Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/40

KADIR folk have to wait a year or more, till they have collected sufficient money for the expenses thereof. At cock-crow on the morning of the ceremonies, rice, called polli chor, is cooked, and piled up on leaves in the centre of the hut of the deceased. Cooked rice, called tullagu chor, is then placed in each of the four corners of the hut, to propitiate the gods, and to serve as food for them and the spirit of the dead person. At a short distance from the hut, rice, called kanal chor, is cooked for all Kādirs who have died, and been buried. The relations and friends of the deceased commence to cry, and make lamentations, and proclaim his good qualities, most of which are fictitious. After an hour or so, they adjourn to the hut of the deceased, where the oldest man present invokes the gods, and prays to them and to the heaped up food. A pinch from each of the heaps is thrown into the air as a gift of food to the gods, and those present fall to, and eat heartily, being careful to partake of each of the food-stuffs, consisting of rice, meat, and vegetables, which have been prepared. On a certain Monday in the months of Ādi and Āvani, the Kādirs observe a festival called nōmbu, during which a feast is held, after they have bathed and anointed themselves with oil. It was, they say, observed by their ancestors, but they have no definite tradition as to its origin or significance. It is noted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer that, at the Ōnam festival, presents in the shape of rice, cloths, coats, turbans, caps, ear-rings, tobacco, opium, salt, oil and cocoanuts are distributed among the Kādirs by the Forest Department. According to Mr. Bensley, "the Kādir has an air of calm dignity, which leads one to suppose that he had some reason for having a more exalted opinion of himself than that entertained for him by the outside world. A