Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/338

 described on the principle of pars pro toto by the expression chòb tika bantay = "the sewing of mats and cushions".

The engagement lasts sometimes only a month, but sometimes longer, even as much as a year. The day for the marriage is fixed by the seulangké in consultation with the parents of the bride. Mòʾlōt (Rabīʾ al-awwal), Adòë Mòʾlōt (Rabi al-akhir) and Kanduri Bu (Shaʾbān) are regarded as lucky months, and the 6$th$, 14$th$ and 22$nd$ of the month as propitious days.

The all-important day is preceded by three evenings of feasting in the house of the bride (dara barō); these derive their name from the custom of staining the hands and feet of the bride with gacha (= henna, the Arab. ḥinna). The guests are nominally supposed to assist at the performance of this portion of the bride's toilet. The gacha evenings are called phōn gacha, dua gacha and lhèë gacha, i.e. the first, second and third gacha.

In point of fact it is not the guest, but a woman professionally skilled in the art, who applies the dark-red stain so much admired to the hands and feet of the bride. At least one old woman of the family, the grandmother for instance, takes an active part in this performance, in order that a greater blessing may rest thereon. Many women are invited, and partake of the evening meal in the bride's house, which is decorated to suit the occasion. They spend a merry evening pleasantly varied by the recital of hikayats or stories, till about midnight, when they retire.

None of the bridegroom's people may partake in these festivities, even though the two families are related to one another. Nor are any feasts held in the bridgroom's house on these nights.

Well-to-do people convert one or more of these three nights into a festival for all the inhabitants of the gampōng by organizing a piasan. This word (Mal. pěrhiasan) signifies a feast of a secular description characterized by various popular amusements, and generally enlivened by fireworks and illuminations. Among the most popular amusements on such occasions are what are known as Rapaʾi. Of these the most favourite performance is the hanging of red-hot chains on the bare