by the Dasari. It can never be on an even day, as odd numbers are lucky whilst even days are unlucky. The Peddadinamu is always observed the fifteenth day after the death. Until the Chinnadinamu rite has been performed it is proper for the Karta to take his food sitting on the spot where the death actually took place; also it is usual to place a light there each night, until that rite has been performed.

Amongst the Malas there is a very peculiar division into those who perform funeral observances in the day time, and those who only do so at night. According to the Brahminical religion, as has already been seen, no such observances should take place at night at all, and it is curious how this night observing sect sprung into existence. Those who observe these rites in the day time are called in Telugu Pakshivēsēvāru (Å) or those who throw to the birdsthe reason for this will be seen further on. Those who observe in the night time are called Tirupallivāru (.) It is not clear what this word. means, but it is of Tamil origin and comes from a word meaning a tomb. Although these two divisions are very distinct amongst the Malas, it does not appear to manifest itself in any other way than in the differences in the observances of those funeral rites. This distinction also appears to exist amongst some other sections of the community.

On the day fixed upon by the Dasari for the Chinnadinamu, there is a gathering of friends at the house of the deceased. The observances amongst the two sections are very much the same for this rite, except that the one begin theirs in the morning and perform them during the day, whilst the other begin theirs in the evening and carry them on through the night. It will be pointed out where the usages of the Day-observers differ from those of the Nightobservers.

The Dasari and a few friends assemble at the house of the deceased; the whole dwelling has been previously cleaned up by the women of the house and the floors well smeared over with the all purifying

mixture of cowdung and water. The Dasari takes a vessel of water and with a bunch of leaves proceeds to sprinkle the people present and the room in which they are congregated, repeating at the same time various names of Vishnu and the Sankalpam, which has several times been described as being a declaration of the place, time, tribe, and name &c.including also a prayer for pardon for sin. He then prepares a place on the earth near the spot where the death took place, and with white powder draws a cabalistic figure formed of two parallel lines drawn at right angles across two other parallel lines, the ends of the four lines being all joined together by cross lines. This is called Ashtaksharam or the eight figures. Near this figure is placed a heap of rice which rice is a perquisite of the Dasari who is said to grumble much if the heap should not be as large as he would like. Upon this heap are placed certain figures brought by the Dasari and called in Telugu Perumallu (36); these are said to represent the gods and their retinue. The Karta slays a fowl or perhaps a sheep over the spot, as was done on the day of the funeral; and this is given to the women of the household to cook. When the rice and curries have been duly prepared a portion is placed near the Pirumāllu, and another portion is placed into vessels which the Dasari and Karta, with a few friends take to the cemetery.

On arriving at the cemetery, if they are Nightobservers, the group proceed to gather together the ashes of the funeral pile and pour water upon themthe whole being flattened down and made smooth. In the case of those who bury, the top of the grave is thus prepared. A leaf-plate is put on the prepared place and the food brought is laid upon it. The Dasari then places on a separate leaf three lumps of the food; this is supposed to be for the departed spirit. This portion is eaten by the Karta; the remainder is divided by the Dasari amongst the others present who forthwith eat it and a little arrack is also given them to drink. On thus dividing the food, the Dasari

in the name of the Karta says words to the following effect:

As this departed spirit has committed sins, it cannot appear before god; therefore these ceremonies are performed in the hope that it may thereby be fitted to enter heaven.

One need scarcely point out how much this ceremony resembles the feeding of the Bhōktās by the orthodox; it is probably a kind of imitation of the same. In the case of the Day-observers, the food is placed on the spot where the cremation took place or on the grave, but those present do not eat of it; they simply place it there and go away a little distance to allow the crows and other birds to come and take it. When the birds have once begun to eat the food thus placed, the party are satisfied and take their departure. On placing the food the Dasari says words to the following effect, instead of what has been quoted above as said for the Night-observers :

O Nārāyana who bearest the conch shell, the wheel and the club, I make namaskāram to thee. Grant that by the giving of this food this spirit may be satisfied.

Amongst this section, each day from the funeral to the Chinnadinamu the Kartā before he partakes of his meals places a portion of his food on the house to attract the birds, and until some bird or other has begun to eat what is thus placed he does not taste his meal. This must be very tautalizing to a hungry man, especially if there should happen to be no birds in the neighbourhood. The Indian crow, however, is ubiquitous and it really seems to know untuitively when any thing of the kind is going on by which it can get something wherewith to satisfy its rapacious, omnivorous appetite. It will be seen from the above why this section are called Pakshivēsēvārn or those who throw to the birds.

After this ceremony a small feast is prepared at the house and partaken of by the Dasari and a few friends; but especially the Dasari, who must be well fed and who also must have an extra liberal share of

the arrack provided for the feast. After the meal it is customary for the Dasari to make a kind of funeral oration in which he sets forth the good qualities of the deceased.

Nothing further is done until the fifteenth day upon which the most important ceremonies are performed, answering perhaps to a certain extent to the Sapindi rites of the orthodox. The ceremonies on this day are very different amongst the two sections of these people. In the case of Night-observers, the Dasari and friends assemble at the house of the deceased, when the Karta and the friends and relatives of the deceased who are of the same surname (house-name) all shave, both head and face; the Karta having also his moustache shaven off, and in some cases even the Zuttu (sikha). The killing of the fowl or sheep, and the ceremony of the Ashtaksharam are all gone through as on the Chinnadinamu, except that there is no visit paid to the cemetery. As a much large number of people gather together for this ceremony a pig may possibly be killed, especially in the Kistna District, so as to provide a sufficient and savory dish for the feast; on this occasion there is feasting and drinking as at a great wedding feast.

Sometime after sun down, the Dasari proceeds to tie together with same sticks a contrivance about two or three feet high. Cross pieces are also tied so as to make two little platforms inside, one of which is for a lamp. Some cotton cloth is tied round the upper part of this arrangement so as to form a shelter for the lamp, and also to make it look like a little shrine. The name given to this in Telugu is Tritēru () or the three storied car. A light is placed inside this shrine and it is taken up by the Dasari who accompanied by the assembled friends both male and female, and strumming on his guitar like instrument, proceeds singing a kind of song to some place near an adjacent main road. A specimen of the songs thus sung supplied by a Dasari is nothing but a meaningless sort of thing referring to Rāma, in a pantheistic

way as being all things and pervading all things; there is in it no allusion whatever to the ceremony itself or anything connected with it. Arrived at a suitable spot they all sit down round the lighted up temporary shrine and the Dasari repeats some verses, during which recitation the men and women come up to him one by one to allow of his touching their foreheads with some coloured rice-each one thus coming up gives a fee to the priest, perhaps a copper coin of small value.

After this ceremony has been gone through, if the one who died were a man leaving a widow, the rite of declaring her widowhood is then performed. The Dasari and several relatives, male and female, take the widow apart to some adjacent place, probably the bank of the village tank, where the Däsari repeating some kind of slōkam cuts the Mangalasūtram off the widow's neck and breaks the glass bangles from her wrists, putting on her a pair of brass bracelets which have been brought for the purpose and which amongst these people are a sign of widowhood. The head of the Mala widow is not shaven, and she is at liberty to marry again if opportunity should offer. A new cloth is produced which is thrown over the head of the widow, and then blindfolded she is led back to the group around the Tritēru. During the whole of this operation there is much weeping and wailing by the women assembled. If the deceased person should be a woman, her husband is taken aside in the same way and his loin-cord is cut off with some little ceremony. This loin-cord is a very important part of the male belongings, being as it is the main stay of the chief portion of a man's attire; it is not easy, however, to imagine the meaning of this ceremony. The following is a free rendering of what the Dasari repeats when cutting off the Mangalasūtram from the widow, or the loin-cord from the man. This is said to be a quotation from the Bhagavatgīta; at any rate there does not seem to be much connection between the words and the circumstances:

I (god) am the destroyer of all diseases; I absolve thee from such sins as the killing of infants, of women, of Brah