152

on account of its high price, they
would smoke, without it, with
ganja or the kernel of the seeds
and the root of the plant known
in Bengal by the name of kalika
and in Orissa as kaniar (Thevetia
neriifolia), which is known to be a
poisonous plant.

Patti or bhang.—

(a) Ordinarily, patti is mixed with
black pepper and drunk with water,
and sometimes with the addition of
a little sugar. These admixtures are
made to give a relish to the taste.

(b) Exceptionally, spices generally known
by the term of bhang or patti
massala, the particulars of which
are given below, are used. I sent
for half-an-anna worth of patti
massala from the bazar, and found
it to contain the following ingre-
dients:—

The object of the admixtures is to neutralize the
bad smell of the patti and reduce its ill effects.
I have known also cucumber seeds to be mixed,
which is evidently done to produce soothing effects.
Marwari and up country men generally do it and
term it thandai.

I have stated in reply to question No. 15 that
Gurjat ganja is also drunk with spices as above.

30. Both ganja and patti are consumed in com-
pany. When no company is obtained, they are
consumed in solitude. Mainly, persons of the
male sex are consumers of both ganja and patti.
Generally, persons advanced in years consume
them; but the lower classes, e.g., fishermen, begin
the practice from their youth. Children never
consume these unless prescribed as medicine.

31.  The habit of consuming ganja and patti is
easily formed and is difficult to break off. In the
case of patti, the tendency for the moderate habit
does not develop into the excessive. In the case
of ganja, this tendency has not been, however,
particularly marked.

32.  During the annual Durga Puja ceremony,
siddhi or patti is almost universally drunk in
Bengal on the evening of the last day of the puja.
The people indulge in this drink after they return
from drowning the idols in water. This is a cus-
tom which has probably arisen to give a sort of
relief after the toil and hard work of the people
during the three days of the puja ceremony. In
some families, siddhi is offered to the goddess as
a part of religious observance in accordance with

an injunction of the Shastras. This custom ap-
pears to have been followed from time immemo-
rial, and has thus gradually been regarded as
essential by most people. It is, however, tem-
perate, and does not certainly conduce to the
formation of a habit. This custom prevails in
Bengal, the seat of the Durga Puja.
Many Bengalis have been settlers in Orissa
since some generations past and have introduced
this custom here in connection with the Durga
Puja. But a similar custom of offering siddhi as
a part of religious observance is prevalent here.
It is offered to the god Ganesa, who is worship-
ped in the month of Bhadra (August and Sep-
tember) and the votaries partake of it exactly
like the Bengali worshippers of the goddess
Durga. A sort of sweetmeat is made of siddhi
with sugar—or its substitute, molasses—and with
wheat flour, and formed into round balls of
laddu with ghee. The quantity of siddhi in each
of these laddus is scarcely sufficient to produce
intoxication. Ganja is not in any way thus in-
dulged in as a part of any religious or social
ceremony either in Bengal or Orissa. There was,
however, a practice of smoking ganja after the
worship of a god called Trinath (a form of Ma-
hadeva in some parts of Bengal (Jessore). The
worship was locally known by the name of Tri-
nath's mêla. Though the term "mêla" appears,
the actual affair is unlike anything of a mêla or
fair. Three things were purchased, each worth
a pice, viz. (1) 1 pice worth of oil used for burn-
ing a lamp, by the light of which a text de-
scribing the powers of the god was read;