A man must not marry in his own section nor in that of his mother. He
may marry two sisters. The exchange of girls between families is
only in force among the Bilaspur Lodhis, who say, 'Eat with those
who have eaten with you and marry with those who have married with
you.' Girls are usually wedded before puberty, but in the northern
Districts the marriage is sometimes postponed from desire to marry
into a good family or from want of funds to pay a bridegroom-price,
and girls of twenty or more may be unmarried. A case is known of a
man who had two daughters unmarried at twenty-two and twenty-three
years old, because he had been waiting for good _partis_, with the
result that one of them went and lived with a man and he then married
off the other in the Singhast [96] year, which is forbidden among the
Lodhis, and was put out of caste. The marriage and other ceremonies
of the Lodhis resemble those of the Kurmis, except in Chhattisgarh
where the Maratha fashion is followed. Here, at the wedding, the bride
and bridegroom hold between them a doll made of dough with 21 cowries
inside, and as the priest repeats the marriage texts they pull it apart
like a cracker and see how many cowries each has got. It is considered
auspicious if the bridegroom has the larger number. The priest is on
the roof of the house, and before the wedding he cries out:
'Are the king and queen here?' And a man below answers, 'Yes.'
'Have they shoes on their feet?' 'Yes.'
'Have they bracelets on their hands?' 'Yes.'
'Have they rings in their ears?' 'Yes.'
'Have they crowns on their heads?' 'Yes.'
'Has she glass beads round her neck?' 'Yes.'
'Have they the doll in their hands?' 'Yes.'
And the priest then repeats the marriage texts and beats a brass
dish while the doll is pulled apart In the northern Districts after
the wedding the bridegroom must untie one of the festoons of the
marriage-shed, and if he refuses to do this, it is an indelible
disgrace on the bride's party. Before doing so he requires a valuable
present, such as a buffalo.