THE BHOTIAS OF ALMORA AND BRITISH GARHWAL. 113 



chuklas, or head-dresses, reversed: these are followed by t\ieya, and last of all come the 

 men with heads bare. On entering the village the ya is fed with wet flour {tzama cor- 

 responding to Kumaoni uwa) in a cup and a little spirit {Jan). Again, on reaching the 

 house of the deceased, the ya is fed with rice and liquor Jan), and the clothes of the 

 deceased are removed. 



The'mourners are either puiic (from pu — parched grain and ^ = with), that is, those 

 distant connections who come only with offerings of parched grain or a little rice and 

 spirits, or myechame {frommye son-in-law, brother-in-law, uncle-in-law, and chame girl), who 

 are sisters, etc., of deceased, or of the husband of deceased, and bring with them a sheep or 

 goat as well as what thepulie bring. A good deal of food is required for the feeding of the 

 ya, and the mourners bring offerings for his nourishment. Should the deceased be a 

 man his mother's brothers also attend and are called puwahiya, this expression being 

 never used on any other occasion. These bring sheep and goats, etc., and sufficient rice 

 to feast all the villagers on the second or third day. The myechame ' girls never, if 

 possible, come alone ; they almost invariably bring their husbands with them, or some 

 other man whom their husbands delegate, the reason being that they have important 

 duties which are most suitable for men to perform, e.g., to lead the ya, or make boots for 

 the burnt bone {hri) of the deceased to be placed in. These boots are called ghost-boots, 

 skimi babch or baukch and are some six inches long, being simply a round cylinder of 

 cloth with a leather sole, the whole very diminutive and very coarsely prepared. Again 

 a tablet of accounts is to be drawn up, written with wet flour on a wooden slate, showing for. 

 the edification of the dead exactly how much flour has been used in making cakes {puris, 

 Bhotia/a). Another duty is to get the sticks for the erection of the dummy figure of 

 deceased and so on — duties most suitable for men to perform. 



From the very first day there is continual dancing on the part of the villagers in 

 front of the house where the gwan is taking place, and they are fed with rice or puris 

 {/a). The second day is known as ya kummo jya {kummo meaning to go and come back), 

 and closely resembles the first day, the ya being taken out and clothed and led back in 

 exactly the same way, the only difference being that on the first day all the villagers 

 go, and on the second, only the near relations. On this day rice, is boiled {ya chhaku or 

 ya kum chhaku, knm being connected with kummo above and chhaku meaning boiled 

 rice), and is given both before and after the leading ceremony to all relations. 



The master of the ceremonies is called Chhangma, and needless to say that his 

 principal work is to see that there is no lack of the "barley bree " and that there is 

 plenty of good fare for all. He sees that proper persons are set apart to make the shimi 

 babch or ghost-boots, and the frame for the dummy figure, and that fuel wood is collected ; 

 and, in fact, that everybody has something to do. 



The third day is zam kummo. In the early morning all the villagers go to the 

 deceased's house ; the men receive a little sattu and liquor and their wives two cakes {puris) 

 each, and then they take the ya and go to the place of dead men's bones {ya shyam) where 

 deceased's bone is lying in the casket. Great care is taken to insure privacy by again 

 putting curtains on both sides while the case is being taken from the ground, and when 

 extracted the case is immediately placed inside the ghost-boots, which have been made 



