The bodies of children are buried, and those of the adult dead may
be either buried or cremated. Mr. Kitts states that on the third day,
if they can afford the ceremony, they bring back the skull and placing
it on a bed offer to it powder, dates and betel-leaves; and after a
feast lasting for three days it is again buried. According to Major
Gunthorpe the proceedings are more elaborate: "Each division of the
caste has its own burial-ground in some special spot, to which it is
the heart's desire of every Kolhati to carry, when he can afford it,
the bones of his deceased relatives. After the cremation of an adult
the bones are collected and buried pending such time as they can be
conveyed to the appointed cemetery, if this be at a distance. When the
time comes, that is, when means can be found for the removal, the bones
are disinterred and placed in two saddle-bags on a donkey, the skull
and upper bones in the right bag and the leg and lower bones in the
left. The ass is then led to the deceased's house, where the bags of
bones are placed under a canopy made ready for their reception. High
festival, as for a marriage, is held for three days, and at the end
of this time the bags are replaced on the donkey, and with tom-toms
beating and dancing-girls of the tribe dancing in front, the animal
is led off to the cemetery. On arrival, the bags, with the bones in
them, are laid in a circular hole, and over it a stone is placed to
mark the spot, and covered with oil and vermilion; and the spirit
of the deceased is then considered to be appeased." They believe
that the spirits of dead ancestors enter the bodies of the living
and work evil to them, unless they are appeased with offerings. The
Dukar Kolhatis offer a boar to the spirits of male ancestors and a sow
to females. An offering of a boar is also made to Bhagwan (Vishnu),
who is the principal deity of the caste and is worshipped with great
ceremony every second year. [568]