Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/195

Rh are in some places very particular regarding the performance of srādh (memorial ceremony), which is carried out annually in the following manner. On the night before the srādh day, a room is prepared for the reception of the soul of the deceased. This room is called pitru bharano (reception of the ancestor). The floor thereof is cleansed with cow-dung water, and a lamp fed with ghī (clarified butter) is placed on it by the side of a plank. On this plank a new cloth is laid for the reception of various articles for worship, e.g., sacred grass, Zizyphes jujuba leaves, flowers, etc. In front of the plank a brass vessel, containing water and a tooth brush of Achyranthes aspera root, is placed. The dead person's son throws rice and Zizyphus leaves into the air, and calls on the deceased to come and give a blessing on the following day. The room is then locked, and the lamp kept burning in it throughout the night. On the following day, all old pots are thrown away and, after a small space has been cleaned on the floor of the house, a pattern is drawn thereon with flour in the form of a square or oblong with twelve divisions. On each division a jak (Artocarpus integrifolia) leaf is placed, and on each leaf the son puts cooked rice and vegetables. A vessel containing Achyranthes root, and a plank with a new cloth on it, are set by the side of the pattern. After worship has been performed and food offered, the cloth is presented to a Brāhman, and the various articles used in the ceremonial are thrown into water.  Dōmb.— The name Dōmb or Dōmbo is said to be derived from the word dumba, meaning devil, in reference to the thieving propensities of the tribe. The Dōmbas, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,* "are a Dravidian 