Festivals of the Hill Tribes South of Assam. 279
question of this practice or its connection with terrace cultivation, but will just point out that many tribes put up monoliths as memorials of the dead, and that in Maram, a village noted for its monoliths, and among the Khoireng, the practice of erecting them in one's life time is giving, or rather has given, way to that of placing them over the grave of one's father. I may also mention that in the Lushai Hills, where children put up stones to their parents, I came across two cases in which persons, mistrusting the filial affec- tion of their heirs, or having no heir, put up stones during their own life time, dispensing and sharing in all the good things that accompany the funeral feast. This possible connection between the feasts we are discussing and funeral rites is further suggested by the shape of Garo memorial posts, which I will show you in a moment.
To return to the Maring ceremony. The first point I want to make is, though the feasts are for the glorification of the individual they are really clan feasts. Notice has to be given to the religious and secular heads of the com- munity. This is the case in most tribes, and in some the intention to give the feast has to be kept secret from all others. Among the Lhotas there is a special prayer, called the " dranda," for the welfare of the community, which is recited at all clan ceremonies ; and it is recited during the fourth feast of the series we are discussing. In many tribes the clansmen and the husbands of the women of the givers have special duties assigned them. In others the young people of both sexes, using the special dormitories in the quarter in which the giver of the feast lives, have special duties also. Among the Lushais one of the feasts is in honour of the spirits of the departed of the giver's clan, the effigies of whom are carried about by their des- cendants with much shouting and laughter.
In the Maring feast there is not much to connect it with the crops, except the lavish expenditure of rice beer ; but among other tribes we find a feast called Buh-Ai included
