Cremation of the dead is the rule, but the bodies of those who have not
died a natural death are buried, as also of persons who are believed
to have been possessed of the goddess Devi in their lifetime. The
bodies of small children are buried when the Khir Chatai ceremony
has not been performed. This takes place when a child is about two
years old: he is invited to the house of some member of the same
section on the Diwali day and given to eat some Khir or a mess of
new rice with milk and sugar, and thus apparently is held to become
a proper member of the caste, as boys do in other castes on having
their ears pierced. When a corpse is to be burnt a heap of cowdung
cakes is made, on which it is laid, while others are spread over it,
together with butter, sugar and linseed. The fire with which the
pyre is kindled is carried by the son or other chief mourner in
an earthen pot at the head of the corpse. After the cremation the
ashes of the body are thrown into water, but the bones are kept by
the chief mourner; his head and face are then shaved by the barber,
and the hair is thrown into the water with most of the bones; he may
retain a few to carry them to the Nerbudda at a convenient season,
burying them meanwhile under a mango or pipal tree. A present of a
rupee or a cow may be made to the barber. After the removal of a dead
body the house is swept, and the rubbish with the broom and dustpan
are thrown away outside the village. Before the body is taken away
the widow of the dead man places her hands on his breast and forehead,
and her bangles are broken by another widow. The _shraddh_ ceremony is
performed every year in the month of Kunwar (September) on the same
day of the fortnight as that on which the death took place. On the
day before the ceremony the head of the household goes to the houses
of those whom he wishes to invite, and sticks some grains of rice on
their foreheads. The guests must then fast up to the ceremony. On
the following day, when they arrive at noon, the host, wearing a
sacred thread of twisted grass, washes their feet with water in which
the sacred _kusa_ grass has been mixed, and marks their foreheads
with sandal-paste and rice. The leaf-plates of the guests are set
out inside the house, and a very small quantity of cooked rice is
placed in each. The host then gathers up all this rice and throws
it on to the roof of the house while his wife throws up some water,
calling aloud the name of the dead man whose _shraddh_ ceremony is
being performed, and after this the whole party take their dinner.