Marriage is prohibited between members of the same sept and also
between first cousins, and a second sister may not be married during
the lifetime of the first. Girls are usually wedded under twelve
years of age. In Mandla the father of the boy and his relatives go to
discuss the match, and if this is arranged each of them kisses the
girl and gives her a piece of small silver. When a Saktaha is going
to look for a wife he makes a fire offering to Dulha Deo, the young
bridegroom god, whose shrine is in the cook-room, and prays to him
saying, 'I am going to such and such a village to ask for a wife; give
me good fortune.' The father of the girl at first refuses his consent
as a matter of etiquette, but finally agrees to let the marriage take
place within a year. The boy pays Rs. 9, which is spent on the feast,
and makes a present of clothes and jewels to the bride. In Chanda a
_chauka_ or consecrated space spread with cowdung with a pattern of
lines of flour is prepared and the fathers of the parties stand inside
this, while a member of the Pandwar sept cries out the names of the
_gotras_ of the bride and bridegroom and says that the everlasting
knot is to be tied between them with the consent of five caste-people
and the sun and moon as witnesses. Before the wedding the betrothed
couple worship Mahadeo and Parvati under the direction of a Brahman,
who also fixes the date of the wedding. This is the only purpose
for which a Brahman is employed by the caste. Between this date and
that of the marriage neither the boy nor girl should be allowed to
go to a tank or cross a river, as it is considered dangerous to their
lives. The superstition has apparently some connection with the belief
that the Pankas are sprung from water, but its exact meaning cannot
be determined. If a girl goes wrong before marriage with a man of the
caste, she is given to him as wife without any ceremony. Before the
marriage seven small pitchers full of water are placed in a bamboo
basket and shaken over the bride's head so that the water may fall on
her. The principal ceremony consists in walking round the sacred pole
called _magrohan_, the skirts of the pair being knotted together. In
some localities this is done twice, a first set of perambulations
being called the Kunwari (maiden) Bhanwar, and the second one of
seven, the Byahi (married) Bhanwar. After the wedding the bride and
her relations return with the bridegroom to his house, their party
being known as Chauthia. The couple are taken to a river and throw
their tinsel wedding ornaments into the water. The bride then returns
home if she is a minor, and when she subsequently goes to live with her
husband the _gauna_ ceremony is performed. Widow-marriage is permitted,
and divorce may be effected for bad conduct on the part of the wife,
the husband giving a sort of funeral feast, called _Marti jiti ka
bhat_, to the castefellows. Usually a man gives several warnings to
his wife to amend her bad conduct before he finally casts her off.