Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/283

Rh remain in this room, and the light must be kept burning until the bojja, or final death ceremonies, are over. The water in the vessel must be renewed twice daily. At the final ceremonies, a feast is given to the castemen, and in some places, the headman insists on the people of the house of mourning giving him a jewel as a pledge that the bojja will be performed on the ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth day. The headman visits the house on the previous day, and, after examination of the provisions, helps in cutting up vegetables, etc. On the bojja day, copper and silver coins, and small pieces of gold, are buried or sown in the field in which the ceremony is performed. This is called hanabiththodu. The lofty structure, called gurigi or upparige, is set up over the dhūpe or ashes heaped up into a mound, or in the field in which the body was cremated, only in the event of the deceased being a person of importance. In some places, two kinds of structure are used, one called gurigi, composed of several tiers, for males, and the other called dēlagūdu, consisting of a single tier, for females. Devil-dancers are engaged, and the commonest kōla performed by them is the eru kōla, or man and hobby-horse. In the room containing the vessel of water, four sticks are planted in the ground, and tied together. Over the sticks a cloth is placed,and the vessel of water placed beneath it. A bit of string is tied to the ceiling, and a piece of turmeric or a gold ring is attached to the end of it, and suspended so as to touch the water in the vessel. This is called nīr neralu (shadow in water), and seems to be a custom among various Tulu castes. After the bojja ceremony, all those who are under death pollution stand in two rows. A Madavali (washerman) touches them with a