ls of
the village and were given a meal in much the same spirit as prompts
an English landlord to give his tenants a dinner on occasions of
ceremony. Instances of a similar custom are noted among the Kunbis
and other castes. Before food is served to the guests a leaf-plate
containing a portion for the deceased is placed outside the house with
a pot of water, and a burning lamp to guide his spirit to the food.

4. Religion

The caste worship the goddess Singhbahani. or Devi riding on a
tiger. They make an image of her in the most expensive metal they can
afford, and worship it daily. They will on no account swear by this
goddess. They worship their trade implements on the day of the new
moon in Chait (March) and Bhadon (August). A trident, as a symbol of
Devi, is then drawn with powdered rice and vermilion on the furnace
for casting metal. A lamp is waved over the furnace and a cocoanut is
broken and distributed to the caste-fellows, no outsider being allowed
to be present. They quench their furnace on the new moon day of every
month, the Ramnaomi and Durgapuja or nine days' fasts in the months
of Chait and Kunwar, and for the two days following the Diwali and
Holi festivals. On these days they will not prepare any new vessels,
but will sell those which they have ready. The Tameras have Kanaujia
Brahmans for their priests, and the Brahmans will take food from
them which has been cooked without water and salt. On this account
other Kanaujia Brahmans require a heavy payment before they will
marry with the priests of the Tameras. The caste abstain from liquor,
and some of them have abjured all flesh food while others partake of
it. They usually wear the sacred thread. Brahmans will take water
from their hands, and the menial castes will eat food which they
have touched. They work in brass, copper and bell-metal in exactly
the same manner as the Kasars, and have an equivalent social position.

Taonla

_Taonla_.--A small non-Aryan caste of the Uriya States. They reside
principally in Bamra and Sonpur, and numbered about 2000 persons in
1901, but since the transfer of these States to Bengal are not found
in the Central Provinces. The name is said to be derived from Talmul,
a village in the Angul District of Orissa, and they came to Bamra
and Sonpur during the Orissa famine of 1866. The Taonlas appear to
be a low occupational caste of mixed origin, but derived principally
from the Khond tribe. Formerly their pr