Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/349

Rh dais, and she stands on a grinding stone. Seven turns of thread dyed with turmeric are wound round the posts of the dais. Leading his wife thither, the bridegroom cuts the thread, and the couple stand on the dais, while four persons support a cloth canopy over their heads, and rice is scattered over them. On the fifth day, the newly-married couple and their relations indulge in throwing turmeric water over each other. Early on the morning of the sixth day, the bridegroom breaks a pot placed on the dais, and goes away in feigned anger to the house of a relation. Towards evening, he is brought back by his brother-in-law, and plays at cowries with the bride. The Bhondaivaro ceremony is once more repeated. On the seventh day, the sacred thread, wrist-threads and mokkuto are removed. Widows and divorcees are permitted to remarry. As among various other castes, a widow should marry her deceased husband's younger brother. The dead are cremated. When a person is on the point of death, a little Jagannātha prasādam, i.e., rice from the temple at Puri, is placed in his mouth. Members of many Oriya castes keep by them partially cooked rice, called nirmālyam, brought from this temple, and a little of this is eaten by the orthodox before meals and after bathing. The corpse is washed, anointed, and wrapped in a new cloth. After it has been secured on the bier, a new red cloth is thrown over it. At the head, a sheaf of straw, from the roof of the house, if it is thatched, is placed. The funeral pyre is generally prepared by an Oriya washerman. At the burning-ground, the corpse is placed close to the pyre, and the son puts into the mouth some parched rice, and throws rice over the eyes. Then, lighting the straw, he waves it thrice round the corpse, and throws it on the face. The corpse is then