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MORTUARY RITES: PHASE 2

On the third day after the cremation the second part of the mortuary
rites took place—the collection of bones and merit-making for the deceased.
On the previous day a large number of people congregated in the bereaved
household to `make the prasaat peueng'.

Making the `prasaat peueng'

The prasaat peueng is a palanquin-type structure, which is said to represent
a palace. It may be noted it is similar to the prasaat rajawang made for
the Bun Kathin rites (see Chapter 10, p. 158).[5] (The village interpretation
is that it is made so that the dead man can live in it in heaven.) Various
gifts are placed inside and are presented to the monks on the following
day, in order to make merit for the dead man.

The assemblage of people for making the prasaat was far in excess of
those actually needed. Large quantities of food were cooked on this day,
both to feed the participants and, more importantly, to feed the monks on
the following day at a grand merit-making ceremony.

Collection of bones

Early next morning a party of villagers who had assembled at the funeral
house left for the cemetery. The party was met at the cremation site by
seven monks invited to officiate. The funeral pyre was found to be still
smouldering after three days. Water was sprinkled on it by a brother of
the deceased's wife, an ex-abbot, in order to put out the live coals. Then
the collection of the bones began. A monk initiated this activity by first
picking up a bone and putting it in a pot. Then all the others followed.
While collecting the bones, they raked the ashes in order to find the
coin that had been placed in the corpse's mouth. (`This coin, after the
burning of the corpse, is used to counter phii (spirits). Before using it
for this purpose certain magical spells have to be recited (sek-katha).' It is
used as a medallion.)

The bones were all collected in the pot, in the bottom of which a hole
had been bored by the ex-abbot. Then the young people present (luug-laan
of the deceased) washed the bones by pouring scented water into the pot.
(This ritual act is described as the laan asking the forgiveness of grandparents
(laan somma pu, somma ya), and is reserved for the luug-laan.)

Two male elders (one being the ex-abbot) then thoroughly washed the
bones. After this, `siblings' of the deceased made a human figure from
the ashes. They first made it with the head pointing to the west, then
reversed it. (The west is the direction of death; when the `body' is
pointed to the east it means rebirth and the emergence of a living human
being.) While this was taking place a classificatory brother of the deceased
dug among the ashes to uproot the ends of the two posts of the funeral pyre
construction. (`If the remains of the posts in the ground are not pulled out,
the winjan of the dead will hover around near the place of cremation.')

The deceased's son then covered the mouth of the pot with a piece of
white cloth, and secured it with a thread, one end of which, about two feet
long, was left dangling. A lighted candle was placed on the rim of the
pot's mouth and the pot placed on the chest of the figure made with the
ashes. `The candle lights the way. The pot is placed on the chest because
the heart is there.')

The monks then approached the figure, stood near its head, and chanted
three different suad. During one of them, the deceased's classificatory
brother poured water on the ground to transfer merit to the deceased
(yaadnam). The monks also chanted suad acirang. (According to the
abbot this chant refers to the impermanence of human life, which is
compared to firewood which decays with time.) During this chant the
monks held the thread attached to the pot (see Plate 1b).

Then a son of the deceased made a hole in the cloth covering the
mouth of the pot with a knife (`to let the winjan escape'). A hole was dug
in the ashes, the pot was put in it by another son of the deceased and covered
with ashes while his brother held the thread. All the males present then
collected branches from the surrounding forest and used them to cover
the place where the pot was buried.[6]

This concluded the bone-collection ceremony. In this second phase of
the mortuary rites the winjan has been purified and despatched to heaven
and subsequent rebirth.

The presentation of the `prasaat peueng' to the monks

While the bone-collection ceremony was drawing to a close, the next
ritual sequence had already been started in the village. A son-in-law
and a classificatory son-in-law of the deceased had carried the prasaat

peueng from the funeral house to the monks' living quarters and placed
it on the wide verandah.

Some people had already assembled there, among whom the majority
were women. This pattern is understandable, because the first part of the
proceedings is giving food to the monks. The women had brought baskets
of food with them, not only that cooked on the previous day but more
which they had cooked in their own houses. For this is an occasion for
merit-making for any villager who chooses; thus twenty of the fifty-two
adults present were non-kin by village recognition.

While food was being offered to the monks, another food-offering was
taking place in the compound near the bood. This was the chakkhaw or
offering of rice to the deceased's winjan. Eight persons performed this
rite, seven of whom were close kin of the deceased: two sons, a daughter,
two sisters, a classificatory brother and a classificatory sister (mother's
brother's daughter). They placed kratong (banana leaf-containers) with
food near the bood and lighted a candle; an elderly relative—the classificatory
brother—then planted a bamboo pole with a flag attached on the
western side of the bood, thereby signifying that food was being offered
to the deceased. This same elder then poured water on the ground
(yaadnam): the winjan of the dead was told to receive the gifts in the
prasaat peueng, and Nang Thoranee (the earth goddess) was requested
to convey bun and the gifts to him.

The next sequence was the presentation of the prasaat peueng to the
monks. The gifts placed inside it were: a monk's robe, a pillow and mat,
two pieces of cloth, a pair of pants, an aluminium pot, a torchlight, an
exercise book and pencil, candles and matches, and a kind of sweet
delicacy made of rice (khaw tom).

The deceased's son and a brother of the deceased's wife (the ex-abbot)
carried the prasaat and placed it near the monks. A candle was lit and put
on the prasaat, marking it as the gift to be given. The ex-abbot tied a cord
to it and handed the other end to the monks; he then said a Pali stanza
offering them the gifts.

The final phase of the merit-making for the dead was the preaching of
a sermon by a monk. A brief summary of the sermon, given us by the
abbot, is as follows: `Once there is birth, there will follow ageing, pain
and death. Animals, houses, motor cars are no exception to this rule.
The performance of cremation rites brings merit to those conducting
them; merit accrues to the sponsors of the rites.'

The sermon concluded the mortuary rites.