Bráhmans, unwidowed women, boiled food, meat, fishes, milk, any kind of corn, the bird Chásha or the blue jay, passing by the left side, the appearance of the moon in front, a person coming across one's path with vessels filled with water, and a married couple, a cow with its calf, images of god, cocoanuts and other fruits, the mother, white clothes, the sound of a musical instrument, a horse, an elephant, curds, flowers, a lighted lamp, a jackal, a spiritual preceptor, a public woman, a Mahár, a washerman coming with a bundle of washed clothes, and a marriage procession. [668] The following objects and persons are generally believed to be inauspicious:-- Oil, buttermilk, a couple of snakes, a monkey, pig, and an ass, firewood, ashes and cotton, a person with a disfigured nose, a man dressing his hair in the shape of a crown, red garlands, wet clothes, a woman wearing red cloth, an empty earthen vessel, a Bráhman widow, a Brahmachári and an unmarried Bráhman, [669] a widow, a bare-headed Bráhman, a cat going across the path, a dog flapping his ears, meeting a barber with his bag, a beggar, sneezing, or the asking of a question at the time of departure, waiting, meeting a person with an empty vessel, [670] howling of dogs and jackals, a pair of crows playing on the ground, and a lighted lamp extinguished by its fall on the ground. [671] While plans or proposals are being made, it is considered inauspicious if any one sneezes or the sound of a lizard is heard. [672] Meeting a person of the depressed classes whose touch is pollution, or a Bráhman who accepts funeral gifts, is considered inauspicious. [673] Meeting a woman who is in her menses, a mourner, a buffalo, a snake and a diwad are considered inauspicious. [674] An iron vessel or an iron bar, cow dung cakes, salt, grass, a broom, a vulture, and a washerman bringing with him dirty clothes are also considered to be inauspicious omens. [675] Among the Hindus in Western India, for the purpose of helping the spirit to go to heaven safely, and for securing its goodwill towards the survivors, after death ceremonies called the Shráddhas are generally performed. Some perform these ceremonies once a year in the month of Bhádrapada, and others perform them twice or thrice, i.e., on the anniversary day of the deceased as well as in the dark half of Bhádrapada, which is generally known as the manes' fortnight (pitru paksha). [676] The funeral solemnities performed from the 1st to the 14th day from the death of the deceased are as described below:--