1 788
2 Hindu betrothal ohsermnces.
3 This cancels the betrothal, but if the sick child recover and the
4 parents of the couple agree to the renewal of the contract the betrothal
5 ceremonies are again performed by the parties
6 The mathe lagdwan must be done at the house of the sick child, but
7 his or her parents do their utmost to prevent it as it brings calamity
8 upon their family. If they knowingly permit it no other Kirar will
9 contract an alliance with them. Consequently guards are posted at the
10 door of the sick child^s house to keep out the intruder who makes every
11 effort to get in. Both sides resort to violence, so much so that sticks
12 are sometimes used and serious affrays ensue. Disguise is even some-
13 times resorted to in order to obtain access to the sick child ; for instance,
14 the garb of a sweeper etc., but if this too fail it is sufficient for the
15 betrothed to strike his or her forehead against the wall of the sick child's
16 house. This knocking the wall, which is termed Sawan, must be per-
17 formed within four days from the sick child's death, after which it is
18 of no avail. If a child fails to perform the matlie lagdioan or sawan he
19 or she cannot secure a second betrothal, being regarded as ill-starred,
20 but if the ceremony be duly performed he or she is considered purified,
21 and can readily contract a second betrothal.^
22 iii) Betrothal by change is further divisible into three or more
23 varieties, viz. : (i) amJio 8amJiand or simple exchange ; (ii) treahan] or
24 threefold barter ^ ; (iii) chohhanj or fourfold, and so on, in Muzaffar-
25 garh.^ In all these the parties concerned meet at one place by appoint-
26 ment, and enter into the contract of giving the girls, one to the other,
27 after which each girl's guardian gives gtiv or fruits to the guardian of
28 the boy to whom his girl is betrothed. Then the Brahman, if present,
29 performs worship of Ganesh and recites the gotrachdr. The guv or
30 fruits are taken home and distributed.
31 In Jhang exchange betrothal is called amo sarn'ie^ a term which in
32 Multan is applied to direct, as opposed to tarain vatni or indirect ex-
33 change. In Ludhiana betrothal by exchange is called hatdrh.
34 In Ludhiana exchange marriage {batte hd hiydh) sometimes takes
35 the form called bddhe hd hiydh in which a girl of, say, eighteen years of
36 age is exchanged for one of five. In such a case, a kind of disparity
37 fine [hdrlJid] has to be paid to the party giving the adult girl.
38 Among the Gaddis of Chamba, marriage by exchange is called holaj
39 and the first of the rites observed resembles those described below in a
40 dharma-puna betrothal. But when all the boy's people go to complete
41 the alliance, a grindstone, pestle and sil (mortar) with three or five
42 lumps (AguVy sapdri hihaiiy and rolidrij are placed before them, and. the
43 parohit taking the mipdri etc. in the fold of his garment p its them in
44 the mortar, receiving a fee of four annas from the boy's father before
45 grinding them. He then mentions the names of the betrothed pair, and
46 pounds up the spices. Then the supdri etc. is put in a dish with the
47 guT broken into small pieces, and distributed among the guests, the boy's
48 ^ The mathe lagdwan is also observed in the villages of the Multan District.
49 2 In which three betrothals are arranged in connection with one another,
50 » P.C'.L,, XX, p. 15,