the neighbourhood of Kotagiri have their Hiriya Udaya temple at Tāndanād, and Mahālingaswāmi temple at Kannērmukku. This Devvē festival, which should on no account be pronounced duvve, which means burning-ground, is celebrated at one place, whither the Badagas from other villages proceed, to take part in it. About midday, some Badagas and the temple pūjāri go from the temple of Hiriya Udaya to that of Mahālingaswāmi. The procession is usually headed by a Kurumba, who scatters fragments of tūd bark and wood as he goes on his way. The pūjāri takes with him the materials necessary for doing pūja, and, after worshipping Mahālingaswāmi, the party return to the Hiriya Udaya temple, where milk and cooked rice are offered to the various gods within the temple precincts. On the following day, all assemble at the temple, and a Kurumba brings a few sheaves of Setaria italica, and ties them to a stone set up at the main entrance. After this, pūja is done, and the people offer cocoanuts to the god. Later on, all the women of the Madhave sept, who have given birth to a first-born child, come, dressed up in holiday attire, with their babies, to the temple. On this day they wear a special nose ornament, called elemukkuththi, which is only worn on one other occasion, at the funeral of a husband. The women do pūja to Hiriya Udaya, and the pūjāri gives them a small quantity of rice on mīnige (Argyreia) leaves. After eating this, they leave the temple in a line, and wash their hands with water given to them by the pūjāri. This ceremonial, performed by women of the Madhave sept, is called Mandēdhanda. As soon as the Devvē festival is concluded, the reaping of the crop commences, and a measure or two of grain from the crop gathered on the first day, called nīsal, is set apart for the Mahālingaswāmi temple.
