[Marriage ceremonies.] 6. The marriage ceremonies are of the ordinary low-caste type. A Brâhman is consulted as to whether the union is likely to be propitious (garna ganna). The betrothal is concluded by giving the bride’s father a rupee or less to clench the bargain. Baheliyas appear invariably to marry their brides by the dola form, in which the ceremonies are performed at the house of the bridegroom. Some eight days before the wedding the bride is brought over to the bridegroom’s house. Two or three days before the wedding day a pavilion (mânro) is erected, in the centre of which a ploughshare (haris), the stalk of a plantain tree and a bamboo are fixed. Under these are placed the family pestle and mortar and grindstone for spices. Besides these are placed a water jar (kalsa) covered with a saucer (parai) filled with barley and decorated with lumps of cowdung and splashes of red lead. The same evening the matmangar ceremony is performed in the usual way. The day before the wedding is the bhatwân, when the clansmen are feasted. On the wedding day the bridegroom is bathed, his nails are pared, and he is dressed in a red coat with a yellow loin cloth. He then parades on horseback through the village, and on his return sits down with his clansmen. At night he is called into the house, and he and the bride are seated in a square in a courtyard, when the bride’s father washes their feet with water (pânw-pûja). The Brâhman then recites the verses (mantra), and the pair worship Gauri and Ganesa. The bride’s father, then taking some kusa grass and water, gives his daughter to the bridegroom (kanyâdân). He next applies red lead to the parting of her hair: their clothes are knotted together, and they move five times round the centre pole of the pavilion, while parched maize is thrown over them (lawa parachhan). The pair go into the retiring room (kohabar), where his brother-in law’s wife (sarhaj) plays jokes on the bridegroom by sitting on his back and refusing to release him until she receives a present. A lighted lamp with two wicks is placed there, and the bridegroom joins the two wicks together as an emblem of union with the bride. Next follows a feast to the clansmen, who return next day. After the marriage is concluded Kâlu Bîr and Parihâr are worshipped. On the fourth day after the wedding, the bride and bridegroom, accompanied by the barber’s wife, go to a neighbouring tank or stream and then drown the sacred water jar (kalsa) and the marriage festoons (bandanwâr). On their way home they worship the old fig trees of the village, which are supposed to be the abode of evil spirits, with an offering of water and washed rice (achchhat). Some offer also sweetmeats and grain. The binding part of the marriage ceremony is the washing of the bridegroom’s feet by the bride’s father, and the rubbing of red lead by the bridegroom on the parting of the bride’s hair.