Kotharian Lightning

From Baiga Folklore

In the days when men ate their food raw, a ghost found himself in trouble with a sick child. He went to a village and, finding a man eating his food, seized him and carried him away to his house. There the man, who was a Gunia (magician/shaman), looked in his winnowing-fan, discovered the reason of the child’s sickness and cured him.

The ghost was pleased and asked the man what reward he would take. “I have everything I need,” said the man. “There is plenty to drink and I have two wives and there are many children. But there is one thing that bothers us – we have to eat our food raw and it twists our bellies.” The ghost gave him two small earthen pots and an iron bangle. “Take these,” the ghost said, “and when you get home make a pile of wood, put the bangle in the middle of it and the pots on top, and you will find you have a meal ready cooked, good hot rice and pulse.”

The man returned home and gathered wood together. He put the iron bangle in the middle of it and the two pots on top. Fire came of its own accord from the bangle and soon there was a meal of hot rice and pulse. Since then no one has eaten raw food.

Source:

Chapter 4, Myths of Middle India, Verrier Elwin, 1949