claimed to symbolize the entire uni-
verse, according to the early specula-
tive texts known as the Upanishads.
Omkareshvar is one of the twelve
jyotirlingas, a network of sites at
which Shiva is uniquely present.
According to the site’s mythic charter,
Shiva appears there to reward the sage
Mandhata, who has performed harsh
asceticism(tapas) to gain a vision of
Shiva. The image at the site is a “self-
manifested” (svayambhu) form of
Shiva—an unshaped, roundish black
stone emerging from the earth, while
nearby is a white stone considered to
be a manifestation of Shiva’s wife,
Parvati. Viewing this image is believed
to grant all of one’s desires, just as it did
for Mandhata. Worshipat the site con-
tinues all year, but during Kartik
Purnima, the full moon in the lunar
monthof Kartik(October–November),
there is a major bathing (snana) festival
at the site.
Onam
The festival of Onam, in the southern
Indian state of Kerala, is celebrated
in the Malayalam month of Chingal,
which corresponds to the northern
Indian month of Bhadrapada
(August–September). Onam is a four-
day harvest festival highlighted by races
in elaborately carved boats known as
“snake boats,” some of which are large
enough to carry 100 paddlers. The most
famous of these boat races are held in
the Keralan town of Aleppey.
Oraon
Northern Indian tribal (adivasi) com-
munity. The Oraons are concentrated
in the southwestern corner of modern
Bihar, in the geologic region known as
the Ranchi Plateau. The land is quite
poor, and for many life is very difficult.
For a discussion of the difficulties of
Oraon life, see Sudhir Kakar, Shamans,
Mystics, and Doctors, 1991.
Ordeal, Trial By
Trial by ordeal was one of the traditional
means for establishing a person’s guilt or
innocence. Ordeals were considered a
“divine” proof, but could only be used in
cases when human proofs such as evi-
dence or eyewitness testimony were
inadequate or unobtainable. Crimes
committed in secret or in lonely places,
questions of sexual consent, or money
left for deposit were proven by these tri-
als, following a carefully established rit-
ual procedure. The trial could be done in
four different ways: fire, water, balance,
or poison.
The fire ordeal entailed carrying a
red-hot iron ball, licking a red-hot plow-
share, or removing a ring or coin from a
vessel of boiling oil, with guilt or inno-
cence established by whether or not one
was burned. The water ordeal entailed
remaining underwater for a specified
length of time, with guilt determined by
the inability to do so. The balance ordeal
was done by successive weighings, with
the conviction that a guilty person
would become progressively heavier.
The poison ordeal was performed either
by consuming poison, or by safely
removing a coin from an earthen pot
containing a cobra; innocence was
established by surviving.
There were fairly strict prescriptions
governing which of these ordeals certain
people were allowed to perform.
Women, the elderly, and the infirm were
subjected to the test of balance; brah-
mins were generally forbidden from
undertaking ordeal by poison. In every
case the actual ordeal was preceded by
the person proclaiming his or her inno-
cence, followed by declarations praising
the saving power of truth and the
damning force of untruth. Historians
speculate that these required declara-
tions helped make the ordeal more reli-
able. For instance, in the ordeal of
licking a red-hot plowshare, a guilty per-
son might be significantly more nervous
and thus have less moisture on the
tongue. Similarly, the nervousness dur-
ing the water ordeal may have impededOrdeal, Trial By