Death rituals among the Dhangars
In Dhangar community dead body is buried in their own graveyard. Mourning is observed for twelve days on the death of an adult and for three days for a child. They employ bhatji to perform the Shraddh ceremony. On the twelth day only the eldest son offers his hair and the mundane or tonsure is done by the barber. On that day a goat is sacrificed by the family of the deceased to offer a feast to the relatives and friends. They take non-vegetarian food(meat of sacrificed goat and alcoholic drinks), The mourning period is observed by taking vegetarian food, as a mark of respect to the deceased. In Dhangar community the dead body is kept in sitting position by using the pillar in the house. Some money is tied to the waist of the dead body. All the family members take the body to the burial ground and the elder son of the deceased has to throw certain types of grains on the way to the burial ground. The digging of the pit has to be started by the eldest son and than the other people help him in digging the pit.Before burying the body a stone is kept beside the body calles as eyasao by elder son, while for mother it is kept by the younger son.After returning from the cementary, chilled water is sprinkled on them by using black current leaves. The uttarkriya ritual takes place where in, the elder or the younger son has to give pindadann or food offering is done. If the marriage or any other function is fixed then it has to be celebrated within a year.
There is also one belief that the seeds from the the house of the deceased house are not be presented for next cropping season.Keeping these seeds is believed to be inauspicious. The seeds should be sowed in that year and should pay the rate of that seeds. None of the functions are celebrated in that house for next three years. On eleventh day some rituals takes place for the welfare of the deceased house. Next the elderly come for bending on left leg and this is called Durund. After this, an elderly person brings a utensil called the Hadgadi. In this the rice flour is kept and is covered with cloths. This is done to see, in which form has the dead person taken the rebirth. This is strongly believed by the elderely people.
Whether the dead person has taken birth as tiger or in any other form, is identified by seeing the footprints that comes on the rice flour. On the twelteth day there is a goat sacrifice and feast is given to all elderly is prepared by using small suts of mango tree, coconut and the elderly people stay awake the whole night and tell the stories.
If any women dies within six months after giving birth to a girl child then, the women is considered inauspicious and is called as aragath.
As compared to other cults and tribes in Hinduism, the cremation ritual and ceremony is totally different in Dhangar samaj. The dead body is taken out of the house from legside it is believed that by doing this the soul of the dead directly reaches to the heaven.