The principal deity of the Ramosis is Khandoba, the Maratha god of
war. [586] He is the deified sword, the name being _khanda-aba_
or sword-father. An oath taken on the Bhandar or little bag of
turmeric dedicated to Khandoba is held by them most sacred and no
Ramosi will break this oath. Every Ramosi has a family god known as
Devak, and persons having the same Devak cannot intermarry. The Devak
is usually a tree or a bunch of the leaves of several trees. No one
may eat the fruit of or otherwise use the tree which is his Devak. At
their weddings the branches of several trees are consecrated as Devaks
or guardians of the wedding. A Gurao cuts the leafy branches of the
mango, _umar_, [587] _jamun_ [588] and of the _rui_ [589] and _shami_
[590] shrubs and a few stalks of grass and sets them in Hanuman's
temple. From here the bridegroom's parents, after worshipping Hanuman
with a betel-leaf and five areca-nuts, take them home and fasten
them to the front post of the marriage-shed. When the bridegroom is
taken before the family gods of the bride, he steals one of them in
token of his profession, but afterwards restores it in return for a
payment of money. In social position the Ramosis rank a little above
the Mahars and Mangs, not being impure. They speak Marathi but have
also a separate thieves' jargon of their own, of which a vocabulary
is given in the account of Captain Mackintosh. When a Ramosi child
is seven or eight years old he must steal something. If he is caught
and goes to prison the people are delighted, fall at his feet when he
comes out and try to obtain him as a husband for their daughters. [591]
It is doubtful whether these practices obtain in the Central Provinces,
and as the Ramosis are not usually reckoned here among the notorious
criminal tribes they may probably have taken to more honest pursuits.