The K�p�lika substratum of the child-sacrifice story is especially apparent in the Kerala versions relating to the Teyyam dancers who are possessed by the spirit of the child, identified there with Bhairava himself. Whereas in the Tamil hagiography the ‘remissive’ God of bhakti allows the child to be revived—just as the God of Abraham spares Isaac—Kerala folk-religion insists that it was just the cooking pot that began dancing as if in trance. I owe this information to Dr. Rich Freeman, who spoke on the topic at my course on "Heresy and Religious Change."