Chapter VII: The old wursol puts the mani in the dairy stream (pali

nipa), and if he is not re-appointed, his duties then cease. The new wursol, or the old wursol who has undergone new ordination ceremonies, takes the mani from the stream and purifies it by rubbing it all over with pounded tudr bark and water. He then takes the bell to the dairy, which is now empty, finds a new stick on which to hang it, and puts both stick and bell in their proper place on the patatmar. Then the new dairy vessels are purified and put in their places in the usual manner.

This purification of the dairy is not done by the Teivaliol, and seems to be only necessary when the mani and the dairyman who looks after it have been defiled by the funeral ceremonies. In the case of the Nòdrsol, the mani between the two funeral ceremonies is kept at Nòdrs, and is taken back to Òdr on the Sunday after the new moon following the second funeral, and it is at Òdr that the purification takes place.

Similarly the Kars mani is returned from Taradrkirsi to Kars on this day. I was told that the pepkaricha ceremony of making new pep is performed after the funeral of a man among the Tartharol, and it seems as if this new appointment of a dairyman and this use and purification of new dairy vessels are regarded as a form of the pepkaricha ceremony.

Another ceremony which takes place after the marvainolkedr is designed to purify the places used during the funeral rites and especially the azaram. This ceremony is called kertnòdrkarchpimi “funeral place we purify,” or mutnolnòdrvusthpimi, “new moon day place (or ceremony) we keep.” On the day of the new moon following the second funeral two men of the same clan as the deceased take a buffalo in the early morning from the pen to a spot about half a mile from the village. They wait there till about eleven o’clock, and then kill the buffalo by striking it on the head with a stone. They draw blood from one side of the animal and mix the blood with earth in a basket. The Teivaliol and Melgarsol add tudr bark to the earth and blood. The mixture is then taken to the funeral places and scattered over the spots where the buffalo was caught and killed, where the dead body or the narskedr had lain at the two funerals, at the methkudi and the azaram. If the places for the etvainol- and marvainol-kedr are different and far distant from one another, the spots used at the former may be omitted, but the most important place which must always be purified in this way is the azaram. In any case this place is the last to be purified, and the men then throw away the basket and go straight back to their village, where they bathe and take food, having fasted till this time.

This ceremony is only performed after the funerals of males. The buffalo killed is called the nòdrvusthpir. The Teivaliol and Melgarsol use a male buffalo calf for the purpose; the Tartharol, other than the Melgarsol, use an adult female buffalo.

No use is made of the flesh of the animal; the body is left where it falls and is not given to the Kotas.

After a funeral, the members of the Tarthar clans, except the Melgarsol, shave their heads, but this is not done either by the Melgarsol or Teivaliol. I did not inquire fully into this matter, and do not know what regulations there are in connexion with the practice, or whether it is regarded as purificatory.

THE FUNERALS OF CHILDREN

The body of a still-born child is buried at the same time as, and together with, the afterbirth, without any ceremonial. In one case which occurred during my visit, this was done by the woman who assisted at the delivery. The body was buried in the early morning on the day on which the mother underwent the ceremonies attending removal to the seclusion-hut.

If a child less than two years of age dies, both funerals are held on one day. The etvainolkedr takes place in the morning, the marvainolkedr in the afternoon; a buffalo is killed at each, and the azaramkedr is held on the following morning as usual. If the child is very young, less than a month old, a male buffalo only may be killed, but if the father chooses, two buffaloes may be killed as at the funeral of an adult.

Thus, the child of Piliag and Sintagars (52) died while the mother was in the seclusion-hut, and two ordinary buffaloes were killed. On this occasion, the two funerals were held on the same day as that on which the child died, owing to the death having taken place on one of the appointed days for a funeral of the clan. When the youngest child of Podners (47) died, only one male buffalo was killed for both ceremonies.

When a male child dies who has not cut his teeth nor been through the ear-piercing ceremony, the funeral is not held at the usual funeral place for males, but at another. Thus the Karsol do not take the body of such a child to Taradrkirsi but to a place called Punpali.

When I attended the funeral of a girl named Sinerani (52), the daughter of Kuriolv of Kuudr, both ceremonies were performed on the same day, and a number of incidents occurred which were very interesting as illustrations of many of the practices which have been described throughout this chapter. The child was about two years old and had not yet been betrothed, but as soon as she was dead it was arranged that she should marry her matchuni, Keinba (68), a little boy about four years of age, the son of her mother’s brother, and this boy occupied a prominent position among those taking part in the funeral rites. Owing to the marriage of the dead child to this boy, the dead child would come to be one of his clan, the Keadrol, and there seemed to be no doubt that, according to strict custom, the funeral should have been held at the funeral place of this clan. Kuriolv, however, arranged that the funeral should take place at Kurkalmut, the funeral place for women of the Kuudrol, but as the girl did not properly belong to this clan the funeral hut was not erected within the circle of stones at this place, but outside it.

The beginning of the funeral ceremonies was delayed for some time because the little boy, Keinba (Fig. 57), had to be taken by his father, Perpakh, in search of the wood and grass out of which to make the bow and arrow to be used in the pursütpimi ceremony, and they had to go far to find the proper plants for the manufacture of the mimic weapon.

After this delay the ceremonial took its natural course till the buffalo which had been caught by the Taradr men was being taken to the place appointed for its slaughter by the side of the funeral hut. The people had great difficulty in making the buffalo move, and at last it lay down on a boggy piece of ground, and the efforts of all failed to make it go further. The diviners, Midjkudr and Mongudrvan, were then called upon to ascertain the cause of the obstinacy of the buffalo, and then followed the performance which I have already described (see p. 252).

The reasons given by Midjkudr were not very clear, and there seemed to be a good deal of doubt as to what he had really said, but the following appeared to be the chief reasons given:—

The buffalo, Kursi, which had delayed the proceedings, was the property of Kuriolv and was descended from a buffalo which had belonged to Teitchi, Kuriolv’s grandfather. Since this buffalo was thus family property, it should go to the sons, and ought not to be killed for a daughter, and especially for one who now belonged to another clan. Kuriolv ought to have used a buffalo which he had acquired in his own lifetime. Midjkudr went on to say that Kuriolv, having done wrong, must pay compensation to the dead, and told him to give the buffalo named Perov. As a sign that he would do so, Kuriolv performed the kalmelpudithti salutation to Perner, the grandfather of Keinba and also through Sintharap, of the dead girl.

Another reason given was that the buffalo had been caught at the wrong place—viz., at the place where it ought to be caught at the funeral of a male. I only heard of this reason a few days later, and I do not know whether it was one of the reasons given by Midjkudr or whether it was a later surmise. A third reason was that Perner and Tebner, his brother, had been on bad terms; and to put this right Tebner, the younger, performed the kalmelpudithti salutation to Perner.

The next special feature of the ceremony took place after the buffalo had been killed and before the kachütthti ceremony. Keinba knelt down before Kuriolv and Piliag and the two men touched the head of the boy with their feet, thus accepting him as the husband of Sinerani. Then followed the pursütpimi ceremony. The mantle covering the dead child was opened, her right hand unclenched, and Keinba placed the little bow and arrow in the hand, and the fingers of the dead child were closed over the bow so that they held it as they would have done in life. Then the bow was taken out of the hand, placed on the breast of the child, and the mantle was again folded over her. Teitnir, the half-brother of Kuriolv, who had now become the paiol of Keinba, came up and covered the head of the boy with his putkuli as a sign that he was a widower, and then Teitnir and Keinba put their foreheads together and cried. After crying together for a while, Teitnir touched Keinba’s head with his foot. Then Sintharap, the mother of Sinerani, gave grain and jaggery and limes to Keinba, who put them in the pocket of the mantle of the dead child. Sintharap and Keinba then cried together, and Sintharap touched Keinba’s head with her foot.

After the cloth-giving ceremony, the body was taken to the burning place, and Keinba mixed honey and grain in a metal bowl; when Keinba began to stir the grain and honey he put his right arm out from above his cloak as usual, but was speedily corrected and made to put out his hand from below the cloak in the manner proper for a widower.

The wrists of the girl were burnt as in the urvatpimi ceremony, the burning being done by Silkidz (53), the wife of a younger brother of Perpakh, Keinba’s father, and, before her marriage, like Sinerani, one of the Kuudrol. Silkidz also lighted the pyre.

In spite of the results of his previous infringement of funeral law, Kuriolv made a further departure from orthodox custom in burning on the pyre imitation buffalo horns, which should only be burnt at the funerals of males. Then after being swung over the flames as usual, the body was placed on the pyre.

Less than half an hour later, and long before the body could have been consumed, the marvainolkedr began, and passed off without any special incident. Another buffalo was caught and killed and laid by the side of a mantle containing hair which had been cut from the head of the dead child by Keinba. The mantle should also have contained a piece of skull, but the body had not been sufficiently consumed to procure this, and so the hair alone was held to be sufficient.

Later a distribution of grain took place, and those who were to take no part in the azaramkedr on the following morning went to their homes.

At another funeral of an unmarried girl, Olidzeimi (21), the ceremony of pursütpimi was performed by the boy Pulgudr (38), who had been married in infancy to the girl. He was her matchuni, being the son of Teijer, the sister of Parkeidi, Olidzeimi’s father. On this occasion Pulgudr said to his father-in-law, Parkeidi, three times, “pursadikina?”—“Shall I touch (with the) bow?” and Parkeidi replied each time, “Pursad!”—“Touch with the bow!” Then Pulgudr put the bow and arrow into the hand of the dead girl, and Parkeidi covered Pulgudr’s head with the cloak, and the boy put grain, jaggery, and limes into the pocket of the cloak of Olidzeimi. At the funeral of Sinerani, Keinba did not say the proper formula, probably because he was too young.

FUNERAL CONTRIBUTIONS

In the old days, when a large number of buffaloes were slaughtered at the funerals, and especially at the marvainolkedr, it was the rule that every manmokh, or sister’s son, should supply a buffalo, while in the case of a child it seemed that buffaloes were sometimes given by the mun or mother’s brother.

Buffaloes were also given by the husbands of the daughters of a man, whether they were the manmokh of the man or not. They might be given by other relatives, but it seemed that the gift was especially a duty of the manmokh and paiol. The mokhthodvaiol of a woman should also contribute a buffalo for her second funeral.

At the present time the limitation of the number of buffaloes which may be slaughtered has removed the necessity for these gifts, but it still remains the custom for one of the buffaloes to be supplied by the manmokh or some corresponding relative, or, at any rate, it seems to be usual for one buffalo to be supplied by relatives of a man on the male side, and the other by relatives on the female side; thus, at the funeral of Sinerani (52) one buffalo was given by Kuriolv, the father of the dead child, and the other by Perner (68), the father of the child’s mother, and also the grandfather of her husband.

Contributions in money may be made by any relative, and all those who have married into the family of the deceased, even if only boys, should contribute eight annas or a rupee towards the general expenses, this custom being called tinkanik panm ûtpimi. The mokhthodvaiol of a woman should contribute at least five rupees to the expenses of the second funeral.

The ceremony of kachütthti (see p. 358) also involves a payment from his sons-in-law to a man of the same clan as the dead man. The money is not paid, however, till the woman who places the cloths on the body has attended twenty funerals and is, therefore, probably not paid at all in many cases, but it may be regarded as tribute from those who have married into a family at each death in the family.

The contributions of buffaloes and money from a man to the relatives of his wife are called pòdri.

Contributions of food are received from various relatives, who also contribute certain of the objects used for the adornment of the body. Each relative gives a waist-string called pennar, made of black and white thread, which is put round the body of the corpse. That given by a manmokh is exceptionally honoured in that it is tied round the body inside the mantle together with that given by the son of the deceased, those given by other relatives being put outside the mantle.

Many of the necessaries for the funerals are provided by the Kotas. The part they take as the musicians has been already mentioned. In addition they provide for the first funeral the cloak (putkuli) in which the body is wrapped, and grain (patm or samai) to the amount of five to ten kwa. They give one or two rupees towards the expenses, and if they should have no grain their contribution of money is increased.

At the marvainolkedr their contributions are more extensive. They provide the putkuli, together with a sum of eight annas for the decoration of the cloak by the Toda women. They give two to five rupees towards the general expenses and provide the bow and arrow, basket (tek), knife (kafkati), and the sieve called kudshmurn. The Kotas receive at each funeral the bodies of the slaughtered buffaloes, and are also usually given food. The method by which these contributions from the Kotas to the Todas are regulated will be considered in Chapter XXVII.

AMNÒDR

Amnòdr [170] is the other world of the Todas to which the dead go. It lies to the west and is lighted by the same sun as this world. The sun goes there when it sinks to the west so that when it is dark on the Nilgiris it is light in Amnòdr, and when it is dark in Amnòdr it is light on the Nilgiris. When Kwoto tied down the sun it was dark in both worlds and the people of Amnòdr complained (see p. 206) and joined with those of this world in the request that the sun should be restored to its proper place. Amnòdr is considered to be below this world, and this was given as the reason why the dead used to be burnt face downwards. It will be remembered also that Ön was looking downwards when he saw his son Püv in Amnòdr (see p. 185).

Amnòdr is presided over by the god Ön, who went there after the death of his son Püv, and it is often called Önnòdr after him, while this world, presided over by the goddess Teikirzi, is known as Inanòdr or Eikirzinòdr. [171] The people of Amnòdr or Önnòdr are known as the Amatol. Formerly the Todas used to go freely to and fro between Amnòdr and Eikirzinòdr, but this was stopped owing to the behaviour of Kwoto, and since his time only the dead go to Amnòdr and they do not return.

The Amatol live in much the same way as the inhabitants of this world. They have their buffaloes and their dairies, and the daily life of the people appears to be much like that of the living Todas. As the people walk about, however, they wear down their legs. They have to walk every day, and when a man has worn down his legs as far as the knees Ön sends him back to this world as another man.

Ön will not allow any pigs or rats to enter Amnòdr, as they would root up and spoil the country.

Dead people travel to Amnòdr by well-defined routes, which are different for Tartharol and Teivaliol, while the Taradrol have a separate Amnòdr for their clan.

The dead do not set out for Amnòdr till after the second funeral, taking with them the things burnt at the azaramkedr. Both Tartharol and Teivaliol journey westwards towards the Kundahs and cross the Pakhwar or Avalanche river at the same spot.

The paths for the two divisions then diverge. The Tartharol go by a place called Katchâr, while the Teivaliol go by Kusheigûdr, situated by the bridle path now leading from Avalanche Bungalow to Avalanche Top. Whenever a Teivali man passes this spot for the first time he throws three stones called oviônikârs. Similarly, a Tarthar man passing Katchâr for the first time throws three stones in the same way. At the top of the hill there is a spot at which every Toda salutes (kaimukhti) in all directions.

The two paths meet again at a stone called Nidzmûtkârs (hot knock stone). When the dead Todas reach this stone they knock on it, and in so doing lose all their love of this world. They proceed and reach the stone called Panîpikârs, on which also they knock, and by so doing lose all their diseases and become strong again, so that they are sound and vigorous when they reach Amnòdr.

After knocking on Panîpikârs, the dead pass a wood called Katiârnpül, in which there is a tree called main, and as they go they make a cut on this tree with the kafkati or knife burnt with them, and Todas who pass by Katiârnpül on the day after a funeral have often seen the newly made cut on the main tree. For women there is another place in the wood called Patkadipem, and here the woman pounds with the wask burnt at her azaramkedr.

On proceeding the dead Todas come to a ravine and river called Püvûrkin, near Sisapara. Across this river there is a thread bridge, and those who have been bad Todas during life fall into the river and are bitten by leeches (püv or püf). The people who cross the thread bridge successfully go straight to Amnòdr, but those who fall are helped out of the river by the people of Padrmukhteir (crowd plain swamp), who belong to all tribes and live on the further bank of Püvûrkin. The people of Padrmukhteir may keep the offending Todas in their country for some time. The greater their offences, the longer are they kept, but all, however bad, reach Amnòdr sooner or later.

The following are the people who fall into Püvûrkin:—(a) the karainol, selfish people; (b) the kashtvainol, jealous and grudging people; (c) the kaspivainol, those who have committed any offences against the dairy, whether pali or poh.

The danger of falling into Püvûrkin does not seem to have much influence on the people. It has been spoken of as the Toda Hell, but it is rather a mild variety of Purgatory, and only involves some discomfort and delay on the journey to the next world. The people of Kavidi in the Wainad may travel direct to Amnòdr without going over Püvûrkin at all, and they run no danger from this source, however bad they may have been.

The people of Taradr are said to have a separate Amnòdr near Külvari or Perithi, and they do not travel by Nidzmûtkârs or by Panîpikârs, nor do they cross Püvûrkin. They have no dangers by the way, and however wicked they may have been they go to their Amnòdr in security. Men, women and buffaloes all follow the same path.

ORIGIN OF FUNERAL CUSTOMS

The various funeral customs are said to have been partly ordained by Teikirzi. The following story is given as the account of their origin:—

At first no Toda died. After a time a Piedr man died at the village of Erparskòdr. He died in his hut and the Todas took his body to the funeral place, but on the way they laid it by a heap of stones between Erparskòdr and Umgas. The stones are still to be seen, and are called Möditikars. [172] While the body lay by these stones, some of the people were weeping bitterly; others were dancing and singing, and others were going to drive buffaloes. Teikirzi, who saw the people weeping, took pity and came to bring the dead man back to life. When she came to the place she found that though some of the people were crying, others seemed quite happy. She liked what she saw, and decided not to raise the dead man, so she went away and ordained that in the future some should cry at funerals and others should be happy, and her laws as to the conduct of the funeral ceremonies have been followed ever since.

Then the people took up the dead body and went on to Kûrûvòrs, near Umgas, where they performed the funeral ceremonies.

In the various complicated ceremonies described in this chapter there are certain features which may be briefly discussed.

There is no doubt that the buffaloes killed at the funeral are supposed to go to Amnòdr with the dead person. Sacred buffaloes are only killed at the funerals of men, for they would be useless to women, who, in the next world as in this, have nothing to do with dairies at which the sacred buffaloes must be tended. There is no evidence that the slaughter of buffaloes is in any way a propitiatory sacrifice, and there seems to be a very marked absence of anything resembling prayer or other forms of appeal to higher powers in the funeral ceremonies. [173]

Dairymen take part in the funeral ceremonies, but chiefly in connexion with the sacred buffaloes. The highest kind of dairyman, the palol, has no duties whatever, and loses his office if he takes part merely as a visitor. At Tarthar funerals the wursol has important duties, chiefly connected with the sacred buffaloes and with the mani, which is hung round their necks. He also takes the chief part in the koòtiti and accompanying ceremonies of the second funeral, probably because the sacred tudr bark is used. In one rite there is no obvious reason why the wursol should play a part—viz., in that of throwing earth. As this ceremony, however, is of especial importance, it suggests that formerly dairymen may have had more to do with funeral ceremonies than is the case at present.

Among the Teivaliol, the palikartmokh has less important functions. He probably kills the sacred buffaloes, though on this point I am not certain. Only one Teivali clan possesses a mani which is used at a funeral, and it is noteworthy that, though the bell is removed from its hiding place (see p. 354) by the palikartmokh, it is taken to the funeral and hung on the neck of the buffalo by a Tarthar man belonging to the Nòdrs clan.

The facts that the wursol takes part in the funerals of men; that sacred buffaloes are killed; that dairies are used in these funerals, and that the funeral hut of a man is always called pali or dairy, even when built for the occasion, all bring the funeral ceremonies of men into connexion with the religious dairy ceremonial of the Todas. On the other hand, even in those cases in which a dairy is used as a funeral hut, the dairyman of that dairy has nothing to do with the funeral ceremonies; thus, at Nòdrs the dairy in which the body of a dead man is laid is the tarvali, but the tarvalikartmokh has no duties in connexion with the funeral, and does his dairy work as usual, while it is the dairyman of the conical poh, the wursol who takes an active part in the funeral rites.

The earth-throwing ceremony is of especial interest, because it would seem to be a relic of burial. Earth is thrown three times on the corpse before it is burnt. In connexion with the idea that the ceremony is a relic of a previous stage, in which the Todas buried their dead, it may be mentioned that a ceremony with some points of similarity is performed at the funerals of the Hill Arrians of the Western Ghats, [174] who bury their dead. A man of the same clan as the deceased takes a new cloth and tears from it a narrow strip which he fastens upon himself. He then goes backwards to the place fixed for the grave and digs with a hoe, removing three hoes full of earth. In this ceremony he is said to be calling on the earth to give up six feet for the dead. There is a suggestive resemblance between the ceremonies performed by these two hill tribes of South-west India, which lends some support to the view that the earth-throwing ceremony of the Todas is a relic of inhumation.

It perhaps may be regarded as a fact inconsistent with this view that the earth-throwing ceremony is performed at both funerals, and again the throwing of earth into a buffalo pen is so essential a feature that it is possible the whole ceremony may have some other meaning.

It is tempting to extend the conjecture by supposing that the dead were at one time buried in the tu or buffalo pen, but there is, as far as I know, no evidence that this was ever done by the Todas or by any other Indian tribe. Unless, indeed, the azaram is the representative of a tu, in which case the burial of the ashes at the entrance of the azaram may be a survival of a time when the body was buried at the entrance of a pen.

The custom of burning the hut at a woman’s funeral is probably a survival of the common custom of burning the house of a dead person, but it is possible that in the case of the Todas this may have been associated with the belief that the hut would be useful in the next world. The funeral hut of a man is not burnt, and this is almost certainly because it is, or represents, a dairy. The motive for the burning of the house of a dead person is probably to remove a place which the ghost may haunt, and the sanctity of the dairy was probably such as to render this precaution unnecessary after the death of a man.

The Toda custom of cremating their dead is accompanied by a belief that the dead go to a distant spirit-world. It seems quite certain that the Todas believe that the dead do not set out on their journey to the next world till after the second funeral ceremonies, but I am not at all clear what is supposed to become of the spirits of the dead in the interval between the two ceremonies. The spirit of a Melgars man during the interval is said to be a kazun or malignant spirit, but I was unable to obtain a full account of the Toda belief about the kazun, nor was I able to find out whether there is any belief in the malignity of the spirits of the dead of other clans. [175] That such spirits are impure is, I think, shown conclusively by the impurity of the relics of the dead and of all those who have been in contact with them. The intense objection to the sacred ti buffaloes or their guardians coming into relation, however indirectly, with the relics is evidence of the belief in the impurity, if not in the malignity, of the spirits of the dead between the two funeral ceremonies.

There is one rite which seems to point to the influence of the spirits of the dead on the living, and this is the obscure ceremony of tersamptpimi, which is performed on the day after the marvainolkedr of a Tarthar man (see p. 333). The ceremony consists in cutting a lock of hair from a young child. One obvious explanation would be furnished if we supposed that the spirits of the dead are malignant and that the ceremony was postponed till after the spirit had set out on his journey to Amnòdr, but there are two objections to this explanation. If the Todas had had this in their minds, they would have said that the ceremony might not be performed while there was kedr among the Tartharol, i.e., while the funeral ceremonies of a Tarthar man were still incomplete. For the tersamptpimi ceremony, however, it seems that a child has to wait till after a marvainolkedr even if there has been no recent death among the Tartharol. Further, if the proposed explanation had been correct, there is no reason why the karvnol, or day immediately after the funeral, should have been appointed for the ceremony. The fact that this day is prescribed points rather to some beneficial influence which it is hoped may emanate from the dead.