdsman for the cow or buffalo as
an object of worship. The occupation of the Ahir also lends itself to
religious imaginations. He stays in the forest or waste grass-land,
frequently alone from morning till night, watching his herds; and
the credulous and uneducated minds of the more emotional may easily
hear the voices of spirits, or in a half-sleeping condition during
the heat and stillness of the long day may think that visions have
appeared to them. Thus they come to believe themselves selected for
communication with the unseen deities or spirits, and on occasions
of strong religious excitement work themselves into a frenzy and are
held to be possessed by a spirit or god.

13. Caste deities.

Among the special deities of the Ahirs is Kharak Deo, who is always
located at the _khirkha_, or place of assembly of the cattle, on
going to and returning from pasture. He appears to be the spirit or
god of the _khirkha_. He is represented by a platform with an image
of a horse on it, and when cattle fall ill the owners offer flour
and butter to him. These are taken by the Ahirs in charge, and it is
thought that the cattle will get well. Matar Deo is the god of the
pen or enclosure for cattle made in the jungle. Three days after the
Diwali festival the Rawats sacrifice one or more goats to him, cutting
off their heads. They throw the heads into the air, and the cattle,
smelling the blood, run together and toss them with their horns as
they do when they scent a tiger. The men then say that the animals
are possessed by Matar Deo. Guraya Deo is a deity who lives in the
cattle-stalls in the village and is worshipped once a year. A man
holds an egg in his hand, and walks round the stall pouring liquid
over the egg all the way, so as to make a line round it. The egg is
then buried beneath the shrine of the god, the rite being probably
meant to ensure his aid for the protection of the cattle from disease
in their stalls. A favourite saint of the Ahirs is Haridas Baba. He
was a Jogi, and could separate his soul from his body at pleasure. On
one occasion he had gone in spirit to Benares, leaving his body
in the house of one of his disciples, who was an Ahir. When he did
not return, and the people heard that a dead body was lying there,
they came and insisted that it should be burnt.