n this fashion the weddings of grandparents, parents
and children have all been celebrated simultaneously. The Singaria
Dhimars of Chhindwara grow _singara_ or water-nut in tanks, and at
their weddings a crocodile must be killed and eaten. The Sonjharas
or gold-washers must also have a crocodile, but they keep it alive
and worship it, and when the ceremony is concluded let it go back
again to the river. It is natural that castes whose avocations are
connected with rivers and tanks should in a manner deify the most
prominent or most ferocious animal contained in their waters. And
the ceremonial eating of a sacred animal has been recorded among
divers peoples all over the world. At a Dhimar marriage in Bhandara
a net is given to the bridegroom, and _sidori_ or cooked food, tied
in a piece of cloth, to the bride, and they walk out together as if
going to a river to fish, but the bride's brother comes up and stops
them. After a wedding in Mandla they kill a pig and bury it before the
door of the bridegroom's house, covering it with earth, and the bride
and bridegroom step over its body into the house. Widow-marriage is
freely permitted; in Mandla the marriage of a widow may be held on
the night of any day except Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday. Divorce is
allowed, but is of rare occurrence. Adultery on the part of a wife
will be frequently overlooked, and the extreme step of divorcing her
is only taken if she creates a public scandal. In such a case the
parties appear before a meeting of the caste, and the headman asks
them whether they have determined to separate. He then breaks a straw
in token of the disruption of the union, and the husband and wife
must pronounce each other's names in an audible voice. [537] A fee of
Rs. 1-4 is paid to the headman, and the divorce is completed. [538]
In some localities the woman's bangles are also broken. In Jhansi
the fine for keeping a widow is ten rupees and for living with the
wife of another man sixty rupees.

5. Childbirth

Children are named either on the day of birth or the twelfth day
afterwards. The women place the child in a cradle, spreading boiled
wheat and gram over its body, and after swinging it to and fro the
name is given. Sweets or boiled wheat and gram are distributed to those
present. In Berar on the third day after a birth cakes of juari flour
and buttermilk are distributed to other children; on the fifth day
the slab and roller used for grinding the household