corn are washed,
anointed and worshipped; on the twelfth day the child is named and
shortly after this its head is shaved. [539]

6. Disposal of the dead.

The bodies of the dead are usually buried, cremation being beyond the
means of Dhimars. Children whose ears have not been pierced are mourned
only for one day, and others for ten days. When a body has been burnt
the ashes are consigned to a tank or river on the third day, or if
the third day be a Sunday or a Wednesday, then on the fifth day. In
Berar, Mr. Kitts remarks, [540] the funeral ceremony of the Dhimars
resembles that of the Gonds. After a burial the mourners repair to the
deceased's house to drink; and subsequently each fetches his own dinner
and dines with the chief mourner. At this time he and his family are
impure and the others cannot take food prepared by him; but ten days
afterwards when the mourning is over and the chief mourner has bathed
and shaved they again dine with him, and on the next day the caste is
feasted. During the period of mourning a lighted lamp is daily placed
outside the house. When the period of mourning expires all the clothes
of the family are washed and their house is newly whitewashed. There is
no subsequent annual performance of funeral rites as among the higher
Hindus; but at the Akshayatritiya or commencement of the agricultural
year the head of the household throws at each meal a little food into
the fire, in honour of his dead ancestors.

7. Religion.

One of the principal deities of the Dhimars [541] as of other low
castes is Dulha Deo, the deified bridegroom. They fashion his image of
_kadamb_ [542] wood and besmear it with red lead. In Berar they also
pray to Anna Purna, the Corn-giving goddess of Madras corresponding
to Durga or Devi, whose form with that of her horse is engraved on
a brass plate and anointed with yellow and red turmeric. When about
to enter a river or tank for fishing or other purposes they pray to
the water-god to save them from being drowned or molested by its
denizens. They address a river as Ganga Mai or 'Mother Ganges' in
order to propitiate it by this flattery. Those who are employed on
ferry-boats especially venerate Ghatoia [543] Deo, the god of ferries
and river-crossings. His shrine is near the place where the boats are
tied up, and ferry contractors keep a live chicken in their boat to be
offered to Ghatoia on the first occasion when the river is sufficiently
in flood to be