148 



(o) Death ceremonies. 



Throughout the Tamil country all non-Brahm.aii 

 castes which observe Hindu rites have the chank sounded 

 as the body is being taken to the funeral pyre or to the 

 burial ground. It is usual also to employ the conch- 

 blower on the last day of the sraddh ceremonies in those 

 castes which follow the orthodox ritual. Amongf the 

 Telugus these same rites are largely followed, but it is 

 said that Vaishnavites do not observe them. Among both 

 races, the Brahmans do not have the conch blown at any 

 period of the obsequies,— a sign that lends weight to the 

 theory that the chank has been borrowed by Brahman- 

 ism from another relio'ion. 



In the Madura and Tinnevelly districts the conch- 

 blowers at a funeral are Ambattans or barbers, the same 

 caste as performs likewise at weddings. Among the 

 Idaiyans of these and the neighbouring districts one 

 part of the funeral rites consists in the son perambulating 

 the pyre thrice with a pot of water on his shoulder ; at 

 each turn the barber makes a hole in it with a shell when 

 the head of the corpse is reached. Finally the pot is 

 broken near the head. (Thurston, II, 362.) 



Further noi-th in the East Coast districts from Tanjore 

 and Salem to the Kistna River, the Panisavans are by 

 caste custom the funeral conch-blowers ; they may indeed 

 be accounted the undertaker caste, as it is their duty to 

 carry news of the death to the relations of the deceased. 

 It is they who generally keep all the materials necessary 

 for the funeral including the palanquin required for 

 the conveyance of the corpse to the cremation ground. 

 At the funeral, the Panisavan follows the corpse, blowing 

 his conch. When the son goes round the corpse with 

 a pot of water, the Panisavan accompanies him sounding 

 his conch the while. On the last day of the death 

 ceremonies (Karmandhiram) the Panisavan should also 

 be present and blow his conch especially when the tali 

 is removed from the widow's neck. (Thurston, \T. 56.) 



The insignia of the Panisavans are the chank and the 

 tharai, a long straight trumpet. 



In Coimbatore district, the dutv of soundino- the 

 death conch belongs to the members of an im[)ortant 

 sub-di^'ision of Paraiyans, called on this account, Sankhu 



