Hot water is not used for bathing in Saugor, except by invalids,
but is customary in Betul and other Districts. The bathing-place in
the courtyard is usually a large square stone on which the bather
sits; he has a big circular brass vessel by him called _gangal_,
[76] and from this he takes water either in a cup or with his hands
and throws it over himself, rubbing his body. Where there is a tank
or stream people go to bathe in it, and if there is none the poorer
classes sometimes bathe at the village well. Each man or woman has
two body-or loin-cloths, and they change the cloth whenever they
bathe--going into the water in the one which they have worn from the
previous day, and changing into the other when they come out; long
practice enables them to do this in public without any undue exposure
of the body. A good tank or a river is a great amenity to a village,
especially if it has a _ghat_ or flight of stone steps. Many people
will spend an hour or so here daily, disporting themselves in the
water or on the bank, and wedding and funeral parties are held by it,
owing to the facilities for ceremonial bathing.