Marriage is forbidden between members of the same sept and between
first and second cousins. Girls are generally betrothed in childhood
and should be married before maturity. In the Uriya country if no
suitable husband can be found for a girl she is sometimes made to go
through the marriage ceremony with a peg of mahua wood driven into
the ground and covered over with a cloth. She is then tied to a tree
in the forest and any member of the caste may go and release her,
when she becomes his wife. The Marars of Balaghat and Bhandara have
the _lamjhana_ form of marriage, in which the prospective husband
serves for his wife; this is a Dravidian custom and shows their
connection with the forest tribes. The marriage ceremony follows
the standard form prevalent in the locality. In Betul the couple
go seven times round a slab on which a stone roller is placed, with
their clothes knotted together and holding in their hands a lighted
lamp. The slab and roller may be the implements used in powdering
turmeric. "Among the Marars of Balaghat [167] the maternal uncle
of the bridegroom goes to the village of the bride and brings back
with him the bridal party. The bride's party do not at once cross
the boundary of the bridegroom's village, but will stay outside it
for a few hours. Word is sent and the bridegroom's party will bring
out cooked food, which they eat with the bride's party. This done,
they go to the house of the bridegroom and the bride forthwith walks
five times round a pounding-stone. Next day turmeric is applied to
the couple, and the caste people are given a feast. The essential
portion of the ceremony consists in the rubbing of vermilion on the
foreheads of the couple under the cover of a cloth. The caste permit
the practice of _ralla-palla_ or exchanging sisters in marriage. They
are said to have a custom at weddings known as _kondia_, according
to which a young man of the bridegroom's party, called the _Sand_
or bull, is shut up in a house at night with all the women of the
bride's party; he is at liberty to seize and have intercourse with
any of them he can catch, while they are allowed to beat him as much
as they like. It is said that he seldom has much cause to congratulate
himself." But the caste have now become ashamed of this custom and it
is being abandoned. In Chhattisgarh the Marars, like other castes,
have the forms of marriage known as the _Badi Shadi_ and _Chhoti
Shadi_ or great and small weddings. The former is an elaborate form
of marriage, taking place at the house of the bride. Those who cannot
afford the expense of this have a 'Small Wedding' at the house of
the bridegroom, at which the rites are curtailed and the expenditure
considerably reduced.