e fires.

The Kathias have a waist-belt of bamboo fibre, to which is suspended
the wooden block for the purpose already described. Their name
signifies wooden, and is probably given to them on account of this
custom.

The Nirmohi carry a _lota_ or brass vessel and a little cup, in which
they receive alms.

The Nirbani wear only a piece of string or rope round the waist, to
which is attached a small strip of cloth passing through the legs. When
begging, they carry a _kawar_ or banghy, holding two baskets covered
with cloth, and into this they put all their alms. They never remove
the cloth, but plunge their hands into the basket at random when
they want something to eat. They call the basket Kamdhenu, the name
of the cow which gave inexhaustible wealth. These Bairagis commonly
marry and accumulate property.

The Lasgari are soldiers, as the name denotes. [106] They wear three
straight lines of sandalwood up the forehead. It is said that on one
occasion the Bairagis were suddenly attacked by the Gosains when they
had only made the white lines of the sect-mark, and they fought as
they were. In consequence of this, they have ever since worn three
white lines and no red one.

Others say that the Lasgari are a branch of the Digambari Akhara,
and that the Munjia and Kathia are branches of the Khaki Akhara. They
give three other Akharas--Niralankhi, Mahanirbani and Santokhi--about
which nothing is known.

10. The Dwaras.

Besides the Akharas, the Bairagis are said to have fifty-two Dwaras
or doors, and every man must be a member of a Dwara as well as of a
Sampradaya and Akhara. The Dwaras seem to have no special purpose,
but in the case of Bairagis who marry, they now serve as exogamous
sections, so that members of the same Dwara do not intermarry.

11. Initiation, appearance and customs.

A candidate for initiation has his head shaved, is invested with a
necklace of beads of the _tulsi_ or basil, and is taught a _mantra_
or text relating to Vishnu by his preceptor. The initiation
text of the Ramanandis is said to be _Om Ramaya Namah_, or _Om_,
Salutation to Rama. _Om_ is a very sacred syllable, having much magical
power. Thereafter the novice must journey to Dwarka in Gujarat and have
his body branded with hot iron or copper in the shape of Vishnu's four
implements: the _chakra_ or discus, the _guda_ or club, the _shank_ or
conch-shell and the _padma_ or lotus. Sometimes these are not branded
but are m