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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.