Bathing and Distribution of the moali Gifts
The next day (February 12) began in a leisurely fashion with rounds of drinks at Komlu’s house; preparations were then made for another feast. Only in the afternoon did the women of the sponsors carry large vessels of warm water to the field behind the house. Before this, the external tsorubai and panjabai had made a new entrance into the village, accompanied by drumming, and the various ritual actors now began to pour water over themselves. Very soon, someone began to throw mud, and others reciprocated the friendly attack; a brief mud fight ensued, after which the sponsors distributed new white cloth.
Shortly thereafter began the part of the ritual for which Domru Sisa - Ranju’s mamu - had been waiting: the distribution of the moali gifts. Not only were the various mamu of the deceased individuals honored on this occasion, but also the buffalo-takers, the two tsorubai groups, and the panjabai. In total, the representatives of seven groups took their places on bamboo mats (tati) in one of the sponsors’ yards. This action of sitting on mats also gives this part of the ritual its name: tati bosbar (taking one’s place on the bamboo mats).
A number of mats were placed next to each other, creating a long row, in front of the roughly eight-meter-long stable, which manifested the Kirsani’s wealth. The tsorubai and panjabai took their places at one end; next to them sat the mamu of four of the deceased, including Domru Sisa, behind whom other people from Gudapada sat for support. Domru’s WB, named Sukro Chal- lan, one of the Mundagoria in Gudapada, had supported Domru throughout the entire time of the gotr and was also the spokesman on this occasion, alongside the mamu himself. As soon as the men sat down, they were handed gourds or cups of beer, and a set of “bone vessels” (moali) was placed in front of each of the mamu. Sukro immediately pushed the moali gifts aside and made no move to drink the beer, thereby demonstrating the rejection of the gifts by the mamu’s side. All the others likewise waited and held their beer in their hands without tasting it.
There ensued a drawn-out and in part dramatic discussion about the amount of gifts Domru should receive. One sponsor after another, then all of them together, addressed Domru and Sukro, who shook their heads and gestured negatively. A silver bracelet (kadu) was brought and placed next to the other gifts, then another brass plate, but the purani bringers rejected the offer. Domru demanded a large water container made of brass (goria), which he appeared to know that the deceased had possessed. The sponsors asserted that such an object was only given for deceased women. The longer the discussion went on, the more restless the other mamu and the buffalo-takers became, still sitting before their untouched drinks. Ranju’s widow squatted before Domru and urged him to accept the gifts as they were; her sons bowed before Domru and said that they could not give more.
Finally, the meal was placed in front of the sitting men, consisting of rice and meat, along with a platter of millet gruel. Domru's food was served in a brass platter. The purani bringers then stood up, and Domru said, “Then act as if your mamu had not come.” The representative of the panjabai had meanwhile become impatient, and after pouring some of his beer into others' vessels and vice versa, he began to empty the first gourd. Here and there, criticism of the mamu’s behavior was heard. Next to the house, the sponsors continued trying to persuade Sukro and Domru. The latter offered to give the purani got isap (as a guest) and not mamu isap (as a mother s brother). All affines can bring purani to a gotr as guests (gotia). These gifts are reciprocated in the same way on subsequent occasions. Only the deceased s mother s brother can bring such buffaloes for moali. In other words, as mamu of the deceased, he receives special gifts for the purani that he brings to his nephew’s house.[1] [2] The buffalo then does not have to be reciprocated.
Domru thus offered to redefine his role in the context of the gotr and view it as that of a simple guest. This was meant as a provocation and was correspondingly rejected by the sponsors; it would probably have been equivalent to dishonoring the mamu. Finally, the sponsors offered to add to the gifts an old and richly carved bed belonging to Komlu’s father, and Domru agreed. The participants returned to their places, and this time, the offered beer was not refused. Some of the other mamu stood up to go down the row of honorees and place some of their rice on their plates. Then Domru and Sukro also began to eat.
Only on the next day did the group accompanying the mamu return to Gu- dapada; the women carried the pieces of the bed home on their heads. Once arrived in Gudapada, Domru served beer at his house to all those who had gone on the expedition to Ponosguda. He sat proudly on the bed, which stood in the yard in front of his house, where the buffalo had been tied up not long before. In his small house, there was no room for the bed.m
