[10] The special mention of uncut ears and tail in this and the erkumptthpimi ceremony suggests that the widely spread practice of cutting the ears of animals may occur among the Todas, but I have no other notes on the subject. [↑]
[11] Or irnörtpuspimi, “buffalo giving have we come.” The whole formula runs, “Swami, Teikirzi, the kudrpali, the wursuli, the buffalo pen, may it be well; may it be well with the buffaloes and calves; buffalo giving have we come, may it be well.” [↑]
[12] This is mentioned in the prayer of the Kiudr dairy (see p. [220]). [↑]
[13] According to a later finding of the teuol, the death of Tersveli was due to sorcery (see p. [261]). [↑]
CHAPTER XIV
BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD CEREMONIES
The ceremonies connected with childbirth begin before the birth of the child. These ceremonies are only performed for the first child or when the woman obtains a new husband, so that they may, from one point of view, be regarded as marriage ceremonies. Nevertheless, I prefer to consider them here, and to leave the ceremonies more strictly connected with marriage till a later chapter. These latter ceremonies are far less elaborate than those to be described in this chapter, and may be more fitly considered in connexion with the social regulation of marriage.
At or about the fifth month of pregnancy, a ceremony is performed which is called ûr patitth kaitütitthpimi, “village left, hand we burnt,” or more shortly, ürvatpimi, “village we leave,” or kaitütitthpimi. The ceremony is named from its two essential features; the woman leaves the village and lives secluded in a hut and her wrists are burnt.
When it is known that the ceremony is to take place, a special hut, called puzhars ([Fig. 45]), is built in a prescribed place at some little distance from the village, or if this building already exists, it is put into good order. The word puzhars means “mud-house” or “earth-house,” which would seem to point to a time when a temporary hut of mud was used, but at the present time it is built of wood, though it is of much simpler and rougher construction than the ordinary house.