. Indika. The country and the people of India and Ceylon . own that now it is the fifth in size,though far the most brilliant. G VII.—The Keligions of the Hill Tribes. The Hill Tribes of India practise a worship of the grossestcharacter. Some of them are so degraded as to have almost noreligion at all, while others make a near approach to either theHindu, Mohammedan, or Buddhist faith, and still others com-bine certain parts of both Hinduism and Mohammedanism. Inmany cases it may be said that these aboriginal tribes presentas striking a contrast with the great religions of India—Hindu-ism and
. Indika. The country and the people of India and Ceylon . own that now it is the fifth in size,though far the most brilliant. G VII.—The Keligions of the Hill Tribes. The Hill Tribes of India practise a worship of the grossestcharacter. Some of them are so degraded as to have almost noreligion at all, while others make a near approach to either theHindu, Mohammedan, or Buddhist faith, and still others com-bine certain parts of both Hinduism and Mohammedanism. Inmany cases it may be said that these aboriginal tribes presentas striking a contrast with the great religions of India—Hindu-ism and Mohammedanism—as the faith of the American Indianswith the Christianity of their European conquerors. Of the tribes of the Central Provinces the Khonds are the chief. * Monier Williams, Religious Thought and Life iu India, pp. 177, 178. TLTE RELIGIONS OF INDIA £29 Thev are of verv ancient origin, as their name is mentioned intlu Puranas.* Some of the Khonds have become mixed with thesurrounding people, but there is a large class of anmixed riUN( HAI. fJKiiTTH OF KANIMKI. Those worship a common deity called Burra 1 >eo, or other names,which is believed to be a representation of the sun. In formei ?Rowney, The Wild Tribes of India, pp. 2. 14 ff. 430 INDIKA. times human sacrifices were offered to him, but more recentlythe sacrifice is an image made with straw or other similar ma-terials. Other deities venerated by them are representations ofthe moon and stars. But there are no temples, the places ofworship being spaces in the open air, enclosed by circular wallsof loose stone, while the objects worshipped are represented bytwo or three large stones stuck upright and smeared with oil. TheBhils worship objects representing the sun and moon. They adoretheir ancestors, the tiger, and the infernal spirits. The faith ofthe Kolis is a very near approach to Hinduism. The Kattis rec-ognize the sun as their chief divinity, their worship consisting ofsimply looking at the
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