Note 71 — C

Ancestor worship. 15. Ancestor worship is fairly well established, but not universal. It can form even the subject of a joke as in a proverb common among these people—châr kawar bhîtar, tab deota pitar—“First eat four mouthfuls, then think of the godlings and the sainted dead.” Sickness in a family is attributed to the anger of the ancestral ghosts: in such cases fowls and goats are sacrificed in the house, and a few drops of liquor are poured on the ground. On the tenth day after a death the more Hinduised Cheros give the family priest (purohit) a pair of loin-cloths (dhoti), a drinking vessel (lota), a tray (thâli), and grain always in the ratio of one and-a-quarter sers, maunds, measures (paseri). The ghosts of the dead if not propitiated appear in dreams and prescribe the necessary offerings. If the injunctions given by them in the first dream are not obeyed, the next time they sit on the chest and squeeze the throat of the offender. Ghosts (bhût) habitually haunt cremation grounds. Neglect of funeral ceremonies does not necessarily involve the spirit becoming a Bhût, but those who are killed by a Bhût invariably become Bhûts themselves. Tattooing in its present form is little more than ornamental; but it is clearly connected with puberty,71 and is based in case of women on a religious motive. If a woman die without being tattooed, Paramesar will tattoo her himself with the thorns of acacia (babûl). Women pay special reverence to the fig tree (pîpal), and bow when they pass near it. They have the usual meeting omens. They do not follow Hindus in giving two names to children. They swear by touching a cow-tail or the feet of a Brâhman or by standing in water while they make a solemn assertion to speak the truth. Poverty, leprosy, or loss of children follows a broken oath.