| caption: |
funeral platforms , recent death from dysentery |
| text: |
The funeral platforms stand along the path which leads from the second morung down to the fields. On one of them surrounded by a bamboo fence, lay the corpse of a young girl covered in a red cloth. She had recently died of dysentery. Her personal utensils are hung up on the fence. Small leaf huts are put up near the platform under which a fire is lit for the soul after the funeral. In general it is kept burning until the head can be detached, but in this case it was kept burning for only three days so that the soul of the deceased who had died of a contagious disease would not loiter around the vicinity of the village for too long. (photo. of platform film 16 no. 18) |
