Marriage would not seem to have any close connection with railroad
traffic, but we find an officer of an East Indian railroad company
explaining a falling off in the passenger receipts of the year (1874) by
the fact that it was a “twelfth year,” which is regarded by the Hindoos
as so unfavourable to marriage that no one, or scarcely any one, is
married. And, as weddings are the great occasions in Hindoo life when
there is great pomp and a general gathering together of friends, they
cause a great deal of travelling.