On the third day the _pindas_ or sacrificial cakes are offered and
this goes on till the tenth day. These cakes are not eaten by the
priest or Maha-Brahman, but are thrown into a river. On the evening
of the third day the son goes, accompanied by a Brahman and a barber,
and carrying a key to avert evil, to a pipal [67] tree, on whose
branches he hangs two earthen pots: one containing water, which
trickles out through a hole in the bottom, and the other a lamp. On
each succeeding night the son replenishes the contents of these pots,
which are intended to refresh the spirit of the deceased and to light
it on its way to the lower world. In some localities on the evening
of the third day the ashes of the cooking-place are sifted, and laid
out on a tray at night on the spot where the deceased died, or near
the cooking-place. In the morning the layer of ashes is inspected,
and if what appears to be a hand- or footprint is seen, it is held
that the spirit of the deceased has visited the house. Some people
look for handprints, some for footprints, and some for both, and the
Nais look for the print of a cow's hoof, which when seen is held to
prove that the deceased in consideration of his singular merits has
been reborn a cow. If a woman has died in child-birth, or after the
birth of a child and before the performance of the sixth-day ceremony
of purification, her hands are tied with a cotton thread when she is
buried, in order that her spirit may be unable to rise and trouble
the living. It is believed that the souls of such women become evil
spirits or _Churels_. Thorns are also placed over her grave for the
same purpose.