Note 64 — Chapter VI · THE EVIL EYE AND THE SCARING OF GHOSTS.

Persons dying of small pox, women dying in childbirth or during their menses, children dying within six months from their birth, and Sanyásis are buried. The bodies of persons suffering from leprosy are necessarily buried.64 Among Lingáyats the bodies are always buried. Certain mantras are repeated while burying or burning the dead body. While burying, cocoanuts and certain kinds of grain are thrown into the grave, and after covering the dead body with salt, the grave is filled up with earth and stones.65 While burning, the dead body is placed on the funeral pile with its head to the north and feet towards the south. Tulsi wood, sandal-wood, and Bel wood are kept on the pile before placing the dead body over it. Cocoanuts and camphor cakes are placed on the body, and it is set on fire. Among the Lingáyats and Gosávis the dead are buried. Before burying, the Lingáyats have to take a written order from their priest, the Ayya or Jangam. The paper is then tied to the neck of the deceased, and the body is placed in a bag made of new cloth, the head being allowed to remain out of the bag. Bhasma or ashes, salt and camphor are also put into the bag along with the corpse, which is then buried. The Jangam repeats mantras when the body is in the grave. No such written order is necessary for the burial of Gosávis. A cocoanut is broken on the head of the corpse at the time of burying it. Among high class Hindus the corpse is carried to the funeral ground in a bier made of bamboos. Among the Lingáyats a gaily dressed frame called Makhar is prepared on the bier, and the body is dressed with clothes and head dress and seated in the Makhar. Some of them carry the dead body in a bag made of blanket. There is a custom of keeping foot-prints on the spot where a Sanyási is buried, and they are daily worshipped by the people.66 Among the Káthawatis of Thána and Kolába Districts the dead body is first buried, and after a few days the skeleton is taken out of the grave and then burnt as usual.67 Among the high class Hindus the moustaches are shaved at the death of parents, paternal uncle and elder brother. Among the Shudras it is not necessary to shave.68 Persons who have lost their parents have to perform certain funeral rites or Shráddhas when they visit holy places such as Benáres, Prayág, Ayodhya and Násik, and they have to shave their moustaches at all these places before performing the funeral rites.69 Moustaches are also shaved as a penance for certain sins. The Agnihotri, i.e., one who preserves perpetual fire in his house for worship, has to get himself shaved every fortnight.70