The wailing of the women tells the story of a death, as they abandon themselves completely to their sorrow, tearing their hair, striking their foreheads, and uttering shrill cries to show their desolation. As soon as the breath leaves the body preparations are made at once for its disposal, as a corpse is never kept longer than twenty-four hours in this hot climate. The eldest son, if there is one of suitable age, or the father or eldest brother in order of nearest relationship, or the husband if the deceased is a woman, must conduct the funeral ceremonies. The body is washed and shaven and adorned with the marks of his caste, and placed in a sitting position, with the head uncovered, and the son or heir performs a sacrifice before it. Then the two thumbs and the great toes are tied together and the body is enveloped in a new white cloth and placed upon a bier, formed of two long poles with seven cross-pieces. With the heir at the head, carrying a pot of fire, the procession starts for the burning-ground. This bier must always be carried by relatives or members of the same caste. When a man is ill and it is necessary to tell him that he will soon depart from this world, it is broken to him gently by some one saying, “You will soon ascend a palanquin carried by bearers of your own caste.” On the way to the cemetery the procession is stopped three times and the bier placed on the ground, the face uncovered, and a prayer is said. If, as sometimes occurs, the person is not really dead and he revives, it is most unfortunate for all concerned, the revived man included, as he is considered as dead and not allowed to return to his home or to his caste.
Arrival at the burning-ground, where the funeral pile has been prepared by men whose profession it is to attend to the dead, and who are always of the pariah class, the untouchables, the body is put on the pyre and the sacred thread and loin-cloth are removed with the winding-sheet, as the body must depart from the world in the state in which it entered it, completely naked. The head should be placed towards the south and the legs towards the north. If near a sacred river, like the Ganges, the body is laid for a few moments with the feet in the sacred water, and water is sprinkled over it. The heir performs the sacrifices, and it is he who sets the pile alight, while the priests repeat the prayers for the dead. After the pyre is lighted the family retire to a distance and leave the body to the administrations of the men in charge. In some places the heir is supposed to break the skull so that the gases may escape and the body may not explode. I was told of one woman who wished to establish her right to a rich man’s property; consequently at the critical moment she dashed from the arms of her friends and with one blow of a stick broke the head of her late liege lord, thus clearly showing her heirship, as only the legal heir is entitled to perform this last kind office for the dear departed.