'Uttarakhand
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•while on a visit to that area. The ceremony lasted four days.>l
'On the first day the animal was taken outside the village where
•the deceased's clothes are tied to it. Then barley is strewn over
-the animal and the old spirits are beseeched not to take the food
belonging to the deceased. On the second day, nothing of impor-
•tance takes place, but on the third day, the animal is taken to
-the place where the bones of the dead are interned. The casket
-containing the bones is taken out and strict privacy is ensured
while doing this by erecting ascreen round the area where the
•casket had been buried. The case is then put in the "Ghost"
boots. A procession is formed and on reachingt he village, the
,-animal is fed and the case containing the bones brought into the
deceased's house, alongwith his clothes. Once again, the old man
with mystic powers gives detailed advice to the deceased as to
what he should do to reach the gate of heaven. The men and
women dance round the animal and often the animal is killed,
The departure of the animal signifies the departure of the spirit.
'The rituals end with the breaking of the deceased into two, one
half is buried at some lofty place and the other half taken to a
•sacred place. So ends the strange ceremony.
Whatever the history of a race, and whatever the changes in life
• due to migration and a variation of surroundings, practices such
. as Gwan which relate to some of the important events of life,
-drew their source from ancient times when the race under review
lived with those which are now extinct or are in distant places.
'.Now it can be truly studied only on their original context and
previous surroundings.