Oppari

An oppari is an ancient form of lamenting in southern India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, and North-Eastern Sri Lanka. Oppari is a folk song tradition and is often an admixture of eulogy and lament. The oppari is typically sung by a group of women relatives who came to pay respects to the departed in a death ceremony. It is a means to express one's own grief and also to share and assuage one's grief for the deceased. Many communities use the oppari to express their grief at a funeral. Sometimes professional oppari singers are recruited, but it is a dying practice.