Marriages are adult, and the proposal comes from the boy's father,
who has it conveyed to the girl's father through some friend in his
village. If a betrothal is arranged the bride's father invites the
father and friends of the bridegroom to dinner; on this occasion
the boy's father brings some necklaces of lac beads and spangles and
presents them to the bride's female relatives, who then come out and
tie the necklaces round his neck and those of his friends, place
the spangles on their foreheads, and then, catching hold of their
cheeks, press and twist them violently. Some turmeric powder is also
thrown on their faces. This is the binding portion of the betrothal
ceremony. The date of marriage is fixed by a Brahman, this being
the only purpose for which he is employed, and a bride-price varying
from six to twelve rupees is paid. On this occasion the women draw
caricatures with turmeric or charcoal on the loin-cloth of the boy's
father, which they manage to purloin. The marriage ceremony follows
generally the Hindu form. The bridegroom puts on women's ornaments
and carries with him an iron nut-cracker or dagger to keep off evil
spirits. After the wedding, the _midua_, a sort of burlesque dance,
is held. The girl's mother gets the dress of the boy's father and puts
it on, together with a false beard and moustaches, and dances, holding
a wooden ladle in one hand and a packet of ashes in the other. Every
time she approaches the bridegroom's father on her rounds she spills
some of the ashes over him, and occasionally gives him a crack on
the head with her ladle, these actions being accompanied by bursts of
laughter from the party and frenzied playing by the musicians. When
the party reach the bridegroom's house on their return, his mother and
the other women come out and burn a little mustard and human hair in a
lamp, the unpleasant smell emitted by these articles being considered
potent to drive away evil spirits. Every time the bride leaves her
father's house she must weep, and must cry separately with each one of
her caste-sisters when taking leave of them. When she returns home she
must begin weeping loudly on the boundary of the village, and continue
doing so until she has embraced each of her relatives and friends,
a performance which in a village containing a large number of Bharias
may take from three to six hours. These tears are, however, considered
to be a manifestation of joy, and the girl who cannot produce enough of
them is often ridiculed. A prospective son-in-law who serves for his
wife is known as Gharjian. The work given him is always very heavy,
and the Bharias have a saying which compares his treatment with that
awarded to an ox obtained on hire. If a girl is seduced by a man of
the tribe, she may be married to him by the ceremony prescribed for
the remarriage of a widow, which consists merely in the placing of
bangles on the wrists and a present of a new cloth, together with
a feast to the caste-fellows. Similarly if she is seduced by a man
of another caste who would be allowed to become a Bharia, she can
be married as a widow to any man of the tribe. A widow is expected
to marry her late husband's younger brother, but no compulsion is
exercised. If a bachelor espouses a widow, he first goes through the
ceremony of marriage with a ring to which a twig of the date-palm is
tied, by carrying the ring seven times round the marriage post. This
is necessary to save him from the sin of dying unmarried, as the
union with a widow is not reckoned as a true marriage. In Jubbulpore
divorce is said to be allowed only for conjugal misbehaviour, and a
Bharia will pass over three transgressions on his wife's part before
finally turning her out of his house. A woman who wishes to leave her
husband simply runs away from him and lives with somebody else. In
this case the third party must pay a goat to the husband by way of
compensation and give a feast to the caste-fellows.