| Transmission method |
Death Ritual Process
As soon as death has occurred, the relatives, friends and neighbors gather at the house of the bereaved family with packets of fermented millets and uncooked cereals to console them.
Relatives from all territory bring uncooked cereals (chak-to) and unprocessed fermented millet (jar-to) packed in gyek-shing leaves during the third day of the mourning which is also the day when the body is finally laid in the burial site. A gift packed in gyek-shing leaves indicates that they are for the deceased person.
Relatives and neighbors help the bereaved family in collecting raw materials such as firewood, planks for the coffin, bamboo, and stones, and in building the rom-bu, etc. required for the dead. They also get engaged in cooking and other household chores. Being a closely knit community, they help in whatever possible way they can until the end of the final ritual.
The death ceremonies and rituals are carried out by family members without the involvement of any spiritual professionals such as monks or Pandits.
Preparing the Corpse
Few hours (1-2) after a Lhop’s death, the family members of the deceased ready themselves to wrap the corpse. A set of daily used crockery of the deceased are put into a wak (bamboo basket) and kept outside the house. A fire place is made in front of the house to cook food for the dead .The corpse is washed with uti (lukewarm water) from a u-buk (bamboo container) by rubbing with sek-leb (leaves of sek-sing tree) by 4-5 male members of the family. It is believed that the deceased does not accept soap for washing.
The washed corpse is then dressed a new set of their dress, in an opposite manner to that of the normal living person. The dressing also includes kab-ney (scarf), pali (headgear for man), and pu-kung (female headgear) for woman. For a man, a pata (traditional big knife) is hung from his left side and a small knife is inserted into his paki on the left side; and for a woman, a phleng-pyer (sickle) is hung from her left side. A streak of zu-mar (butter) is drawn from the crown of the head to the forehead line and the back neckline and another streak of zu-mar is drawn from the crown of the head to the right and the left temple regions, forming butter cross on the head.
A ba-khup (purse) is made and stuffed with money and a match box. This bag is hung from the neck of the deceased. A be-trang (old coin) is put in the mouth, but if this is not available conventional coins can also be used. A ball of white thread is placed on the mid breast region and covered with a cup. A needle tucked with thread is strapped to the ra-hem/gui-geb, signifying that the relationship between the deceased and the living person will be inseparable like the needle and thread even in the next rebirth.
The corpse is wrapped in tep-gyem (a piece of white cloth), folded in a fetal position, with its knees against the chest. The folds are stitched together with the help of a bamboo needle called lung at three regions in the inside fold (first fold) and another at three regions in the outside fold of the two sides.
The tep-gyem-wrapped corpse is again wrapped in a lho (bamboo mat) in a similar manner like the tep-gyem and then tied round by three strong ropes of cane or sap-lik running parallel at the three regions – one at the head region, another at the mid body region and the other at the lower body region.
The u-buk (bamboo container) used earlier is now cut into two equal parts (longitudinally) and the dead body is then laid on these two bamboo sticks with head directed towards the east. The corpse is lifted or swung three times by two people, one holding one from the lower end and the other from the upper part. The corpse is placed on the bamboo sticks, laid on the floor in the front room near the main door. It is then curtained off with a sheet of cloth to prevent it from being seen by others.
A person, usually a close male relative, guards the corpse for two days without leaving the body except for nature calls. This guard covers his head with a piece of cloth and stays in isolation from others. He cannot enter the other’s houses for the next three years. He also cannot use his bare hands to eat until the time of the La-yii, the 6th day ge-wa. Other members of the family also refrain from entering other people’s houses during the time of mourning; until the final ritual has taken place
When women dies, the funeral is carried out in her biological house so she can take her eternal rest in the ancestral house, but with men, funeral can be taken in his natal place or at the wife’s.
Meals for the Deceased
Since the bereaved family does not do any work, it is usually the outsiders who are involved in the meals preparation.
During these three days, the deceased is offered food and drinks on an impressive scale. Food for the dead is offered or served in an outward direction, on a plate or traa (a flat winnowing basket called bi-chap) and placed in front of the head side of the corpse, using the left hand. Food offered to the deceased is prepared outside the house by a close relative. The offering of the food includes fish, honey, wild potato, alcohol, pancakes, cereals, meats and butter, and are kept near the deceased’s head. Food offering occurs amidst sympathizing wails and chanting so that the deceased’s soul parts away peacefully from the surviving relatives.
On the third day or the burial day, the first meal of the day must be served to the dead early in the morning at around 4 or 5 a.m. The second meal is served at around 8 or 9 a.m. and the third meal just before the body is being taken to the rom-bu, the burial monument after 12 noon. No meal is served at the rom-bu according to Taba-dramtey practice. But according to Lotokuchu practice, one more meal is served at the rombu after completing all the burial process.
Burial Site Preparation
The Lhops bury their dead in a chen or rom-bu, or burial mound. Burial preparation starts with the burial site selection of about 30 meters away from the house normally placed in the north direction within their registered land but an area next to the earlier burial is also preferred.
The selected burial site is cleared, and a horizontal stone foundation is erected to raise the area about six inches above the ground level. Planks are arranged to form a cubical box measuring 3x2x4 ft. on this plinth of stone foundation, and stones are piled up to cover the planks in position to form a coffin in place. The stone level around the box comes up to the height of the box. Six supporting poles are erected in a close row around the site and is roofed with pir-la leaves. These poles are around five feet high, cut from a tree locally known as gyek-shing. Pirla leaves are laid with back-side up when roofing the rom-bu, and for other normal uses the leaves must be placed with back-side down.
Moving the Dead Body to the Burial Site
On the third day or the burial day, after 12 noon, the bamboo mat-wrapped corpse is carried on the back by the person who has been guarding the body, with rope harness supported on his forehead and shoulders, with no help from others at one go.
If the deceased is a male, a person with a bow and three arrows leads the procession towards the burial site. In some Lhop communities, an unmarried daughter of her lineage leads the procession to the burial site, carrying a basket (wak) containing personal belongings of the deceased.
The person, who cooked meals for the deceased, follows the person who leads the procession with a job-sey (bitter gourd shell) containing foxtail millet and cotton seeds. The cook scatters these seeds as he walks along, to clear the path and to ward off evil. The bearer of the corpse stands third in line in the procession. The rest of the people that follows the procession make noises to drive away the evil spirits.
Sealing the Burial Site
On reaching the burial site, the entourage circumambulates the site three times in clockwise direction. The body is then swung up, and down over the coffin three times before being buried into the coffin, with the head rested to the north direction, and the face looking up towards the sky. The coffin is cubical, made of cypress planks. The personal belongings of the deceased such as plates, blankets, pots, pans, clothes, shoes, knives, cups, and so on- are placed beside the body indicating there is no reason for the deceased to hold any grudges against the society. In the past, Lhops used to keep expensive and rare ornaments in the grave, since they believed that the soul of the deceased will be attached to its material property and haunt the surviving people. These days, only a few coins or bank notes of small denomination, besides the old clothes, tools, pots and plates are buried along with the corpse.
The bamboo mat tied to the corpse is taken off, and the body is rested in tep-gyem only. Five pairs of pir-la leaves (a broad-leaved shrub found in the area) for male, and six pairs in case of females, are laid with the back-side up on the corpse along with a sang (roughly equivalent to 333grams.) of foxtail millet seeds.
The coffin is then completely covered and sealed with le-shing planks. Holes and gaps between the planks are filled and pasted with to-ka (a sacred gray clay), which is believed to have insect repellent properties to make it airtight. Mourners then stack stones over and around the coffin, so that the burial box is enclosed in what looks like a stone mound. The girl who led the procession to the burial site scatters foxtail millet and cotton seeds in three circumambulations.
The person, who cooked for the deceased blows the job-sey three times, then breaks it by hitting on the triangular-shaped stone placed on the mound, and invites the spirit to have food from him after three nights.
The rom-bu is protected by a fence and a roof. The fencing of the burial mound is done by thick logs all around, and the logs are then bound together by cane ropes running three times around. And then the roof of the hut is also bound by running three ropes across from side-to-side over the roof of the hut and tied to the fencing poles. The rest of the deceased’s items are hung around the hut.
Final Feast for the Dead
After all burial processes are completed, people present, including the person who carried the dead body, offer food and drinks to the departed soul at the burial site.
A ritual feasting of food and drinks takes place at the burial site after this. It is said that in earlier time in Lotokuchu, after the death of a person until the time of the La-yii, the 6th day gewa, the food is eaten in a different manner than other times. No one should eat the food with bare hands; they have to take it with the help of a piece of hard leaf to pick the food and throw it into their mouth without touching the lips. Drinks are taken as usual in bowls or leaf pouches. Funeral foods can be taken home, but should not be thrown away. People then start to disappear after the feast, and if any relative stay behind to mourn on this day, then the relative should stay back for another three days at the deceased’s home. But these are no longer in practice.
The final feast (ritual) for a man is held on the 18th day after the 6th day ge-wa while for woman, it is held on the 15th day after the 6th day ge-wa. A cow for females and an ox for male's death is slaughtered for the feast or as ge-wa, which is also attended by the people who were present during the third day of the ritual. In Taba-dramtey, either a male pig for man or a female pig for woman is sacrificed for the final feast.
The death ceremonies and rituals are carried out by family members without the involvement of any spiritual professionals such as monks or Pandits.
However, for the death of an individual below the age of 12 years, no proper formal funeral is given as the age of 12 is still considered a child. When a child dies, his or her dead body is wrapped and prepared as is done for older people and is simply buried in the rom-bu.
Mourning the Dead
The bereaved family does not do any work or touch any utensils, and cannot offer food to another person or touch food that another person might eat. All works are done by the outsiders starting from cooking and other chores. No bereaved family member is allowed to have food with bare hands. For three days, the bereaved family members have to eat their food with a piece of leaf spoon, without touching the lips, and drinks are to be taken in leaf pouches. This is done in order to honor the deceased. Meats and fried foods are strictly avoided.
The austerity period for the widows is three years. If the husband is dead, the bereaved wife is not allowed to look for new husband nor can visit any house for three years. If the husband dies due to unnatural causes, the surviving wife cannot remarry, and are not allowed to enter others’ house for the next nine years, nor cut her hair. It is believed that the bereaved one brings misfortunes and bad luck to the house, and if anybody is found entering then he or she is hit with black charcoal and residue of fermented grain drink. So hitting with charcoal and residue of fermented grain drink is to ward off or neutralize the bad luck and misfortunes, and a way of showing the disapproval to the defaulter.
And if the wife dies, the bereaved husband has to observe austerity for three years if he has fathered any kids, and one year if he has not fathered any. Widower is easily noticed in the community since he is restrained from cutting his hair during this austerity period. The bereaved husband or wife remains isolated from the kitchen area.
In the house of death, worship of any deities or celebration of Loh for the following austerity period of 3 years is not allowed.
After the death of a person, the Lhops have certain practices to be followed with regard to daily activities. After every two days of routine chores, they take one day off from work as a mark of mourning until the final death ritual.
A new day is counted starting from the 7th day until the final ritual according to which the final feast or ge-wa takes place on the 15th day for female and on the 18th day for male, while according to continuous counting of days from the day of death, the final feast or ge-wa takes place on the 21st day in case of a female and on the 24th day in case of a male.
The surviving family members has twelve working days and nine as non-working days, in case of the death of a female, and fourteen as working days ten as non-working days in case of the death of a male until the completion of final feast. |
