Yet in some sacred places, especially at the confluence of rivers, the cutting off and offering of a few locks of hair (_Veni-danam_) by a virtuous wife is considered a highly meritorious act' (Monier Williams, _Religious Thought and Life in India_, p, 375).

Gaya in Bihar, fifty- five miles south of Patna, is much frequented by pilgrims devoted to Vishnu.
8.

All the places named are in the Central Provinces.

Ratanpur, in the Bilaspur District, is a place of much antiquarian interest, full of ruins; Mandla, in the Mandla District, was the capital of the later Gond chiefs of Garha Mandla; and Sambalpur is the capital of the Sambalpur District.

If the story is true, the selection of a Brahman for sacrifice is remarkable, though not without precedent.
Human sacrifice has prevailed largely in India, and is not yet quite extinct.