THE SAORIAS OF THE RAJMAHAL HILLS. 61 



attends to the mother and child for four or five days as the case may be. The fee is 

 four annas and a cloth, but more is sometimes paid. The navel-string is tied and 

 then severed with an arrow head : the dai charges one anna for this operation. The 

 arrow must belong to the householder, otherwise the panchayat levies a fine in the 

 shape of a fowl. If there is no arrow, the operation is performed with a sharpened 

 bamboo taken from the roof of the hut. Cloth is bound round the mother's hips and 

 stomach very tightly, and, after washing her with warm water, the child and mother 

 are put to bed ; oil is used. The father is not allowed to do any work for five days ; he 

 stays in the house ; he may not do anything besides bring firewood. His daily avo- 

 cations are done by his neighbours, or relatives, and he is not permitted to walk 

 across his own fields or the fields of any other villager. Should he touch the beds of 

 others, or go to the fields or jhums (clearings) of others, a fowl has to be paid and a 

 pujah has to be performed. The blood of the fowl has to be sprinkled on the bed or 

 field to wash away the stain. This pujah is performed by the owner of the bed or 

 field. The reason is that the man is unclean, and his touch brings sickness to the 

 owner of the bed and destroys the crops in the jhum or field. 



After five days the navel-string drops off and is taken up by the dai (midwife) and 

 is put into a leaf cup with oil ■ the ashes from the hearth are taken out and heaped on 

 an earthen plate and the leaf cup and navel-string are placed on the top ; a miniature 

 bow and arrow are stuck into the ashes, and these are covered with a cloth, and taken 

 before dawn and placed under a " Kusum " tree (Schleicher a trijuga). This is the old 

 custom, but now any tree may be selected. The ceremony is performed by the father 

 who says, while doing so, " I have a son, may he be a great hunter." In the case of 

 a girl the operation is varied by sticking a bamboo spoon for mixing rice, into the ashes, 

 and the father carries it and the navel-string as before, and places them under a tree 

 saying, " May she be a good housewife." Returning home he consults his wife as to 

 the name which should be given to the infant ; the name of a relative is selected. The 

 eldest son takes the name of his paternal grandfather, and the eldest daughter the 

 name of her maternal grandmother. The father and mother then blow into the ears 

 of the child calling it by the name selected. This completes the ceremony. The 

 house is now cleaned and the clothes are washed. For a month, in the case of a boy, 

 the parents visit no one, nor are they permitted to touch the things of other people. The 

 husband is not allowed to shave or cut his hair. In the case of a girl these taboos last 

 for two months. After a month the father brings a sal twig, with two leaves on either 

 side, and he fixes it on the path west of the village. Beside the twig he places a hand- 

 ful of rice. On the top of the rice he pours the contents of a fowl's egg, and the shell 

 he fills with water, saying, " May my infant's life be as full and complete." He places 

 this on the top of the rice and returns home. The mother and child are not required 

 to be present at this ceremony. This is the cleansing ceremony and the parents are 

 permitted after it to eat with the villagers ; and the father shaves and cuts his hair. 

 In the case of twins the same ceremonies are followed. One egg suffices for the cleans- 

 ing ceremonies. A well-to-do father makes rice beer and feasts the villagers. Paharia 

 chiefs and village headmen use the same ceremonies. 



