Tharus of Dang: Rites de Passage and Festivals

Tharus of Dang 1 219 4 or 5 p.m. and there is sufficient time to bury or cremate
him or her, they take the dead body out the same day; if he
dies later, they do so the next morning, as it is not con-
venient to perform the funeral rites in the dark.
When a person dies, messengers are sent abroad at once to
inform men of the lineage. Elders and adults from each house
of the village assemble at the dead person's house and help to
perform the funeral ceremonies, as well as console the family.
The dead body is brought to the bahari section of the house
and kept flat on its back on a mat, in a north-south direction,
19 the head towards the north. The dead body is at first
covered with the cadri and again wrapped in a new white cloth
(kaffan). Except for precious and brand new clothes all the
belongings of the dead person are tied in a bundle
Meanwhile a few persons (generally the women of the
family) help in collecting one or two handfulls of every sort
of foodgrain and little bits of most of the edible vegetables.
Any cereal or vegetable lacking in the house can be collected
from the standing crops in the fields. The grains thus col-
lected are called satbihi (=seeds of seven sorts). Some small
toy-like earthen vessels are also brought there to be taken to
the funeral site. One of these vessels contains mustard oil
(which is the common cooking oil) and the other contains ghee.
20 19. Keeping one's head towards north while sleeping or lying
down is inauspicious for a living man as it is the posture of
a dead person.
20. Satbihi is supposed to contain seven sorts of cereals. But
in fact it contains the grains of all varieties of rice avail-
able as well as potatoes, taro, onions, garlic, a few green-
bean pods, little bits of several varieties of green and dried
(not commion to that season) vegetables, tobacco leaves (if the
dead person used tobacco), some salt; turmeric powder and a
few chillies.