Marriage is forbidden between persons so closely connected as to have a
common ancestor in the third generation. In Bhandara it is obligatory
on all members of the caste, who know the bride or bridegroom, to
ask him or her to dine. The marriage rite is that prevalent among
the Hindustani castes, of walking round the sacred post. Divorce
and the marriage of widows are permitted. In Narsinghpur, when a
bachelor marries a widow, he first goes through a mock ceremony by
walking seven times round an earthen vessel filled with cakes; this
rite being known as Langra Biyah or the lame marriage. The caste burn
their dead, placing the head to the north. On the day of Dasahra the
Chhipas worship their wooden stamps, first washing them and then making
an offering to them of a cocoanut, flowers and an image consisting
of a bottle-gourd standing on four sticks, which is considered to
represent a goat. The Chhipas rank with the lower artisan castes,
from whose hands Brahmans will not take water. Nevertheless some of
them wear the sacred thread and place sect-marks on their foreheads.