Many Gond villages in Chhattisgarh and the Feudatory States have what
is known as a gotalghar. This is a large house near the village
where unmarried youths and maidens collect and dance and sing
together at night. Some villages have two, one for the boys and one
for the girls. In Bastar the boys have a regular organisation, their
captain being called Sirdar, and the master of the ceremonies Kotwar,
while they have other officials bearing the designation of the State
officers. After supper the unmarried boys go first to the gotalghar
and are followed by the girls. The Kotwar receives the latter and
directs them to bow to the Sirdar, which they do. Each girl then
takes a boy and combs his hair and massages his hands and arms to
refresh him, and afterwards they sing and dance together until they
are tired and then go to bed. The girls can retire to their own house
if they wish, but frequently they sleep in the boys' house. Thus
numerous couples become intimate, and if on discovery the parents
object to their marriage, they run away to the jungle, and it has to
be recognised. In some villages, however, girls are not permitted to
go to the gotalghar. In one part of Bastar they have a curious rule
that all males, even the married, must sleep in the common house for
the eight months of the open season, while their wives sleep in their
own houses. A Maria Gond thinks it impious to have sexual intercourse
with his wife in his house, as it would be an insult to the goddess
of wealth who lives in the house, and the effect would be to drive
her away. Their solicitude for this goddess is the more noticeable,
as the Maria Gond's house and furniture probably constitute one of
the least valuable human habitations on the face of the globe.