Ritual Purification
Almost immediately afterward, possibly while it is still dark, the bondki dokri[1] performs the chatreng singlei ritual for the family. As previously described, two chatreng stalks are placed in the manure pile (kot gadi) near the house so as to form a “gate,” and another one is laid down in front. After a brief invocation, the bondki dokri kills a black chick on the manure pile for the duma and lets the blood drip on the stalks and on a platter of unhulled rice. She presses the bloody rice to the newborn’s forehead (rokto tika) and has the mother and child step through the gate first, while she sprinkles water on their heads with the (bloody) chatreng stalk. All other members of the house follow, sometimes carrying household objects29 with them through the gate. The bondki dokri sprinkles water on each of them.
Somewhat later, the bondki dokri and her assistant throw into the river the clay pot (sarni handi) used by the mother and child to bathe twice a day since the birth. This action is the source of the ritual’s other name, handi darani, “the clay pot (handi) is thrown away.” After the bondki dokri and the mother have bathed, the clothes worn by all three (the bondki dokri, her assistant, and the mother) are washed in the river. The chatreng singlei ritual is repeated in the same way as after the birth.
During the following hours, until early afternoon, the mother and other women completely repaint the house in which the child was born, inside and out. Meanwhile, the young men of the kutum prepare the meal. Trenches are dug for the cooking hearths, the area under a hayloft is turned into a storage place for the food prepared (kandasal), and the sacrificial animals are butchered.
- [1] 2 Other individuals, the child’s grandfather for example, can also perform the ritual.
