The ceremony of initiation is as follows: "A number of representative
Bishnois assemble, and before them a Sadh or Bishnoi priest, after
lighting a sacrificial fire (_hom_), instructs the novice in the duties
of the faith. He then takes some water in a new earthen vessel, over
which he prays in a set form (_Bishno gayatri_), stirring it the while
with his string of beads (_mala_), and after asking the consent of
the assembled Bishnois he pours the water three times into the hands
of the novice, who drinks it off. The novice's scalp-lock (_choti_)
is then cut off and his head shaved, for the Bishnois shave the whole
head and do not leave a scalp-lock like the Hindus, but they allow the
beard to grow, only shaving the chin on the father's death. Infant
baptism is also practised, and thirty days after birth the child,
whether boy or girl, is baptised by the priest (Sadh) in much the
same way as an adult; only the set form of prayer is different, and
the priest pours a few drops of water into the child's mouth, and
gives the child's relatives each three handfuls of the consecrated
water to drink; at the same time the barber clips off the child's
hair. The baptismal ceremony has the effect of purifying the house,
which has been made impure by the birth (_sutak_).
"The Bishnois do not revere Brahmans, but have priests of their own
known as Sadh, who are chosen from among the laity. The priests are
a hereditary class, and do not intermarry with other Bishnois, from
whom, like Brahmans, they receive food and offerings. The Bishnois do
not burn their dead, but bury them below the cattle-shed or in some
place like a pen frequented by cattle. They make pilgrimages to the
place where Jhambaji is buried to the south of Bikaner; here a tomb
and temple have been erected to his memory, and gatherings are held
twice a year. The sect observe the Holi in a different way from other
Hindus. After sunset on that day they fast till the next forenoon
when, after hearing read the account of how Prahlad was tortured by
his infidel father, Hrianya Kasipu, for believing in the god Vishnu,
until he was delivered by the god himself in his incarnation of
Narsingh, the Man-lion, and mourning over Prahlad's sufferings, they
light a sacrificial fire and partake of consecrated water, and after
distributing sugar (_gur_) in commemoration of Prahlad's delivery
from the fire into which he was thrown, they break their fast."