The tutelary god of the Kaikaris is the Nag or cobra, who is worshipped
at marriages and on the day of Nag-Panchmi. Every family has in the
house a platform dedicated to Khandoba, the Maratha god of war. They
also worship Marimata, to whom flowers are offered at festivals, and
a little ghi is poured out in her honour by way of incense. When the
juari harvest is gathered, dalias or cakes of boiled juari and a ewe
are offered to Marimata. They do not revere the Hindu sacred trees,
the pipal and banyan, nor the basil plant, and will readily cut them
down. They both burn and bury the dead. The Jadons burn all married
persons, but if they cannot afford firewood they touch the corpse
with a burning cinder and then bury it. The Gaikwars always bury their
dead, the corpse being laid naked on its back with the feet pointing
to the south. On returning from the burial-ground each relative of
the deceased gives one roti or wheaten cake to the bereaved family,
and they eat, sharing the cakes with the panchayat. Bread is also
presented on the second day, and on the third the family begin to
cook again. Mourning lasts for ten days, and on the last day the
house is cleaned and the earthen pots thrown out; the clothes of the
family are washed and the males are shaved. Ten balls of rice cooked
in milk are offered to the soul of the dead person and a feast is
given to the caste. After a birth the mother remains impure for five
weeks. For the first five days both the mother and child are bathed
daily. The navel cord and after-birth are buried by the midwife in a
rubbish heap. When the milk teeth fall out they are placed in a ball
of the dung of an ass and thrown on to the roof of the house. It is
considered that the rats or mice, who have very good and sharp teeth,
will take them and give the child good teeth in exchange. Women are
impure for five days during the menstrual period. When a girl attains
maturity a ceremony called god-bharni is performed. The neighbours
are invited and songs are sung and the girl is seated in the chauk
or pattern of lines traced with flour. She is given new clothes and
bangles by her father, or her father-in-law if she is married, and
rice and plantains, cocoanuts and other fruits are tied up in her
skirt. This is no doubt done so that the girl may in like manner be
fruitful, the cocoanuts perhaps being meant to represent human heads,
as they usually do.