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Village puja lands, being land the occupants of which pay rent to the doloi or lyngdoh, which are set apart in each village for purposes of worship. These lands are not assessed to revenue. Private lands held by individuals and which have been transferred from time to time by mortgage sale or otherwise at the will of the owner. These lands are not assessed to revenue.
Another method of obtaining omens is by dropping two leaves into a pool of water or on a stone, the position of the leaves as they fall, either right side uppermost or upside down, signifying good or evil as the case may be; this is called khan-sla. Priesthood. The Khasi priest is usually called Lyngdoh, or langdoh; he is always appointed from the lyngdoh clan.
The people of Mawsynram propitiate the god of Symper in cases of sickness by sacrificing a he-goat or a bull. Symper, like U'lei Shillong, is one of the minor deities of the Khasis. Close to Shangpung, in the Jaintia Hills, there is a small hill called "u lúm pyddieng blai lyngdoh," where sacrifices are offered on an altar at seed time, and when the corn comes into ear.
The etymology of the word lyngdoh is said by certain lyngdohs of the Khyrim State to be lang = together and doh = flesh. A lyngdoh, or langdoh, is one who collects sacrificial victims, i.e. flesh for the purpose of sacrificing. It must be confessed, however, that this definition is doubtful, owing to the absence in the word lyngdoh of the prefix nong which is the sign of the agent in Khasi.
The influence of the lyngdohs over the people in the Jaintia Hills seems to be stronger than in the Khasi Hills. For instance, it came to my notice in Raliang that crops cannot be cut until the lyngdoh has seem them, in other words, until the lyngdoh has claimed and obtained his share of the produce.
The lyngdohs say they dance in honour of U lei Lyngdoh, to whom such dances are thought to be pleasing. The dance of the lyngdohs on these occasions may be compared with that of the Roman salii, who, in the month of March, performed a war dance in honour of Mars.
The Siems are appointed by an assembly, or durbar, which will be described later. The chiefs, having been thus chosen by the durbar, which is supposed by the people to be an institution of Divine origin, are styled, ki Siem u blei, or Siems of God. In most States the Siem is the religious as well as the secular head, e.g. in the Cherra State, where the Siem is also lyngdoh.
In many places, however, in the Khasi Hills the lyngdoh is much discredited, owing, no doubt, to the advance of Christianity and education. Ceremonies and Customs Attending Birth and Naming of Children. The Khasi birth ceremonies and customs are as follows: When a child is born the umbilical cord is cut by a sharp splinter of bamboo; no knife can be used on this occasion.
On this occasion a pig is sacrificed to u'lei lyngdoh and a goat to ka lei long raj. The parties at fault are then outcasted. As mentioned in another place, the sin of incest admits of no expiation for the offenders themselves. In other Siemships such property passes to the Siem.
It appears that in such cases the house and furniture are burnt, as in the case of the Taroh superstition in the Jaintia Hills, the lyngdoh, however, taking possession of jewellery or anything else of value. The only practical service the lyngdoh renders in return is to build the afflicted person a new house; unless, indeed, we take into account the casting forth of the devil by the lyngdoh. Mr.
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