VIZAGAPATAM,
In the plains, the general religious attitude of the people has been considerably affected by the numerous Bráhmans, whose forefathers were attracted to this district by the liberal grants of land made them by former zamindars. The Bráhmanical festivals (especially Sivarátri) are popular; Bráhman holy days, such as Amávásya, are widely observed; the larger Bráhmanical temples (such as those at Puri in Orissa, Simháchalam and Appikonda) attract a great following; and small shrines to the orthodox gods are numerous. These latter, it may here be mentioned, are usually mean erections, architecturally considered,and are surmounted by a squat pyramidal tower thickly covered with coarse plaster work, still more coarsely decorated, and topped (if they are dedicated to Vaishnava deities) with the chakram in open iron-work. Stone pillars (where they occur) have usually a capital formed of an inverted lotus blossom and the lower third of them often consists of some grotesque squatting animal.
But Bráhmanical influence has not sunk very deeply. The better class Súdras display more energy in celebrating Rámabhajanas (Saturday evening meetings round a picture or image of Ráma at which songs in honour of that hero are chanted) than in worship at the ordinary temples; the grámadévatas abound; and hardly a village is without its shrine to some pérantálamma, or woman who committed sati.
These grámadévatas, ammas, or village deities are numerous and all of the female sex. They include Núkálamma, Ellamma, Paidamma, Bangáramma, Maridamma, Ammátalli, Paiditalli, Muthyálamma, Pólamma, Gangamma, Asiramma, Pádálamma, Gavaramma, Pattábhiamma and others; but, unlike the village gods of the south, none of them appear to have any clear history, definite attributes, or (except that some like buffalo sacrifices and some do not) any special ritual. They are all equally feared, and are worshipped as averters of sickness and possible granters of boons to those who make vows before them. Their shrines are the poorest constructions, seldom consisting of more than one small cell and often being merely a spot under a tree marked by n few sacred emblems. The history of the pérantálammas is often better known (see, for instance, p. 315), but, except that they seem to have no powers over epidemics, the reverence paid to them differs little from that accorded to the grámadévatas.
In the Agency, Bráhman influence is naturally even slighter than on the plains. The Uriya conquerors brought their own gods
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