Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 29, 1918.djvu/134

124 cords, and straps were used to hold the whole together." In general pattern at least the marriage shed conforms to this model. The Bhilālas of Central India, when they set about erecting a marriage pavilion, dig nine holes in three rows in front of their dwelling-house. In the four corners holes are dug in which bamboos are fixed, each hole having some coloured rice, a copper coin, and some betelnut placed in the bottom. This done, the bamboos are removed and teak wood posts, this being the sacred tree of the tribe, are substituted, similar posts being placed in the other holes, fixed by cross-pieces of teak, and the roof is covered with bamboos. Then the booth spirit is invited to enter its dwelling, and it is duly installed.

Two classes of house illustrate progress in the direction of communal life: the long house of Eastern India, and that occupied by the joint family in Bengal. The long house of the Garos shelters the owners and his relations. It has three divisions: the first, with a floor of bare earth, holds implements, grain, and sometimes cattle; two or three steps higher is the public living-room, which, without partitions, is divided into well-defined areas—the abode of the house spirits, the liquor-store, the place where the unmarried girls sleep, and in which meals are taken. When a daughter of the house is married, a space is partitioned off for her and her husband in the main room. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts the house is raised about six feet above the ground, access being gained by means of a ladder. In front is a verandah, behind it the bachelors' quarters; at the back of these are the rooms of the married members of the family, separated by mat partitions. These are apportioned according to seniority, one being reserved for