The ghost of a woman dying in childbirth or during her menses assumes the form of Alwant. For the purpose of preventing the dead woman turning into a ghost the following device is adopted. The corpse, instead of being burnt as usual, is buried underground, and four iron nails are fixed at the four corners of the spot on which the body is buried, and plants bearing red flowers are planted thereon. [601] At Bankavli it is believed that the ghost of a woman dying in childbirth or during her menses assumes the form of Jákhin, while the people of the Kolhápur District believe that it assumes the form of Hadal. [602] The special precautions that a father has to take at the birth of a child are:-- To arrange for a suitable place or a room provided with the materials required for the occasion, and to ensure the correct moment for the birth of the child. No person other than a midwife is allowed to enter the room for the first ten days. A pot is kept filled with water and a twig of the nim tree in the entrance of the house, and all persons entering the house have to wash their feet with this water. A knife or some other sharp weapon is kept under the bed of the woman in order that the mother and her child may not be attacked by a spirit. [603] The chief reason for ensuring the correct moment for the birth is that, if the birth takes place at an unlucky hour, special rites are necessary for averting the evil effects. These rites consist in the recitation of certain holy mantras and in giving presents of money, sessamum, jágri, clarified butter, etc., to the Bráhmans and alms to the poor. [604] At Medhe in the Rohe taluka, it is customary for the father to throw a stone in a well, a pond, or a river at the birth of his son, and then to look at the face of the child. [605] An owl is considered to be a bird of such evil repute that, in all parts of the Konkan, it is considered necessary to perform expiatory rites when an owl perches on the roof. If these rites are not performed, it is firmly believed that some evil will befall the members of the family. Various omens are drawn from the cries of the bird Pingla, and these cries are known as Kilbil, Chilbil and Khit Khit. [606] If an owl sits on the roof of a house, it is a sure sign of coming death to a member of the family. [607] At Devgad in the Ratnágiri District the sound of a bat or an owl is considered inauspicious, and indicates the death of a sick person in the house. [608] At Chauk an owl is said to have some connection with spirits. Its sound at night indicates the approaching death of a sick person in the house. One variety of the owl called the pingla is supposed to foretell future events by its movements and cries, while the bat is considered an inauspicious bird, and its appearance forebodes coming evil. [609]