CHAPTER XV
FUNERAL CEREMONIES
The funeral ceremonies of a Toda may be prolonged over many months. Soon after death the body is burnt and the general name for the ceremony on this occasion is etvainolkedr, the first day funeral (literally, “first which day funeral”). After an interval which may vary greatly in length, a second ceremony is performed connected with certain relics of the deceased which have been preserved from the first occasion. The rites on this occasion are more elaborate than at the etvainolkedr. The Toda name for this second funeral ceremony is marvainolkedr, the second day funeral, or “again which day funeral.” The final scene, in which the relics are burnt and the ashes buried, takes place before daybreak on the morning following the marvainolkedr, and this part of the ceremony is known as azaramkedr, the name being derived from the azaram, or circle of stones within which the final cremation takes place.
The funeral ceremonies are open to all and visitors are often invited by the Todas. In consequence, the funeral rites are better known, and have been more frequently described than any other features of Toda ceremonial. Like nearly every institution of the Todas, however, they have become known to Europeans under their Badaga names. The first funeral is called by the Badagas hase kedu, the fresh or green funeral, and the term ‘green funeral’ has not only become the generally recognised name among the European inhabitants of the Nilgiri Hills, but has been widely [[338]]adopted in anthropological literature. The second funeral is called by the Badagas bara kedu, the ‘dry funeral,’ and this term also has been generally adopted. I never heard these terms used by the Todas themselves, who always spoke of the etvainolkedr and the marvainolkedr, though it seemed that the first funeral might sometimes be called karchokedr, which probably means fresh or green funeral.
The funeral ceremonies have undergone some modification in recent times owing to the intervention of the Government. Formerly it was the custom to slaughter many buffaloes at every funeral. This impoverished the people and was prohibited by the Government about forty years ago, and since that time the number of buffaloes killed at each ceremony has been limited to two for each person. This has had most influence on the second funeral ceremonies, which, largely owing to this prohibition, are now much less elaborate and prolonged than in former times.
The funeral ceremonies are held at certain appointed places called kertnòdr, different for each clan. Sometimes these places are at, or close to, villages where the people are now living; sometimes they are at places which were formerly inhabited; while in other cases, again, there is no evidence that the funeral places have ever been inhabited. In every case, whether inhabited or not, the place where a funeral is held is called a mad, the same name as is used for a village.
Each clan has at least two funeral places, one for males and the other for females, and in several cases a clan has more than one funeral place for each sex. Some clans have different places for the two funeral ceremonies, and the Piedrol, who have one outlying branch of their clan at Kavidi in the Wainad, have special funeral places for the first funeral of members of this branch, the second funeral, or marvainolkedr, being held at the chief funeral place of the clan. Others, again, have a special place for boys who have not passed through the ear-piercing ceremony.
In general, a funeral hut (see [Fig. 48]) is specially built for the reception of the dead body, this hut being usually erected within a stone circle found at the funeral place. At the funeral of a male, this hut is called kertnòdrpali or neilpali. It is [[339]]left standing after the funeral and may be used on a second occasion if it has not fallen into too great disorder.
FIG. 48.—FUNERAL HUT ROUND WHICH WOMEN ARE LAMENTING. SEVERAL PAIRS ARE PRESSING THEIR FOREHEADS TOGETHER. THE HUT IS NOT WITHIN A STONE CIRCLE, SHOWING THAT THE FUNERAL IS NOT BEING HELD AT AN OLD FUNERAL PLACE.