There is generally no recognised custom of paying a bride- or
bridegroom-price, but one or two instances of its being done are given
in the subordinate articles. On the occasion of betrothal, among some
subcastes, the boy's father proceeds to the girl's house and presents
her with a _mala_ or necklace of gold or silver coins or coral, and a
_mundri_ or silver ring for the finger. The contract of betrothal is
made at the village temple and the caste-fellows sprinkle turmeric and
water over the parties. Before the wedding the ceremony of Benaiki is
performed; in this the bridegroom, riding on a horse, and the bride on
a decorated chair or litter, go round their villages and say farewell
to their friends and relations. Sometimes they have a procession in
this way round the marriage-shed. Among the Marwari Banias a _toran_
or string of mango-leaves is stretched above the door of the house on
the occasion of a wedding and left there for six months. And a wooden
triangle with figures perched on it to represent sparrows is tied
over the door. The binding portion of the wedding is the procession
seven times round the marriage altar or post. In some Jain subcastes
the bridegroom stands beside the post and the bride walks seven times
round him, while he throws sugar over her head at each turn. After the
wedding the couple are made to draw figures out of flour sprinkled
on a brass plate in token of the bridegroom's occupation of keeping
accounts. It is customary for the bride's family to give _sidha_ or
uncooked food sufficient for a day's consumption to every outsider
who accompanies the marriage party, while to each member of the caste
provisions for two to five days are given. This is in addition to the
evening feasts and involves great expense. Sometimes the wedding lasts
for eight days, and feasts are given for four days by the bridegroom's
party and four days by the bride's. It is said that in some places
before a Bania has a wedding he goes before the caste _panchayat_
and they ask him how many people he is going to invite. If he says
five hundred, they prescribe the quantity of the different kinds of
provisions which he must supply. Thus they may say forty maunds (3200
lbs.) of sugar and flour, with butter, spices, and other articles in
proportion. He says, 'Gentlemen, I am a poor man; make it a little
less'; or he says he will give _gur_ or cakes of raw cane sugar
instead of refined sugar. Then they say, 'No, your social position
is too high for _gur_; you must have sugar for all purposes.' The
more guests the host invites the higher is his social consideration;
and it is said that if he does not maintain this his life is not worth
living. Sometimes the exact amount of entertainment to be given at a
wedding is fixed, and if a man cannot afford it at the time he must
give the balance of the feasts at any subsequent period when he has
money; and if he fails to do this he is put out of caste. The bride's
father is often called on to furnish a certain sum for the travelling
expenses of the bridegroom's party, and if he does not send this money
they do not come. The distinctive feature of a Bania wedding in the
northern Districts is that women accompany the marriage procession,
and the Banias are the only high caste in which they do this. Hence a
high-caste wedding party in which women are present can be recognised
to be a Bania's. In the Maratha Districts women also go, but here
this custom obtains among other high castes. The bridegroom's party
hire or borrow a house in the bride's village, and here they erect
a marriage-shed and go through the preliminary ceremonies of the
wedding on the bridegroom's side as if they were at home.