o his house, and that night he dreamt that the
stone was Bura Deo, the great God of the Gonds. So he said: 'If this
dream be true let me draw in a deer in my net to-morrow for a sign';
and the next day the body of a deer appeared in his net. The stone
then called upon the Gond to worship him as Bura Deo, but the Gond
demurred to doing so himself, and said he would provide a substitute
as a devotee. To this Bura Deo agreed, but said that Bachar, the Gond,
must marry his daughter to the substituted worshipper. The Gond then
set out to search for somebody, and in the village of Lafandi he
found a Halba of the name of Konda, who was a cripple, deaf and dumb,
blind, and a leper. He brought Konda to the stone, and on reaching
it he was miraculously cured of all his ailments and gladly began
to worship Bura Deo. He afterwards married the Gond's daughter and
they had a son called Chaukhutia Bhunjia, who was the ancestor of
the Chaukhutia division of the tribe. Now the term Chaukhutia in
Chhattisgarhi signifies a bastard, and the story related above is
obviously intended to signify that the Chaukhutia Bhunjias are of
mixed descent from the Gonds and Halbas. It is clearly with this
end in view that the Gond is made to decline to worship the stone
himself and promise to find a substitute, an incident which is wholly
unnatural and is simply dragged in to meet the case. The Chaukhutia
subtribe especially worship Bura Deo, and sing a song relating to
the finding of the stone in their marriage ceremony as follows:

Johar, johar Thakur Deota, Tumko lagon,
Do matia ghar men dine tumhare nam.
Johar, johar Konda, Tumko lagon,
Do matia ghar men, etc.
Johar, johar Bachar Jhakar Tumko lagon, etc.
Johar, johar Budha Raja Tumko lagon, etc.
Johar, johar Lafandi Mati Tumko lagon, etc.
Johar, johar Anand Mati Tumko lagon, etc.

which may be rendered:

I make obeisance to thee, O Thakur Deo, I bow down to thee!
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house (as a mark of
respect).
I make obeisance to thee, O Konda Pujari, I bow down to thee!
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
I make obeisance to thee, O Bachar Jhakar!
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
I make obeisance to thee, O Budha Raja!
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
I make obeisance to thee, O Soil of Lafandi!
In thy name have I