[Disposal of the dead.] 9. Rich people cremate the dead; poorer people bury, or consign the corpse to some river. The dead are buried face downwards to bar the return of the ghost; the feet face the north; some bury without a shroud. After cremation the ashes are usually taken to the Ganges, but some people leave them at the pyre. Fire is provided by a sweeper, who gets a small fee and the bamboos of the bier as his perquisite. After the cremation is over, some on their way home bathe, but this is not essential. After they bathe they collect a little kusa grass and throw it on the road by which the corpse was removed. Then they throw some pebbles in the direction of the pyre. The popular explanation of this practice is, in order that “affection for the dead may come to an end” (moh chhût jâwê); the real object is to bar the return of the ghost. On the third or seventh day after the cremation the son or person who has lighted the pyre shaves; then he has some large cakes (tikiya) cooked, and some is placed on a leaf of the dhâk tree (butea frondosa), and laid in a barley field for the support of the ghost. The clansmen are feasted on the thirteenth day; thirteen pieces of betel-nut and thirteen pice are placed, one in each of thirteen pots, and this, with some grain, is divided among thirteen Brâhmans. Then a fire-sacrifice is made. There is no regular srâddha; but they worship the souls of the dead collectively in the month of Kuâr, and throw cakes to the crows, who represent the souls of the dead. [Ceremonial pollution.] 10. The death pollution lasts for thirteen days; after child-birth for ten, and after menstruation for three days. The first two are removed by regular purification; the third by bathing and washing the hair of the head.