Meriapujah

Meria-pujah an annual festival among the Khonds in Orissa, in which human sacrifices were offered until the practice was forbidden by the British government. The victims are called merias, and consist of Hindis procured by purchase in the plains by the Panwas, a class of Hindu servitors. The design of this barbarous ceremony was to propitiate Bura-Pennou (q.v.), their earth-god, and thus to secure a favorable harvest.