Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/494

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YANADI
428

This ceremony concluded, the son places a ball of rice at each corner of the grave, together with betel and money. Milk is poured over the remaining ball, which is wrapped in a leaf, and buried over the spot where the abdomen of the deceased is situated. Close to the grave, at the southern or head end, three stones are set up in the form of a triangle, whereon a new pot full of water is placed. A hole is made in the bottom of the pot, and the water trickles out towards the head of the corpse. This concludes the ceremony, and, as on the day of the funeral, purification by bathing, ash-water and turmeric-water, is carried out.

The peddadinamu ceremony is performed on the sixteenth, or some later day after death. As on the chinnadinamu, the son cooks rice in a new pot. Opposite the entrance to the hut a handful of clay is squeezed into a conical mass, representing the soul of the deceased, and stuck up on a platform. The eldest son, taking a portion of the cooked rice, spreads it on a leaf in front of the clay image, before which incense is burnt, and a lamp placed. The image, and the remainder of the food made up into four balls, are then carried by the son to a tank (pond). As soon as the relatives have assembled there, the recumbent effigy of a man is made, close to the edge of the tank, with the feet towards the north. The conical image is set up close to the head of the effigy, which is anointed by the relatives as at the chinnadinamu, except that no milk is poured over it. The four balls of rice are placed close to the hands and feet of the effigy, together with betel and money, and the son salutes it. The agnates then seat themselves in a row between the effigy and the water, with their hands behind their backs, so as to reach the effigy, which is moved slowly towards the water, into which it finally falls, and becomes