Woman. Very well, I will make ready some food, and will run away with you in the next bright fortnight.
These dialogues often, it is said, lead to quarrels between husband and wife, as the husband cannot rebuke his wife in the assembly. Sometimes the women fall in love with men in the dance, and afterwards run away with them.
5. Nuptial ceremony
The marriage takes place at the boy’s house, where two marriage-sheds are made. It is noticeable that the bride on going to the bridegroom’s house to be married is accompanied only by her female relatives, no man of her family being allowed to be with her. This is probably a reminiscence of the old custom of marriage by capture, as in former times she was carried off by force, the opposition of her male relatives having been quelled. In memory of this the men still do not countenance the wedding procession by their presence. The bridal couple are made to sit down together on a mat, and from three to seven pots of cold water are poured over them. About a week after the wedding the couple go to a market with their friends, and after walking round it they all sit down and drink liquor.
6. Widow-marriage and divorce
The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a widow is practically compelled to marry her late husband’s younger brother, if he has one. If she persistently refuses to do so, in spite of the strongest pressure, her parents turn her out of their house. In order to be married the woman goes to the man’s house with some friends; they sit together on the ground, and the friends apply the tīka or sign by touching their foreheads with dry rice. A man can divorce his wife if she is of bad character, or if she is supposed to be under an unfavourable star, or if her children die in infancy. A divorced woman can marry again as if she were a widow.
7. Religion and festivals
The Parjas worship the class of divinities of the hills and forests usually revered among primitive tribes, as well as Dānteshwari, the tutelary goddess of Bastar. On the day that sowing begins they offer a fowl to the field, first placing some grains of rice before it. If the fowl eats the rice they prognosticate a good harvest, and if not the reverse. A few members of the tribe belong to the Rāmānandi sect, and on this account a little extra attention is paid to them. If such a one is invited to a feast he is given a wooden seat, while others sit on the ground. It is said that a few years ago a man became a Kabīrpanthi, but he subsequently went blind and his son died, and since this event the sect is absolutely without adherents. Most villages have a Sirha or man who is possessed by the deity, and his advice is taken in religious matters, such as the detection of witches. Another official is called Medha Gantia or ‘The Counter of posts.’ He appoints the days for weddings, calculating them by counting on his fingers, and also fixes auspicious days for the construction of a house or for the commencement of sowing. It is probable that in former times he kept count of the days by numbering posts or trees. When rain is wanted the people fix a piece of wood into the ground, calling it Bhīmsen Deo or King of the Clouds. They pour water over it and pray to it, asking for rain. Every year, after the crops are harvested, they worship the rivers or streams in the village. A snake, a jackal, a hare and a dog wagging its ears are unlucky objects to see when starting on a journey, and also a dust devil blowing along in front. They do not kill wild dogs, because they say that tigers avoid the forests where these reside, and some of them hold that a tiger on meeting a wild dog climbs a tree to get out of his way. Wednesday and Thursday are lucky days for starting on a journey, and the operations of sowing, reaping and threshing should be commenced and completed on one of these days. When a man intends to build a house he places a number of sets of three grains of rice, one resting on the other two, on the ground in different places. Each set is covered by a leaf-cup with some earth to hold it down. Next morning the grains are inspected, and if the top one has fallen down the site is considered to be lucky, as indicating that the earth is wishful to bear the burden of a house in this place. A house should face to the east or west, and not to the north or south. Similarly, the roads leading out of the village should run east or west from the starting-point. The principal festivals of the Parjas are the Hareli[6] or feast of the new vegetation in July, the Nawākhāni[7] or feast of the new rice crop in August or September, and the Am Nawākhāni or that of the new mango crop in April or May. At the feasts the new season’s crop should be eaten, but if no fresh rice has ripened, they touch some of the old grain with a blade of a growing rice-plant, and consider that it has become the new crop. On these occasions ancestors are worshipped by members of the family only inside the house, and offerings of the new crops are made to them.
8. Disposal of the dead
The dead are invariably buried, the corpse being laid in the ground with head to the east and feet to the west. This is probably the most primitive burial, it being supposed that the region of the dead is towards the west, as the setting sun disappears in that direction. The corpse is therefore laid in the grave with the feet to the west ready to start on its journey. Members of the tribe who have imbibed Hindu ideas now occasionally lay the corpse with the head to the north in the direction of the Ganges. Rice-gruel, water and a tooth-stick are placed on the grave nightly for some days after death. As an interesting parallel instance, near home, of the belief that the soul starts on a long journey after death, the following passage may be quoted from Mr. Gomme’s Folklore: “Among the superstitions of Lancashire is one which tells us of a lingering belief in a long journey after death, when food is necessary to support the soul. A man having died of apoplexy at a public dinner near Manchester, one of the company was heard to remark, ‘Well, poor Joe, God rest his soul! He has at least gone to his long rest wi’ a belly full o’ good meat, and that’s some consolation!’ And perhaps a still more remarkable instance is that of the woman buried in Curton Church, near Rochester, who directed by her will that the coffin was to have a lock and key, the key being placed in her dead hand, so that she might be able to release herself at pleasure.”[8]