136 THE LATE REV. P. DEHON ON 



rice and an egg, and, this time without singing the two legends, directly invokes God, 

 saying, " This man (naming him) has been living among us : now he is gone : see that 

 everything be right lor him." The egg is then cooked and given to the children to 

 eat, whilst the shell is put in the hole. A small pig is then brought and beaten to death 

 by sticks, and its blood is also dropped in the hole. The Sankot alone then pours all the 

 rice brought on a mat, and throws the leaf cups also in the hole and shuts it up. This is 

 a sacrifice offered to Nasre, namely, the personification of the punch of the other world. 

 They invoke him saying, " Deign to accept this man among you : he is one of your chil- 

 dren ; receive him as such and have pity on us also that remain behind." The rice 

 brought is cooked, and everyone eats of it. 



The ceremony of liurbona or koha-benju is a sequel to this. The Uraons are not 

 satisfied with the reunion of the shades, but they want also the reunion of the bones. 

 This they call kohu-bcnga or the Great Marriage. Those who die before the seeds have 

 sprouted in the field are burnt ; and the few charred bones which are not reduced to ashes 

 are gathered in an earthen pot. Over the bones relatives put some rice, native gin, and 

 money ; then they take this urn to the river which holds the bones of their ancestors. 

 The Bhuniyars (first settlers and proprietors of their fields) have a particular spot (called 

 Kundi) in the river where they deposit the bones of all the members of the family, and 

 if they have been expelled, as is often the case, or obliged to leave their village and their 

 fields, they will nevertheless bury the bones of their dead in the ancient Kundi. But the 

 bones of all those who die after the seeds have sprung up and before the end of the har- 

 vest, may not be taken to the river, as it is believed that the crops would suffer if this were 

 done. The bones are therefore put away in a pot under a stone near the house till the 

 harvest is over. Then on the Koha-benju day (in January) they are all gathered. After 

 the banquet given in honour of the dead, the men and women form a procession to accom- 

 pany the bones to their last resting-place. Before going to the river they make a tour 

 of the village, and the bones of each departed are brought for the last time before the 

 house he inhabited. The relatives pour some rice and native gin into the urn and tie 

 some sweetmeats which are prepared for the occasion around it. Then the procession 

 starts for the river, the men and women giving vent to their grief in dancing, singing, 

 beating drums and weeping, while the earthen pots containing the bones are passed from 

 hand to hand and are made to take a part, as it were, in the dancing. While yet at some 

 distance from the spot, those who bear the urns run forward and bury them in the sand 

 in the bed of the river. The rest having arrived, they all take a bath and the Great Mar- 

 riage is over. 



As has been said before, the panch of the heavy shades, namely the ancestors gone 

 to Markha, is personified by Nasre, whilst the light shades that remain with thejr relatives 

 are personified by Pachbal. Besides the puja offered to him on the Kormun day, two 

 other sacrifices of fowls of special colours are offered to Nasre every year in every 

 house. It is remarkable that, in offering sacrifices to their ancestors, they do not use 

 urwa but common rice, and they kill the bird by putting the head in the ground and hit- 

 ting it with their fist. Most probably this custom dated from the time when arwu rice and 

 knives were unknown among the Uraons. 



