The Colas c12.85

c12.85

There was no single method adopted for the disposal of the dead, and both cremation and inhumation with or without urns are freely mentioned. And there appears to have prevailed considerable latitude in the choice of the method to be followed on each particular occasion in the same family.¹¹⁸ And the *Maṇimēkalai* mentions the construction of brick tombs of various shapes built by the relatives of the dead whether they were sages or kings or women who had become *Satī*.¹¹⁹ It would appear that the shapes of these structures varied with the caste and rank of the persons commemorated by them. The funeral drum striking terror into the hearts of listeners is also mentioned in the same poem.¹²⁰