Death of a person is considered as a great sorrow and is met with special mourning in Samegrelo. Yelling, loud crying, talking and pulling out hair are characteristic events for the Mengrelian mourning. A lighted candle would be given to the dying person, the doors and windows would be opened so that the spirit of the deceased can leave the house unimpeded and travel to Heaven. The human soul is represented in the form of a bird, and it flies freely to the sky. The mourners go out to the yard, sit here and start to cry aloud, but they don't dare to scream until the dying soul is released. Two people remain with the dying person, who will close the eyes of the deceased and straighten his face. As a person dies, the mourner immediately utters a terrible scream, and the men shout aloud. According to tradition, the bed of the deceased will be broken immediately and it will be moved to another place. With a scream, the village learns of the death of a person, and everyone rushes to the family of the deceased, cries and claps their hands over their heads. As a sign of great sorrow, mother and sisters scratch their cheeks and tear their hair. On the same day, they send a "maginafal" (bearer of news) to their relatives, informing them of their loss. It turns out that in the past the "maginafal" used to hang a bag on his back, he would hold a bowl in his hand, he would come to the family and inform about the day of mourning for the deceased, and he would take beans with him. The bearer of the news would not go to the family alone, he would bring someone and start telling the bad news from far and gradually make them understand what a trouble the family was facing. On hearing this, there were cries and screams here as well, they cried for the dead. Neighbours would gather and comfort the mourners. On the third or fourth day, they would begin to rest the deceased. Specially designated people would bathe the deceased, dress him in new clothes and put him in a coffin. Everything he loved in life would be put inside the coffin – belt, dagger, money, tobacco, etc. A small table was placed near the coffin, where they put a lit candle, bread, salt and wine. On the day of funeral, they would light a fire in one part of the yard of the deceased, prepare pots in which beans, rice, maize porridge and other fasting foods would be cooked. The work and duties were distributed among the helpers: one group was cooking, the other group was taking care of wine, and the third group was responsible for receiving the weeping guests and honouring them. Supervision of the baggage, horses and carriages of the guests was the task of the fourth group and so on. On the day of the funeral, a group of special mourners singing the specific songs and consisting of four or five people, would be invited. One would have a high voice while the others had thin or law voices.  People would start arriving from the early morning. As a sign of grief, the mourning person would unplait the hair and cry for the dead. If a mourning woman had a brother, she would plaint as many thin braids as many brothers she had, leaving the most of the hair spread over the shoulders. Women with long, unplaited hair would sit in front of the coffin of the deceased in two rows. Some sat in the first row: the mother, the guardians and the sisters would sit at the head of the coffin, the wife sat at the feet. Close relatives were sitting in the second row. They would bring a horse of the deceased into the yard, cover it with a black cloth and put a saddle next to it. There was a table nearby with the silver jewellery of the deceased on it.

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In the middle of the day, there would be a feast with fasting food. If the weather was fine, people would be seated in the courtyard, where a wooden table and chairs were arranged, and everyone would be given half of a bread, beans, rice porridge and other fasting foods. Men with wine jugs and glasses would come to everyone offering to drink for the deceased. As soon as dining started, no one would start crying.