The Azaramkedr
This is the name applied to the ceremonies connected with the final burning of the remains and burial of the ashes. After food has been distributed at the marvainolkedr, many of those attending the funeral return home. The remainder stay at the spot during the evening, those nearly related to the deceased lamenting in the usual fashion almost continuously. At a funeral attended by Samuel, the people took [[379]]the setting of Kadsht and the appearance of Keirt[3] as the indications that the final ceremonies were to begin, and this was about two o’clock on the following morning.
At every funeral place used for the marvainolkedr, there is a circle of stones, smaller than that in which the hut is built, with an opening which in some cases faces the east. This circle of stones is the azaram, and before the ceremonies begin, a man digs a hole by the opening in its side. The various objects to be burnt with the remains are now brought from the hut in which they had been placed on the previous day, and are laid outside the azaram and the narskedr is laid by their side. As the remains are removed from the hut, the wailing becomes louder and the people cry bitterly. Outside the stone circle a fire is made of the wood called kidmän,[4] upon which clarified butter is poured. This fire, which is known as the puntüt, is lighted by a man of the same clan as the deceased. At the funeral of a male, there is burnt on this fire the dairy vessel called ertatpun which had belonged to the dead man, and the imitation buffalo horns called petkuter, about ten in number for a man and five for a boy. At the funeral of a woman, I think that a majpatitthpun is burnt, viz., a vessel used for fetching buttermilk from the dairy, but I am not certain of this.
There now follows the ceremony called narsatipimi, i.e. “the nars we rub,” in which the leading part is taken by a person of the same sex as the deceased. I only have a full record of this ceremony at a woman’s funeral, and in this case a woman took the relics out of their covering, and threw away the pieces of bark in which they had been enclosed. She rubbed butter on the pieces of skull and the hair, put the hair between two pieces of skull, tied them together with thread, and replaced them in the ornamented cloak (pukuruputkuli). She then bowed down and touched the remains with her forehead, and then this salutation was performed by all those present.
At a funeral seen by Mr. Thurston,[5] this ceremony was performed on the previous day at the marvainolkedr, and in [[380]]this case the hair was burnt in an iron ladle before the clarified butter was applied.
This ceremony of narsatipimi is performed by the daughter-in-law of a woman, or by the mother-in-law of a girl or woman who has no daughter-in-law. At the funeral of Narskuti (56 and 63) it was performed by Piliurs, the wife of Tüliners (56), the son of the dead woman. At the funeral of Tersveli (52 and 63), a much younger woman, who had no daughter-in-law, the relics were anointed by Muteimi (52 and 69), the mother of Teitnir, Tersveli’s husband. I have no record of the person who performs this ceremony at the funeral of a man.
The next step in the proceedings is to light a fire within the circle of stones, this fire being called the azaramtüt. Firewood is put within the azaram and the narskedr in its covering is placed on the wood. If the azaramkedr is being held for two or more people simultaneously, the remains of all are put on the wood together.[6] In the pockets of the mantles forming the coverings are placed grain, jaggery, and coins. The azaramtüt is then lighted by taking three firebrands in succession from the puntüt. The firebrands are placed on the firewood and on the remains by the daughter-in-law or mother-in-law of a female as in the last ceremony.[7] Then all the people take up the burning wood from the puntüt and place it within the azaram over the remains. The various objects previously brought from the funeral hut are now placed on the fire and burnt, and the special food known as ashkkarthpimi may be thrown into the fire. Then all the people cry together, forehead to forehead.
The following are the objects burnt with the remains on the azaramtüt, at the funeral of a male:—
(a) In the pocket of the cloak, jaggery, the husked grain called patcherski, husked barley (kodjerski), and rupees in two [[381]]bags, one called tinkani, made by the Todas themselves, and the other called katshiram, procured from Hindus.
(b) Sticks of the following kinds of wood: pars, karneizi tavat, kali, toarsmitch, kar.
(c) A nanmakud, a club or stick cut from the pars tree ([Fig. 67]).
(d) A tadri, or long pole used in the dance and in the koòtiti ceremony of the previous day.
(e) Several wak, bamboo vessels filled with grain, butter, ghi, honey, &c., usually ten in number for adults and five for children.
(f) A tek, a basket made by the Kotas in which barley or poppy heads are put.
(g) A bow (purs) and three arrows (ab) ([Fig. 67]).
(h) A kafkati, or knife, called on ordinary occasions kudrval.
(i) A masth, the axe used to kill the buffaloes on the previous day, called on this occasion îrkîpmasth.
(j) A miturkwadr, the palm-leaf umbrella, so called because procured from Mitur in the Wainad.
(k) A kudshmurn, a special kind of sieve made by the Kotas and not used in ordinary life.
At the funeral of a woman boxes called pettei or miturpettei are burnt instead of the wak. These are small boxes made of rattan, covered with cloth and adorned with cowries. There are also burnt the three objects especially connected with women, the pounder (wask), sieve (murn), and broom (kip), but the pounder is only burnt after the following ceremony has taken place.
As soon as the things have been placed on the fire, there follows the ceremony[8] called îrsankâti. At the funeral of a male, the matchuni, or cousin, of the dead man puts on the woman’s ornaments known as tagars, keiveli, and pulthi, and stands at the opening in the circle of stones with his right arm outside his cloak (kevenarut). He is joined there by the man who has lighted the fire, and they cry together, both standing at the entrance of the azaram, where they [[382]]remain till the fire is extinguished. Owing to the fact that the fire is lighted by a man of the same clan as the deceased, the two men who cry together will also be matchuni—thus, at the funeral of Karspisti (12), the fire was lighted by his half-brother Karzo. Pakhwar (16), who performed the irsankati ceremony, was the matchuni of both Karzo and Karspisti, being the son of the brother of Tedjveli, the mother of Karzo and stepmother of Karspisti.
At the funeral of a female, the woman who stands at the entrance should also be a matchuni of the deceased. She is decorated with ornaments, in this case proper to her own sex, and she stands at the entrance of the azaram holding the pounder. She is joined by a woman closely related to the deceased and the two women cry together. After crying together for a while, they go round the circle and then put the pounder on the fire, after which they take off their ornaments.
At the funeral of Narskuti (56 and 63), Mutkadrk (56 and 72) stood in front of the circle holding the pounder, and was joined by Munat, the daughter of the dead woman.
At the funeral of Tersveli (52 and 63), Edjog (56) stood at the entrance; she was the matchuni of the dead woman, being the daughter of Tüliners, the brother of Tersveli’s mother. She was joined by Teimidz (52), the sister of the dead woman’s husbands.
The fire is now extinguished by pouring on water (kêdr tüt ârs kudrchi). Some of the food put into the pocket of the putkuli and in the various vessels may now be taken out[9] and given to the Kotas, who up to this time have been playing the special funeral tunes called sagerthkwelv.
The ashes are now swept into the hole which had been dug at the opening in the stone circle. They are covered with earth dug from elsewhere and the spot is covered with a stone.
At the funeral of a male, a man of the same clan as the deceased then brings a bell (kwungg) and goes round the [[383]]burial-place three times ringing the bell, while another man goes with him holding him by the waist. The man who rings the bell then takes a new pot, ordinarily used for carrying water, and, raising it over his head, brings it down and breaks it on the stone covering the ashes. He bows down and touches the stone with his forehead, gets up, and goes away to the funeral hut without looking back toward the azaram. All the others present bow down to the stone in the same way and go away from the spot without looking back. The ceremony of bell-ringing and stone-saluting is called kwungg tûki kârs nersatiti, “bell lift, stone he salutes.”
At the funeral of a woman, the bell is rung and the pot broken by her husband or by one of his brothers if he be dead. If it is the husband, he will have been wearing the cloak over his head[10] up to this time, and he takes it off just before he bows down to salute the stone. At the funeral of her husband, a widow will similarly remove the cloak from her head before she salutes the stone.
After saluting at the azaram, all go to the funeral hut, where they take food, having fasted during the night. Each person cuts a lock of hair from the head as a sign of mourning and then all return home.
At the funeral of a woman, the funeral hut is burnt before the people leave, this being called ars pon atipimi, “house up we send.” It is the duty of the woman who first lighted the azaramtüt to set fire to the hut.
The foregoing account of the second funeral ceremonies is that of the proceedings at the present time. When the marvainolkedr was prolonged over two days, the proceedings of the first day opened with the capture of the buffaloes, which were put in the pen, and then followed a scene in which the Todas entered the pen, flourishing heavy clubs. The animals were belaboured and driven round and round the pen, and at intervals several men would catch and hold down a buffalo. According to some accounts the bells were hung round the necks of the buffaloes during this performance, but at a funeral witnessed by Mr. Walhouse[11] this was not done, and he believed that the [[384]]object of the fray was that the men might exhibit their agility and skill. There is little doubt, however, that the bells were put on the buffaloes at some time on this day. The remainder of the first day was occupied with dancing, singing, and feasting. On the second day, the proceedings began again in the middle of the day with more dances and with a repetition of the driving and catching within the pen. In the afternoon, after the earth-throwing ceremony, the buffaloes, now wearied and subdued, were dragged from the pen and killed, and then followed the ceremonies which have already been described.
At the funeral witnessed by Mr. Walhouse, part of the second day was occupied by the proceedings of a diviner, and divination seems to be a frequent feature of funerals, having been also seen both by Mr. Thurston and myself. In the latter case, the occasion of the divination arose directly out of the proceedings, but it is probable that the gatherings are used as opportunities of consulting the gods on other matters. A funeral may also be used as an occasion for settling disputes, especially those which concern the people especially connected with the funeral.