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The work presents a systematic ethnographic survey of northern Indian popular religion and folk-lore, recording beliefs, rituals, and everyday preventative practices. It examines the evil eye and its remedies, tree and serpent cults, totemic and fetish practices, animal worship, witchcraft and black art, and seasonal rural festivals, drawing on local testimony and observed customs. The account describes naming taboos, protective marks and charms, sacrificial and ceremonial forms, and the social logic that underpins ritual responses to misfortune. Chapters conclude with bibliographic references and an index to aid further study.
The bear is regarded as a scarer of disease, and sickly children are taken for a ride on the back of a tame bear or one of his hairs is worn round the neck as an amulet. It was Jâmbavat, the king of the bears, who carried off the celebrated amulet, Syamantaka. He was pursued by Krishna, to whom he surrendered the gem and gave him his daughter Jâmbavatî to wife. He afterwards with his army of bears assisted Râma in his invasion of Lanka.