Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/455

Rh finger rings, silver and glass bangles, and fifty rupees as the jholla tonka (bride price). On the following day, the bride goes to the house of the bridegroom. On the marriage day, the contracting couple go seven times round the central post of the pandal, and their hands are joined by the presiding Oriya Brāhman. They then sit down, and the sacred fire is raised. The females belonging to the bridegroom's party sprinkle them with turmeric and rice. On the following day, a Bhondāri (barber) cleans the pandal, and draws patterns in it with rice flour. A mat is spread, and the couple play with cowry shells. These are five in number, and the bridegroom holds them tightly in his right hand, while the bride tries to wrest them from him. If she succeeds in so doing, her brothers beat the bridegroom, and make fun of him; if she fails, the bridegroom's sisters beat and make fun of her. The bride then takes hold of the cowries, and the same performance is gone through. A basket of rice is brought, and some of it poured into a vessel. The bridegroom holds a portion of it in his hand, and the bride asks him to put it back. This, after a little coaxing, he consents to do. These ceremonies are repeated during the next five days. On the seventh day, small quantities of food are placed on twelve leaves, and twelve Brāhmans, who receive a present of money, sit down, and partake thereof. The marriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother. The dead are burned, and death pollution lasts for ten days. Daily, during this period, cooked food is strewed on the way leading to the burning-ground. On the eleventh day, those under pollution bathe, and the sacred fire (hōmam) is raised by a Brāhman. As at a wedding, twelve Brāhmans receive food and money.