The Dangis pay special reverence to the goddess Durga or Devi as the
presiding deity of war. They worship her during the months of Kunwar
(September) and Chait (March), and at the same time pay reverence to
their weapons of war, their swords and guns, or if they have not got
these, to knives and spears. They burn their dead, but children are
usually buried. They observe mourning for three days for a child and
for ten days for an adult, and on the 13th day the caste-fellows are
feasted. Their family priests, who are Jijhotia Brahmans, used formerly
to shave the head and beard when a death occurred among their clients
as if they belonged to the family, but this practice was considered
derogatory by other Brahmans, and they have now stopped it. The Dangis
perform the _shradhh_ ceremony in the month of Kunwar. The caste wear
the sacred thread, but it is said that they were formerly not allowed
to do so in Bundelkhand. They eat fish and flesh, including that of
wild boars, but not fowls or beef, and they do not drink liquor. They
take _pakki_ food or that cooked without water from Kayasths and
Gahoi Banias, and _katchi_ food, cooked with water, from Jijhotia
and Sanadhya Brahmans. Jijhotia Brahmans formerly took _pakki_ food
from Dangis, but have now ceased to do so. The Dangis require the
services of Brahmans at all ceremonies. They have a caste _panchayat_
or committee. A person who changes his religion or eats with a low
caste is permanently expelled, while temporary exclusion is awarded
for the usual delinquencies. In the case of the more serious offences,
as murder or killing of a cow, the culprit must purify himself by a
pilgrimage to a sacred river.