n sacrifice

"There is also Anna Kuari or Mahadhani, who is in our estimation
the most cruel and repulsive deity of all, as she requires human
sacrifice. Those savage people, who put good crops above everything,
look upon her in a different light. She can give good crops and make a
man rich, and this covers a multitude of sins. People may be sceptical
about it and say that it is impossible that in any part of India under
the British Government there should still be human sacrifices. Well,
in spite of all the vigilance of the authorities, there are still
human sacrifices in Chota Nagpur. As the vigilance of the authorities
increases, so also does the carefulness of the Urkas or Otongas
increase. They choose for their victims poor waifs or strangers,
whose disappearance no one will notice. April and May are the months
in which the Urkas are at work. Doisa, Panari, Kukra and Sarguja have
a very bad reputation. During these months no strangers will go about
the country alone and during that time nowhere will boys and girls
be allowed to go to the jungle and graze the cattle for fear of the
Urkas. When an Urka has found a victim he cuts his throat and carries
away the upper part of the ring finger and the nose. Anna Kuari finds
votaries not only among the Oraons, but especially among the big
zamindars and Rajas of the Native States. When a man has offered a
sacrifice to Anna Kuari she goes and lives in his house in the form
of a small child. From that time his fields yield double harvest,
and when he brings in his paddy he takes Anna Kuari and rolls her
over the heap to double its size. But she soon becomes restless and
is only pacified by new human sacrifices. At last after some years she
cannot bear remaining in the same house any more and kills every one."

18. Christianity

In Jashpur State where the Oraons number 47,000 about half the total
number have become Christians. The non-Christians call themselves
Sansar, and the principal difference between them is that the
Christians have cut off the pigtail, while the Sansar retain it. In
some families the father may be a Sansar and the son a Kiristan,
and they live together without any distinction. The Christians belong
to the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Missions, but though they all know
their Church, they naturally have little or no idea of the distinctions
of doctrine.

19. Festivals. The Karma or May-day

The principal festivals are the Sarhul, celebrat