The caste, for the purpose of avoiding marriages between relations,
are also divided into exogamous groups called _kul_ or _kuri_,
several of the names of which are of totemistic origin or derived
from those of animals and plants. Members of the Jamra _kuri_ will
not cut or burn the _jamun_ [349] tree; those of the Saniyar _kuri_
will not grow _san_-hemp, while the Astaryas revere the _sona_ [350]
tree and the Pipaladya, the _pipal_ tree. Some of the _kuris_ have
Rajput sept names, as Mori, Baghel and Solanki. A man is forbidden to
take a wife from within his own sept or that of his mother, and the
union of first cousins is also prohibited. The customs of the Bhilalas
resemble those of the Kunbis and other cultivating castes. At their
weddings four cart-yokes are arranged in a square, and inside this
are placed two copper vessels filled with water and considered to
represent the Ganges and Jumna. When the sun is half set, the bride
and the bridegroom clasp hands and then walk seven times round the
square of cart-yokes. The water of the pots is mixed and this is
considered to represent the mingling of the bride's and bridegroom's
personalities as the Ganges and Jumna meet at Allahabad. A sum of about
Rs. 60 is usually paid by the parents of the bridegroom to those of
the bride and is expended on the ceremony. The ordinary Bhilalas have,
Mr. Korke states, a simple form of wedding which may be gone through
without consulting a Brahman on the Ekadashi or eleventh of Kartik
(October); this is the day on which the gods awake from sleep and
marks the commencement of the marriage season. A cone is erected of
eleven plants of juari, roots and all, and the couple simply walk
round this seven times at night, when the marriage is complete. The
remarriage of widows is permitted. The woman's forehead is marked
with cowdung by another widow, probably as a rite of purification,
and the cloths of the couple are tied together.