A man must not marry within his own sept or that of his mother,
nor may he marry a first cousin. He may wed a younger sister
of his wife during her lifetime, and the practice of marrying a
girl and boy into the same family, called Anta Santa or exchange,
is permitted. Occasionally the husband does service for his wife
in his father-in-law's house. In Wardha the Dhangars measure the
heights of a prospective bride and bridegroom with a piece of string
and consider it a suitable match if the husband is taller than the
wife, whether he be older or not. Marriages may be infant or adult,
and polygamy is permitted, no stigma attaching to the taking of a
second wife. Weddings may be celebrated in the rains up to the month
of Kunwar (September), this provision probably arising from the fact
that many Dhangars wander about the country during the open season,
and are only at home during the rainy months. Perhaps for the same
reason the wedding may, if the officiating priest so directs, be held
at the house of a Brahman. This happens only when the Brahman has sown
an offering of rice, called Gag, in the name of the goddess Rana Devi,
the favourite deity of the Dhangars. On his way to the bride's house
the bridegroom must be covered with a black blanket. Nowadays the
wedding is sometimes held at the bridegroom's house and the bride
comes for it. The caste say that this is done because there are not
infrequently among the members of the bridegroom's family widows who
have remarried or women who have been kept by men of higher castes or
been guilty of adultery. The bride's female relatives refuse to wash
the feet of these women and this provokes quarrels. To meet such cases
the new rule has been introduced. At the wedding the priest sits on the
roof of the house facing the west, and the bride and bridegroom stand
below with a curtain between them. As the sun is half set he claps his
hands and the bridegroom takes the clasped hands of the bride within
his own, the curtain being withdrawn. The bridegroom ties round the
bride's neck a yellow thread of seven strands, and when this is done
she is married. Next morning a black bead necklace is substituted for
the thread. The expenses of the bridegroom's party are about Rs. 50,
and of the bride's about Rs. 30. The remaining procedure follows the
customary usage of the Maratha Districts. Widows are permitted to
marry again, but must not take a second husband from the sept to which
the first belonged. A considerable price is paid for a widow, and it
is often more expensive to marry one than a girl. A Brahman and the
malguzar (village proprietor) should be present at the ceremony. If a
bachelor marries a widow he must first go through the ceremony with
a silver ring, and if the ring is subsequently lost or broken, its
funeral rites must be performed. Divorce is allowed in the presence of
the caste _panchayat_ at the instance of either party for sufficient
reason, as the misconduct or bad temper of the wife or the impotency
of the husband.