Marriage ceremonies. 42. The following account of the ritual in force in Bhangi marriages is mainly based on Mr. Greeven’s notes. The marriage customs of the Shaikh Mehtars are attempts to follow as closely as possible the Musalmân course (shâdi) of nuptial contract (nikâh) and dower (mahar bândhna). Among the Hindu sub-castes a match-maker (agua), spoken of by Lâl Begis as the “go-between” (bichauliya), is selected by either party. A marriage fee, settled by the match-makers, may be given for a bride, but not for a bridegroom, except by way of marriage portion (dahej). Where the bride’s father is wealthy, a form of Beena marriage prevails, and it is common for him to require or permit his son-in-law to reside with him (ghar damâdu).
The period between the conclusion of arrangements by the match-makers and the actual wedding is known as the lagan. It is inaugurated on the first evening by a dinner of raw sugar (gur) given by the parents of both parties jointly at the bride’s dwelling to all the clansmen. The next essential is to erect a marriage pole (mâcha) consisting of a plough shaft (haris) enwreathed in dûb grass and mango leaves on the first evening in the bridegroom’s, and on the second in the bride’s court-yard. A night wake (ratjaga) precedes each of these ceremonies, in which the women are feasted at the household concerned with pulse and rice, and occupy themselves in preparing comfits (gulgula) of raw sugar, flour, and oil, which on the following morning are distributed among all the clansmen at their houses. When the marriage pole is erected in the bridegroom’s court-yard, merely an earthen water-pot (gâghar), surmounted with a pot with a spout (badhana), is deposited beside it, and on the same evening all the members of the tribe, male and female, are feasted with rice and sugar and clarified butter. When, however, a second marriage pole is erected, after a second night wake, in the bride’s court-yard, it has a thatched canopy (chhappar) attached to it, and on this occasion, and under this canopy, the actual wedding is celebrated on the lucky date (sâit) given by the Brâhman astrologer.
43. Towards evening all the clansmen, both male and female, in procession escort the bridegroom, usually on horseback and with [[282]]music, to the bride’s dwelling. There is no hard-and-fast usage with respect to the shape and colour of the wedding garments, except that both bride and bridegroom must carry a head-dress (maur) made of flowers and palm leaves.
44. On arrival the bride’s father assigns the procession “a field” for sitting (janwânsa, khet dena), and placing an earthen jar (kunda) of boiled rice before the bridegroom, bestows a present on his father, usually consisting of a turban, which he has on his head, and a rupee which he places in his hand. Four or five of the bridegroom’s comrades taste the boiled rice, and into the remainder the bridegroom’s father drops some money, which should not be less than five copper coins.
45. Then comes the duâr bâr, when two sheets, one of the bride’s and the other of the bridegroom’s father, are held up before the doorway. From within the bride, and from without the bridegroom, approach each other, separated by the curtain. The bride’s mother waves seven times round the head of the bridegroom a winnowing fan or tray containing a lamp, some rice, turmeric, betel-nut, betel-leaf, and dûb grass. Next she waves again seven times round his head a pot of water, a wooden rice-pounder, and a pestle. Lastly, she applies a coin bedaubed with rice and turmeric in the manner of a caste mark (tilak) to the forehead of the youth, who receives the coin as his perquisite. The bridegroom’s father also drops a coin into the water-pot beside the marriage pole. On this the boy salutes his clansmen and returns to them, while the bride retires to array herself in wedding garments, and the sheets are lowered.
46. When the bride is ready, she is seated with the bridegroom under the marriage canopy. Four pegs of mango wood are driven into the ground before them, and a thread fastened around them. In the centre a fire is kindled by the father of the bridegroom, who, after raising a flare with a libation of ghi, reverses an earthen vessel over it, with the object, as is alleged, of conciliating the household deities. The bride’s father deposits at the feet of the couple the tray or fan which in an earlier ceremony the mother was seen waving over the head of the bridegroom. All the bride’s relatives, after taking some of the contents and touching the feet of the couple, apply it to their foreheads, and deposit as much money as they can afford by way of a present.
47. Next the gown (jâma) of the boy is knotted to the mantle [[283]](châdar) of the bride by the religious mendicant, who is by caste also a sweeper and is known as Bâbaji. This is the gath bandhan rite. In the absence of the Bâbaji the husband of the sister of the bridegroom, known as Mân, does this office.
48. Then the couple, with their left shoulders in the direction of the marriage pole, make seven circuits (bhaunri) round it. On the first four circuits the bridegroom, and on the last three the bride, is the leader. As each circuit is completed, it is usual, but not necessary, for the father, or in his absence the bridegroom’s sister’s husband, to hand over a strip of mango wood (tîli) to the leader, who, tapping his or her partner on the back with it, flings it back by way of record over the marriage canopy. The bridegroom, then conducting the bride to the doorway, removes his head-dress, and tenders it with a money present to the bride’s mother, who, in like manner, removing her daughter’s head-dress, tenders it with a money present to the father of the bridegroom. The bride retires into the house, and the bridegroom rejoins his clansmen who, male and female, are feasted with raw sugar and rice with ghi, and then retire in a body, with the exception of the bridegroom and his father.
49. On the following morning comes the parting (bida), when the four headmen (sardâr) attend to witness the giving and receiving of the marriage portion (dahej). The bridegroom’s father for this service pays over a fee of two rupees, which is, perhaps, the most important of all the rites, because it signifies that the marriage is complete.
50. Before the bridegroom removes the bride to her new home, her mother offers him pulse and rice (khichari), which he refuses to touch until he receives a present. At the moment of departure the bridegroom salutes the bride’s relatives and receives presents from them, while he bestows largess on female menials, such as the wife of the barber, washerman, and the village midwife. It is usual to remove the bride in a litter carried by Kahârs or Musahars. At the entrance of the bridegroom’s house, his sister, or, in her absence, her daughter, or else any other female relative, bars the way against the new wife, until appeased by a present.