Cases in which the community as a corporate body has exercised any function of ownership other than that of occupying and cultivating the soil, if recorded at all, must be extremely rare, and I do not know that any instance is given by Sir Henry Maine.

A tutelary village god is to be found as a rule in every Hindu village.

In the Central Provinces the most common is Khermata, that is the goddess of the village itself or the village lands.

She is a form of Devi, the general earth-goddess.

When a village is founded the first thing to be done is to install the village god.