Marriage within the same barga or group is prohibited and also
the union of first cousins. Marriage is usually adult and matches
are arranged between the parents of the parties. A considerable
quantity of grain with five pieces of cloth and Rs. 5 are given
to the father of the bride. A marriage-shed is erected and a post
of the mahua tree fixed inside it. Three days before the wedding a
Ganda goes to the shed with some pomp and worships the village gods
there. In the ceremony the bridegroom and bride proceed separately
seven times round the post, this rite being performed for three days
running. During the four days of the wedding the fathers of the bride
and bridegroom each give one meal to the whole caste on two days,
while the other meal on all four days is given to the wedding party
by the members of the caste resident in the village. This may be a
survival of the time when all members of the village community were
held to be related. Widow-marriage is allowed, but the widow must
obtain the consent of the caste people before taking a second husband,
and a feast must be given to them. If the widow has no children and
there are no relatives to succeed to her late husband's property,
it is expended on feeding the caste people. Divorce is permitted and
is effected by breaking the woman's bangles in front of the caste
panchayat. In memory perhaps of their former military profession the
Kalangas worship the sword on the 15th day of Shrawan and the 9th
day of Kunwar. Offerings are made to the dead in the latter month,
but not to persons who have died a violent death. The spirits of these
must be laid lest they should trouble the living, and this is done in
the following manner: a handful of rice is placed at the threshold
of the house, and a ring is suspended by a thread so as to touch
the rice. A goat is then brought up, and when it eats the rice, the
spirit of the dead person is considered to have entered into the goat,
which is thereupon killed and eaten by the family so as to dispose of
him once for all. If the goat will not eat the rice it is made to do
so. The spirit of a man who has been killed by a tiger must, however,
be laid by the Sulia or sorcerer of the caste, who goes through the
formula of pretending to be a tiger and of mauling another sorcerer.