Figure Captions for Mourning Songs and Human Pasts Article Richard K. Wolf (March 15, 2000) Fig. 1 Since fire is an embodiment of divinity, special rituals accompany the lighting of special flames. In this photo one of the musicians makes fire for the dry funeral recremation by twirling a stick on the dried root of the vag tree (identified in M. Emeneau’s fieldnotes as Solix tetrasperma). Pieces of cloth are used to catch the spark and kindle a larger fire. A similar process is used for producing a flame during ceremonies for the gods. S. Raman making the inner ring for a tabatk (frame drum) in the koll, or . blacksmith’s shop. Blacksmithing is one of the traditional Kota occupations and the smithy is treated as a place of divinity. Singer V. Mathi rendering an tl (mourning song) in my office/bedroom in .. Kolml village, May 1992. The physicality of “shaking” or “moving” evinced by the etymology of the term is evident in her performance, which involves significant movements of the hands and expressions on the face. Note also Mathi’s jewelry, which is typical for Kota women. Musicians perform the bier lighting tune as the funeral pyre is set ablaze. 1991 Mnr village. . Family members congregate around a decorated chair—the bier (katl) for the dry .. funeral (varldv) of a deceased relative. Underneath and on top of the bier are symbolic items associated with the deceased specifically and with the history of the tribe generally. One of the baskets, for instance, contains millet (vatm), the ancient staple of the Nilgiris. The deceased’s bone relics will later be place in the striped cloth (var. ) on the seat of the chair. r The highly decorated dry funeral biers are led musically on procession to the dry funeral cremation ground. 1991 Mnr village . Men dance at the dry funeral ground. Mnr village 1991. . Musicians tighten their drum skins before performing melodies to induce divine possession. The barechested gentleman in the foreground facing the fire is later “moved by the gods.” Dry funeral ground, Kurgj village, 1997. A photograph of Ticgr village, the village that once had “60 houses” according . to this mourning song. Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 7 Fig. 8 Fig. 9 Fig. 10 Female dancer at dry funeral in Kurgj wearing a “coin necklace” of the type described in the “Puy Avo.”