Note 3 — Chapter XXX · THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE TODAS

It is perhaps in the funeral ceremonies that we find the largest number of resemblances between Toda custom and that of other parts of India. Thus, among those who cremate their dead, it is usual to have ceremonies some time after the cremation, and some have regarded the second funeral ceremony of the Todas, the so-called dry funeral, as the representative of the Sapindi ceremony of orthodox Hinduism. Among several tribes fragments of bone are preserved after the cremation, which become the objects of further ceremonies. Thus, the Hos and Mundahs3 preserve large fragments of bone, which are hung up in the house and are buried in an earthenware pot much later, after being taken in procession to every friend and relation of the deceased. Again, among the Saoras of Madras4 fragments of bone are picked out from the ashes and covered over with a miniature hut.