Chitpavans Marriage Part V

Next comes the varaprashtan or marriage-bidding. The girl's father accompanied bv his priest goes to the boy's house, and laying a cocoanut in the boy's and his priest's hands gives them the formal invitation to his house to hold the marriage. The girl's father and his priest are each given a cocoanut and withdraw.

In the evening before the marriage the boy is dressed in the new turban and shouldercloth which were presented to him by the girl's relations, and his sister ties a flower chaplet to his turban. His family priest, who all the time goes on repeating verses, places a cocoaunt in the boy's hand and leads him before his house gods, and the boy lays the cocoanut before the gods and bows low before them. He is next taken before the elders of the house and bows before each. Then he is led to the house door, and curds are thrice laid on the palm of his right band, and he thrice sips the curds, and wipes his hand on his shouldercloth. Thea his cheeks are touched with lampblack and redpowder, and he is taken outside by some near relation and seated on a horse, and his relations and friends form a procession to escort him to the girl's. In front of the procession are link-boys and Kunbis carrying torches; then come musicians of the Maratha, barber, or Ghadsi caste playing drums and pipes ; the boy's sister carrying in her hands an earthen jar filled with cold water; in the middle the boy's mother carrying a brass plate with two lighted dough lamps; and on the left a near relation carrying a bamboo basket with a lighted brass hanging lamp resting on rice grains and folded round with a bodice. Then follows the boy on horseback with friends and torch-boys on either side followed by the women of his family, after whom the men bring up the rear. On the way, to quiet evil spirits, cocounuts are broken and cast away, and, as boy passes, people come out of their houses, wave brass lamps at him, and receive a cocoanut.

When he reaches the girl's house, cooked rice, spread all over with redpowder, is thrice waved over the boy's head and thrown to some distance in the street. A married woman of the girl's house, bringing an earthen jar filled with cold water and with its mouth covered with a bunch of mango leaves and cocoanut, marks it in five places with lime and spills the water over the horse's feet, and is given a bodice by the boy's relations. The boy is next taken off the horse and a married woman pours on his foot milk and then water, and waves a lighted lamp before him. The girl's brother catches the boy by the right ear and he is presented with a turban. Then the girls father carries the boy into the marriage hall and seats him an a high wooden stool. After the boy is seated in the girl's marriage porch an astrologer, with a mixture of lime and redpowder, writes the name of the god Ganesh, the day, date, month, and year, and asks some married woman to smear with cowdung a spot underneath a redpowder drawing on the wall and on the spot to trace a square with lines of quartz powder. The astrologer sprinkles grains of rice on the square and over the square hangs a pof full of cold water. A second pot is set near the first pot and both are marked with sandal paste in five places. He ties the pots together with a piece of thread and worships them. He then lets a cup whose bottom is pierced with a fine hole float on one of them, and seating both the fathers before the pots makes them worship them while be repeats verses. He then draws up two marriage papers, gives them to the fathers to worship, reads the papers, and makes them over to the fathers.

If possible before the boy and girl are married, if not soon after the marriage, the madhupark or honey-mixture ceremony takes place. The boy is seated on a high wooden stool and the girls parents sit before him; the mother pours water over his feet and the father wipes them dry with a towel. The girl's father takes a ladle full of curds, milk, honey, and butter, and pours the contents on the boy's right palm who sips it. He is presented with clothes, ornaments and cash, and is led into the house. He is made to stand on a low wooden stool and the girl is set in front of him on a sahanpat or sandal-grindstone. A silk waistcloth is held, between the boy and the girl by the priest on one side and his assistant on the other. The girl is given a garland of flowers to hold in her hands, and the boy a necklace of black glass beads. Th priests begin to chant marriage verses, and when the lucky time is come the priests stop chanting and the cloth is withdrawn to the north. A bugle sounds, and, at the signal, the musicians raise a blast of music, the priests and guests clap their hands, the girl's father lifts the girl, and she drops the flower garland round the boy's neck, while he fastens the necklace of black glass beads round her neck. The priest gives the boy and the girl some handfuls of rice and they sprinkle the rice over each others heads. The priests tell the boy and the girl to think on their family goddesses, and then the boy and girl sit. When they are seated, a number of Brahmans, who are called from the marriage hall, repeat verses. The priest winds a thread round the couple, and breaking it in two equal parts, twists them into cords and tying each round a piece of turmeric root fastens one to the wrist of the boy's right hand and the other to the wrist of the girl's left hand. The begging Brahmans who take part are each given ¾d to 1½ d. (½ - 1 anna). After the madhupark is over a quartz square is traced in the women's hall and the girl's parents going into the god-room lay a betel packet before the gods, and bow to them. They then bow before the elders and the priest bowing to the guests, in a loud voice, asks leave to perform the ceremony.

The father and mother sit on the stools, bowing to the Brahmans who sit along with the family priest. Except the jewels which are to be presented to the girl, the rest of the ornaments are taken off her body. A married women rubs with sandal paste the brows of the priest, of the girl's father and mother, and of the boy and girl. Then all stand the priest holding a plate in his hand, and the girl, the boy, and the girl's parents standing round the plate. The boy holds out his open hands, the girl lays her half open hands in the boy's, who holds her thumbs with his. Over their hands the girl's father holds his open palm slanting and the mother poaring cold water from a jug on her husband's hand which falls on the hands of the boy and the girl, and from them drops into the plate. When this is done all sit and the girl's parents join both hands, repeating the names of the boy and girl, their fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and families. Then the two fami!y priests, taking a plate with water and a silver coin in it and dipping mango leaves into the water, sprinlke it over the heads of the boy and girl repeating verses. Thi priest takes two threads and winds one thrice round the necks and the other thrice round the waists of the girl and boy. Then he makes them sit a little closer to each other so as to loosen the thread. Then the thread which was wound round their necks is pulled down over the feet and the thread which was wound round the waist is drawn over the head. 'I'he threads are next wetted with cocoa-milk up and rubbed with turmeric and the girls priest winds one round the boy's right wrist and the boy's priest winds the other round the girls right wrist. These are called marriage-wristlets or lagna-kankans.