SOUTH INDIA: TRADITIONAL FUNERAL OF TODA PEOPLE

Toda are hill tribe people living in the Nilgiri Hills (mountains north of Coimbatore).
The Todas cremate their dead and the ceremony includes sacrifice of their most sacred animal - the buffalo.

In the morning people arrive to the village of the deceased person and wait for the beginning of the funeral procession. The funeral will take most of the day.

The dead body is put in a decorated carriage and carried on shoulders of several men

The funeral procession walks several kilometers to the community burial site

The family of the deceased sacrifices one of its buffaloes (a sacred animal for the Todas) to accompany the dead person in the afterlife

Near the burial site the carriage is rested to allow for last good-byes.

Women circle the carriage and show their condolences by touching heads

Since the deceased was a female, it is the women's role to ignite the cremation fire

The cremation itself. Initially everybody stands nearby, but after some time people start slowly leaving until only the closest family is left.