In Bastar it is said that the expenses of a wedding vary from Rs. 5
to Rs. 20 for the bride's family and from Rs. 10 to Rs. 50 for the
bridegroom's, according to their means. [61] In a fairly well-to-do
family the expenditure of the bridegroom's family is listed as follows:
liquor Rs. 20, rice Rs. 12, salt Rs. 2, two goats Rs. 2, chillies
Rs. 2, ghi Rs. 4, turmeric Rs. 2, oil Rs. 3, three cloths for the bride
Rs. 8, two sheets and a loin-cloth for her relatives Rs. 5, payment to
the Kumhar for earthen pots Rs. 5, the bride-price Rs. 10, present to
the bride's maternal uncle when she is not married to his son Rs. 2,
and something for the drummers. The total of this is Rs. 76, and any
expenditure on ornaments which the family can afford may be added. In
wealthier localities the bride-price is Rs. 15 to 20 or more. Sometimes
if the girl has been married and dies before the bride-price has
been paid, her father will not allow her body to be buried until
it is paid. The sum expended on a wedding probably represents the
whole income of the family for at least six months, and often for a
considerably longer period. In Chanda [62] the bride's party on arrival
at the bridegroom's village receive the Bara jawa or marriage greeting,
every one present being served with a little rice-water, an onion and
a piece of tobacco. At the wedding the bridegroom has a ring either of
gold, silver or copper, lead not being permissible, and places this on
the bride's finger. Often the bride resists and the bridegroom has to
force her fist open, or he plants his foot on hers in order to control
her while he gets the ring on to her finger. Elsewhere the couple hold
each other by the little fingers in walking round the marriage-post,
and then each places an iron ring on the other's little finger. The
couple then tie strings, coloured yellow with turmeric, round each
other's right wrists. On the second day they are purified with water
and put on new clothes. On the third day they go to worship the god,
preceded by two men who carry a chicken in a basket. This chicken is
called the Dhendha or associate of the bridal couple, and corresponds
to the child which in Hindu marriages is appointed as the associate
of the bridegroom. Just before their arrival at the temple the village
jester snatches away the chicken, and pretends to eat it. At the temple
they worship the god, and deposit before him the strings coloured with
turmeric which had been tied on their wrists. In Chhindwara the bride
is taken on a bullock to the bridegroom's house. At the wedding four
people hold out a blanket in which juari, lemons and eggs are placed,
and the couple walk round this seven times, as in the Hindu bhanwar
ceremony. They then go inside the house, where a chicken is torn
asunder and the blood sprinkled on their heads. At the same time
the bride crushes a chicken under her foot. In Mandla the bride on
entering the marriage-shed kills a chicken by cutting off its head
either with an axe or a knife. Then all the gods of her house enter
into her and she is possessed by them, and for each one she kills a
chicken, cutting off its head in the same manner. The chickens are
eaten by all the members of the bride's party who have come with her,
but none belonging to the bridegroom's party may partake of them. Here
the marriage-post is made of the wood of the mahua tree, round which a
toran or string of mango leaves is twisted, and the couple walk seven
times round this. In Wardha the bride and bridegroom stand on the heap
of refuse behind the house and their heads are knocked together. In
Bhandara two spears are placed on the heap of refuse and their ends
are tied together at the top with the entrails of a fowl. The bride
and bridegroom have to stand under the spears while water is poured
over them, and then run out. Before the bride starts the bridegroom
must give her a blow on the back, and if he can do this before she runs
out from the spears it is thought that the marriage will be lucky. The
women of the bride's and bridegroom's party also stand one at each end
of a rope and have a competition in singing. They sing against each
other and see which can go on the longest. Brahmans are not employed
at a Gond wedding. The man who officiates is known as Dosi, and is
the bridegroom's brother-in-law, father's sister's husband or some
similar relative. A woman relative of the bride helps her to perform
her part and is known as Sawasin. To the Dosi and Sawasin the bride
and bridegroom's parties present an earthen vessel full of kodon. The
donors mark the pots, take them home and sow them in their own fields,
and then give the crop to the Dosi and Sawasin.