Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/220

 The final death ceremonies, or korambu, are celebrated on a Sunday. Towards evening the house of the deceased is cleansed with cow-dung, and- Badaga men assemble therein, sending away all women. The chief mourner, accompanied by two Badagas carrying new pots, proceeds to a stream, where the pots are cleaned with cow-dung, and rubbed over with culms of Andropogon Schcenanthus. They are then filled with water, carried to the house, and deposited in the milk-room. At the entrance to the inner apartment, five agnates stand, holding a circular bamboo tray (kerachi) made of plaited bamboo, on which the chief mourner pours a small quantity of paddy, and spreads it with a sickle. The widow and other female relations come near, and cry. A few sickles or knives (preferably those which were used at the funeral) are placed on the tray, which is saluted by all the Badagas present. The paddy is husked in a mortar, and the rice cooked with Dolichos Lablab, Cicer arietinum, and other pulses, without the addition of salt. Early on the following morning, the eldest son, taking a small quantity of the rice to the roof of the house, places seven balls made therefrom on plantain or mlnige leaves, and recites the names of the male and female ancestors and forefathers, his mother, father, and brothers. The remainder of the rice is eaten by relations. In some places, the whole of the rice is divided into seven balls, and taken outside the house. Water is sprinkled over the roof, and a portion of the rice thrown thereon. Standing up before the assembled Badagas, an elder says " To-day we have acted up to the observances of our ancestors and forefathers. New ones should not be considered as old, or old as new. There is not a man carrying a head (wise man), or a woman carrying breasts (wise