Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/126

MUKKUVAN The dead are, as a rule, buried. Soon after death has taken place, the widow of the deceased purchases twenty-eight cubits of white cloth. A gold ring is put into the hand of the corpse, and given to the widow or her relations, to be returned to the relations of the dead man. The corpse is bathed in fresh water, decorated, and placed on a bier. The widow then approaches, and, with a cloth over her head, cuts her tāli off, and places it by the side of the corpse. Sometimes the tāli is cut off by a barber woman, if the widow has been married according to the kōdi-udukkal rite. In some places, the bier is kept in the custody of the barber, who brings it whenever it is required. In this case, the articles requisite for decorating the corpse, e.g., sandal paste and flowers, are brought by the barber, and given to the son of the deceased. Some four or five women belonging to the Kadavar families are engaged for mourning. The corpse is carried to the burial-ground, where a barber tears a piece of cloth from the winding-sheet, and gives it to the son. The bearers anoint themselves, bathe in the sea, and, with wet cloths, go three times round the corpse, and put a bit of gold, flowers, and rice, in its nose. The relations then pour water over the corpse, which is lowered into the grave. Once more the bearers, and the son, bathe in the sea, and go three times round the grave. The son carries a pot of water, and, at the end of the third round, throws it down, so that it is broken. On their return home, the son and bearers are met by a barber woman, who sprinkles them with rice and water. Death pollution is observed for seven days, during which the son abstains from salt and tamarind. A barber woman sprinkles water over those under pollution. On the eighth, or sometimes the fourteenth day, the final death ceremony is performed. Nine or