Although birth was considered to be ritually polluting, a death in the family was thought to be much more so. In the case of the death of the oldest member of the family, whether male or female, the body would be cremated on a pyre; for all other family members burial was the norm. In either case, the ceremonies were conducted by the Maran subgroup of the community and they utilised both elements of superstition and of Hinduism. The occasions involving cremation were more ritualised than those involving burial.