The exogamous groups are known as _khero_ or _kul_, and marriage
between members of the same group is prohibited. Girls are usually
wedded between the ages of eight and twelve and boys between fifteen
and twenty. A girl who goes wrong before marriage is finally expelled
from the caste. The wedding ceremony follows the ritual prevalent
in the locality as described in the articles on Kurmi and Kunbi. At
an ordinary wedding the expenses on the girl's side amount to about
Rs. 150, and on the boy's to Rs. 200. The remarriage of widows is
permitted. In the northern Districts the widow may wed the younger
brother of her deceased husband, but in the Maratha country she may
not be married to any of his relatives. Divorce may be effected at
the instance of the husband before the caste committee, and a divorced
woman is at liberty to marry again. The Nais worship all the ordinary
Hindu deities. On the Dasahra and Diwali festivals they wash and revere
their implements, the razor, scissors and nail-pruners. They pay regard
to omens. It is unpropitious to sneeze or hear the report of a gun
when about to commence any business; and when a man is starting on a
journey, if a cat, a squirrel, a hare or a snake should cross the road
in front of him he will give it up and return home. The bodies of the
dead are usually burnt. In Chhattisgarh the poor throw the corpses of
their dead into the Mahanadi, and the bodies of children dying under
one year of age were until recently buried in the courtyard of the
house. The period of mourning for adults is ten days and for children
three days. The chief mourner must take only one meal a day, which
he cooks himself until the ceremony of the tenth day is performed.