Amongst Rajputs, during the marriage ceremony, the bride has to walk four times round the sacrificial fire in the company of the bridegroom. Two of these turns are generally taken with a wooden blade called Khāndu.[31]
When a girl loses her betrothed twice in succession, she is married to a Pipal tree before being betrothed for the third time.[32]
If the betrothed husband of a girl dies before the celebration of the marriage, she is married to a Pipal or Ankda (a poisonous plant) in the belief that the danger of death will fall on the tree, and that the next husband of the girl will survive.[33]
If a man loses two wives one after the other, he is married to a Shami tree before he is married again, and his third marriage is called the fourth.[34]
In some places, such a man is married to a Bordi (Zizyphus Jujuba) instead of a Shami.[35]
In some places, if a man’s wives do not live, his next wife is married to an Ankdi plant before her marriage with him.[36]
A belief prevails that an insane maiden is cured of her insanity if married to the field god Kshetrapāl.[37]
If a girl attains puberty before marriage, she is married to a Pipal tree. A girl with congenital deformities is also married to a Pipal tree.[38]
It is generally believed that if a betrothed girl touches red lead, she is carried away by Kshetrapāl.[39]
The belief that Kshetrapāl carries away the bride from the marriage altar is so common, that a stone representing the god is placed on the marriage altar and touched by the bridal pair at every turn round the sacrificial fire.[40]