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Essay About Toda

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FUNERAL

Todas believe in life after death and believe that the soul is immortal. They have a grand funeral ceremony. They cremate the dead bodies. The todas believed that the buffalo’s spirit would be a companion to the dead person and the dead person could live as he lived on earth and therefore used to sacrifice buffaloes. However, this cruel practice has been disregarded by the Government in 1964.
There are two types of funeral ceremonies which is the Green and Dry disposals of the dead. Green disposal is done when an adult dies and after a few months is followed by dry disposal for a group of dead people. For a man the rituals are done by his son or brother but for a woman it is done by her husband.
The funeral pyre is lighted from a fire ignited by friction which is thought to be …show more content…

Photo Credits: PTI; the Hindu; Above: Top Secret.

LANGUAGE AND ENTERTAINMENT

The Toda people have their own language called the Toda language which derives its roots from Dravidian language and is similar to Tamil and Malayalam. This language does not have a script and is very difficult to learn and speak. The Toda people only speak the language as they are not able to pen it down on paper.
They are great poets and singers. During rituals they sing songs that are poetic. The only musical instrument which they play is flute which is called as Pooheeri made up of bamboo. They live in a society where everyone is equal and there is no differentiation based on castes.

EMBROIDERY

The Todas are specially known for their art skill which is their embroidery. What started out to be a hobby passed down from generation to generation became their source of income and a beautiful artwork loved by many. The Registrar of Geographical Indication gave GI(Geographical Indication) status for this unique embroidery which prevents the art from being replicated and ensures that everyone pays a fair uniform

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