Formerly such children were often buried in the house or courtyard so that their spirits might be born again in the same family.

The lower castes sometimes consider the rite of ear-piercing as the initiation and sometimes marriage.

Among the Panwar Rajputs a child is initiated when about two years old by being given cooked rice and milk to eat.

The initiation cannot for some reason be performed by the natural father, but must be done by a _guru_ or spiritual father, who should thereafter be regarded with a reverence equal to or even exceeding that paid to the natural father.
84.

Penalty feasts.
When a man is readmitted to caste after exclusion for some offence, the principal feature of the rite is a feast at which he is again permitted to eat with his fellows.