, but now they are clandestinely performed
in the Temple, with the connivance of the priest, and with freedom to
deny it if questioned. Some ceremonies are performed in the Temple, the
rest at home. Sometimes the marriage symbol is blessed by the priest,
and taken home to the child to be worn by her. In all these cases the
priest himself has to tie it round her neck. The previous arrangements
for the marriage are made by the priests with the guardians of the child
who is to be initiated into the order of Temple women.

"The ceremony of tying on the marriage symbol is never in our district
performed in public. None but intimate friends know about it. There is a
secret understanding between the priests and the Temple women concerned.
When the time arrives for the marriage symbol to be tied on, after the
usual ceremonies the priest hands over the symbol hidden in a garland of
flowers.

"Of course, there is music on the occasion. When outsiders ask what all
the noise is about, the people who know do not say the real thing. They
say it is a birthday or other festival day. The symbol is tied on when
the child is between five and eleven, after which it is considered
unholy to perform the marriage ceremony. The symbol is at first hidden
from the gaze of the public. Later it is shown publicly, but not while
the girl is still young."

This tallies exactly with our own experience. More than once an eager
child in her simplicity has shown me the marriage symbol, a small gold
ornament tied round her neck, or hanging on a fine gold chain; but the
Temple woman in whose charge she was has always reproved her sharply,
and made her cover it up under her other jewels, or under the folds of
her dress.

The reason for this secrecy, which, however, is not universal, is, as is
inferred in the evidence of the head priest, because it is known to the
Temple authorities that what they are doing is illegal; though, as a
matter of fact, as will be seen later, prosecutions are rare, and
convictions rarer still.

The Caste is recruited, as the Blue Book states, by "admissions and even
purchases from other classes." On this point a Brahman says: "When the
Temple woman has no child, she adopts a girl or girls, and the children
become servants of the gods. Sometimes children are found who, on
account of a vow made by their parents, become devotees of the gods."
Another Brahman, an orthodox Hindu, writes: "In some districts people
vow that they wil