In Bastar an omen is taken before the wedding. The village elders meet
on an auspicious day as Monday, Thursday or Friday, and after midnight
they cook and eat food, and go out into the forest. They look for a
small black bird called Usi, from which omens are commonly taken. When
anybody sees this bird, if it cries 'Sun, Sun,' on the right hand,
it is thought that the marriage will be lucky. If, however, it cries
'Chi, Chi' or 'Fie, Fie,' the proposed match is held to be of evil
omen, and is cancelled. The Koya Gonds of Bastar distil mahua liquor
before arranging for a match. If the liquor is good they think the
marriage will be lucky, and take the liquor with them to cement the
betrothal; but if it is bad they think the marriage will be unlucky,
and the proposal is dropped. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are
held to be lucky days for marriages, and they are celebrated in the
hot-weather months of Baisakh, Jesth and Asar, or April, May and June,
or in Pus (December), and rarely in Magh (January). A wedding is only
held in Kartik (October) if the bride and bridegroom have already
had sexual intercourse, and cannot take place in the rains.