Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/295

Rh they reached their new settlement they shaved their heads completely as a memorial of their stern resolution."* When a death occurs among the Nāttukōttai Chettis, news thereof is conveyed by the Thandakāran, or caste messenger. Those who come to condole with the bereaved family are received with outstretched hands (kainīttikolludhal). The head of the corpse is shaved, and it is washed and decorated. In front of the house a pandal (booth), supported by four Thespesia populnea posts, and roofed with twigs of Eugenia Jambolana, is erected. Beneath this the corpse is laid, and all present go round it thrice. While the corpse is being got ready for conveyance to the burning ground, the daughters and sisters of the deceased husk paddy (unhusked rice). On the way to the burning ground, the son carries the fire. If the deceased is a young boy or girl, the pandal is removed after the funeral; otherwise it is removed, on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Sunday, within four days. The Nattukottais restrict the name pandal to the funeral booth, the marriage booth being called kavanam or kottagai. Even an ordinary shed set up in front of a house is not called a pandal, as the name is associated with funerals. On the day following the funeral, the bigger fragments of bones are collected by a barber, and given to the son, who places them in an earthen pot. A Pandāram offers fruit, food, etc., to the deceased. Eight days afterwards, a feast, at which meat is partaken of for the first time since the death, is given to the relations of the dead person, and their pollution is at an end. They may not, however, enter a temple for thirty days. On the sixteenth day after death, the final death ceremonies (karmandhiram) are performed, and liberal presents of