Incarnate Human Gods.
In The Golden Bough, third edition, The Magic Art, vol. i. p. 405 et seq., Sir James Frazer, in his study of "Incarnate Human Gods," gives an account of the Dev, or "living God," at Chinchvad in the Poona district, Bombay. The materials then available brought down his history not later than 1885. But Sir James Frazer remarked, "But I think we may assume that the same providential reasons which prolonged the revelation down to the publication of the [Bombay] Gazetteer [in 1885] have continued it to the present time."
Recently I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. S. M. Edwardes, late of the Bombay Civil Service, who saw this divine personage in 1903-4. At my request he has supplied the following account of his visit to Chinchvad, which is of considerable interest.
I fear my recollection of my visit to Chinchvad is not very distinct; but I send you herewith such details as I can remember.
In 1903-4 I was Assistant-Collector of Poona, and was in charge of the western sub-division of the district, in which Chinchvad is situated. In my official capacity I dealt with matters of revenue and general administration affecting Chinchvad and its Devs, whenever such matters arose, although the actual villages and properties of the Dev family were "devasthan niam" (religious endowments) and were therefore managed directly by the Dev's establishment.
The Karbari or manager of the Chinchvad properties was a heavily-built, jovial and good-tempered Brahman, whose full name I do not clearly now recall. I think, however, it was something like Mahadev Bhaskar Pandit. He used frequently to call upon me; and among all the Brahmans whom I met in Poona and the neighbourhood he lives in my recollection as the most free-spoken and most ready to laugh. So many Poona Brahmans wear "a mask" in the presence of a European and maintain a rather chilling reserve.
On one occasion the Karbari took me to Chinchvad when a festival was afoot. It was certainly during the cold weather
