The manmokh, or sister’s son (who may be also son-in-law), has certain definite duties. Formerly, when many buffaloes were killed, one was always given by the sister’s son, and he still gives a thread cord, called pennar. Many other relatives give these cords, but that given by the manmokh is especially [[499]]honoured in that it is put round the body of the dead man inside his cloak, and not merely laid on the covering of the body as are the others.
The mun does not appear to have any duties at a funeral, though in old days he contributed a buffalo, and, at the present time, one of the two buffaloes slaughtered may be given by the mun or other representative of the mother’s family.
The matchuni (child of a maternal uncle or of a paternal aunt) has several duties, of which the most important are those at the irsankati ceremony of the azaramkedr. The other duties are the secondary result of the marriage regulation which makes the matchuni the natural bridegroom or bride, and, in consequence, it is the matchuni who performs the pursütpimi ceremony at the funeral of an unmarried girl. Similarly, the matchuni may take the place of a paiol at the cloth-giving ceremony.
The duties which have, however, the greatest social interest are those performed by the relatives by marriage. At the funeral of a woman certain ceremonies, such as that in which leaves of the tiveri plant are put in the dead woman’s armlet, the urvatpimi ceremony for an unmarried girl, rubbing the relics, lighting the fire at the azaramkedr, and burning the funeral hut, should be performed by the daughter-in-law of a woman or the mother-in-law of a girl. These relatives are, however, of the same clan as the deceased, owing to the fact that a woman becomes a member of the same clan as her husband; and I am therefore doubtful how far these relatives perform the duties in question as members of the same clan, and how far as relatives by marriage. Some of the duties, such as lighting the funeral fires, are done by men of the same clan at the funeral of men; and I am therefore inclined to believe that they are performed by a woman for this reason and not because she is mother-in-law or daughter-in-law, but this point is one which must remain indefinite with our present information.
Similarly the duty of covering the head is a little difficult to understand. The head of a widower is covered (see p. [365]) by one of his paiol—his father-in-law or his brother-in-law—and in this case it is clearly a duty which falls to a relative by [[500]]marriage, but the head of a widow is covered by her own father or by someone of his clan who takes his place. The plausible explanation appears to be that the covering is performed by the father of the woman, not as father of the widow, but as father-in-law of the dead man.
Those who have married into the family of the deceased, the paiol, have to make certain contributions towards the outlay for the funeral, and it is in connexion with one of these contributions that the interesting ceremony of cloth-giving occurs.
The essential feature of the ceremony seems to be that a cloth passes between a relative or representative of the dead person and those who have married into the family of the dead person, and the ceremony involves a money payment to the family of the dead person from those who have married into the family. The ceremony is one which links the funeral ceremonies to those of marriage.
In other ceremonies of the Todas the parts played by different kin are far less conspicuous. The mun or mother’s brother has, however, several important functions. To him falls the duty of naming a child, on which occasion he has also to give a calf. He takes the chief part in the tersamptpimi ceremony, in which he cuts the hair of the child with a special ritual. In the ear-piercing ceremony the maternal uncle pierces one ear, and in the special case of which I have a record, he gave two buffaloes towards the expenses attendant on the ceremony.
It is probable that a girl is named by her mumi, or father’s sister, but this is a point on which I am not quite sure.
Under certain conditions matchuni, when associated together, have to perform certain ceremonial acts. When two male matchuni eat rice and milk together, they must first ask each other, “pa tòr tinkina?” “Milk food shall I eat?” and if they eat honey together, they must say “tein tinkina?” Two female matchuni eating together must also use these formulæ, but they are not said when a man is eating in company with his female matchuni, though possibly the two would never actually eat at the same time.