These words seem to be connected with the small wooden framework held under the body, for this is called tütth tâzâr tûkitth kûrs, or “fire over lifted (or lifting) stick.”
The bier is then replaced on the ground and nearly all the objects of value are removed from the bier or from the pocket of the cloak. In one case I observed that the bangles were taken from the arms, all the rings except one [[363]]were taken from the fingers, and the coins were removed and redistributed to those who had given them. The people told me that when the body was swung over the fire, the dead person went to Amnòdr with all the ornaments and objects then on the bier, and that the removal of the things afterwards would not deprive the dead person of their use in the next world.
It would seem as if this ceremony of swinging the body over the fire was directly connected with the removal of the objects of value. The swinging over the fire would be symbolic of its destruction by fire, and this symbolic burning has the great advantage that the objects of value are not consumed and are available for use another time.
This is probably the real explanation of the ceremony, but it is not the explanation given by the Todas themselves. They say that long ago, about 400 years, a man supposed to be dead was put on the funeral pyre, and, revived by the heat, he was found to be alive and was able to walk away from the funeral place. In consequence of this the rule was made that the body shall always be swung three times over the fire before it is finally placed thereon. I could not discover the significance of the small wooden framework held under the body. Its appearance suggests that it is a miniature bier.
The objects of value having been removed, the body is now burnt. Formerly it was put on the pyre face downwards, and in the accounts of funerals given by Marshall[16] and Walhouse[17] thirty years ago, this was done, but it is no longer the custom, and in recent funerals attended by Mr. Thurston and myself the body was put on the fire with the face upwards. I was told that Teikirzi ordained that the body should be consumed face downwards, and it was believed that if this were not done, the dead person would have to make the journey to Amnòdr backwards. This seems to imply that the world of Amnòdr is below this world and that the dead person should be burnt in such a way that his face is set towards his future abode. [[364]]
At some time during the day, Kotas will have arrived, some to act as musicians ([Fig. 56]), others to take the flesh of the slaughtered buffaloes. The musicians play on their instruments, which may include a clarionet, a drum, tambourine, and brass horn, though usually I saw only the clarionet and drum. The musicians become especially active while the body is consuming. The other Kotas, who carry sharp sticks on which to carry away the flesh, begin to cut up the buffaloes as soon as the people have left the neighbourhood of the funeral hut. On more than one occasion I noticed Tamil women sitting not far from the funeral scene, and was told that they had come to buy some of the flesh from the Kotas, and I believe that it is not unknown for the flesh to find its way to the bazaar at Ootacamund.
FIG. 56.—KOTAS PLAYING MUSIC AT A TODA FUNERAL.
Before the body is finally placed on the fire, a lock of hair is cut from the head to serve as one of the relics for the second funeral. It is cut by a near relative of the dead person; in the case of Sinerani, it was cut off by her boy-husband. [[365]]According to Breeks,[18] one of the nails should also be removed, but I could not hear of this being done at the present time, and similarly I heard nothing of the practice of keeping the knee-cap bone, which is said by Hough[19] to have been preserved. When the burning is over, a piece of the skull is sought from among the ashes, and this, together with the hair, is put within two pieces of bark and wrapped in a cloak to be kept for the marvainolkedr.
The remainder of the ashes are left on the burning-ground till they are dispersed by wind and rain.