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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[SEPTEMBRE, 1902.
On the attainment of the years of puberty by a girl she is confined to a room, no male being allowed to see her or be seen by her. After two weeks she is taken out with her face covered and bathed at the back of the house by the female inmates, except little girls and widows, with the assistance of the family laundress, who takes all the jewellery on the maiden's person. Near the bathing-place are kept branches of any milk-bearing tree, usually of the jak-tree. On her return from her purification, her head and face, still covered, she goes three times round a mat having on it kiribat, plantains, seven kinds of curries, rice, cocoanats, and, in the centre, a lamp with seven lighted wicks; and as she does she poands with a pestle some paddy scattered round the provisions. Next, she removes the covering, throws it on to the dhobi (washerwoman), and, after making obeisance to the lamp and patting out its wicks by clapping her hands, presents the laundress with money placed on & betel-leaf. She is then greeted by her relatives, who are usuall invited to a feast, and is presented by them with valuable trinkets. Everything that was made use of for the ceremony is given to the washer-woman. In some cases, till the period of purification is over, the maiden is kept in a separate hut which is afterwards barnt down. Girls who have arrived at the age of puberty are not allowed to remain alone, as devils may possess them and drive them mad; and till three months have elapsed no fried food of any sort is given to them.
The 'shaving of the board' is the rite the young man has to go through; it is performed at a lacky hour and usually takes place a few days before marriage; the baber here plays the important part the laundress did in the other. The shavings are put into a cap, and the person operated on, as well as his relatives who have been invited, put money into it; this is taken by the barber, and the former are thrown on to a roof that they may not be trampled upon.
Marriages are arranged between two families by a relative or a trusted servant of one of them, who, if successful, is handsomely rewarded by both parties. The chances of success depend on the state of the horoscopes of the two intended partners, their respectability which forms & very important factor in the match, the dowry which used to consist of agricultural implements, a few head of cattle, and domestic requisites, together with a small sum of money to set the couple going, and, if connected, the distance of relationship. Two sisters' or brothers' children are rarely allowed to marry, but the solicitation of a mother's brother's or a father's sister's son is always preferred to that of any other.
A few days before the marriage, the two families, in their respective hamlets, send a messenger from house to house to ask, by presenting betel, the fellow-villagers of their own caste for a breakfast, and the guests bring with them presents in money. Only few, however, are invited to the wedding; and the party of the bridegroom, consisting of two groomsmen, an attendant carrying a talipot shade over him, musicians, pingo-bearers, relatives and friends, arrives in the evening at the bride's village and halts at a distance from her house. A messenger is then sent in advance with a few pingo-loads of plantains, and with betel-leaves equal in number to the guests, to inform of their arrival; and when permission is received to proceed, generally by the firing of a jingal, they advance, and are received with all marks of honour; wbite cloth is spread all the way by the washerman, and at the entrance a younger brother of the bride washes the bridegroom's feet and receives a ring as a present. A sum of money is paid to the dhobi (washerman) as a recompense for bis services. They are then entertained with music, food, and betel till the small hours of the morning, when the marriage ceremony commences. The bride and the bridegroom are raised by two of their maternal ancles on to a dais covered with white cloth, and baving on it a heap of raw rice, cocoanato, betel-leaves, and coins. A white jacket and a cloth to wear are presented by the bridegroom to the bride; betel and balls of boiled rice are exchanged; their thumbs are tied together by a thread, and, while water is poured on their hands from a spoated vessel by the bride's father, certain benedictory verges are recited. Last of all, a web of wbite cloth is presented by the bridegroom to the bride's mother; and it is divided among her relatives.
