ven). Then a question arose as to who should
furnish the vessels required for the ceremony, and one Kulalaka,
a Brahman, was ordered to make them. Then Kulalaka stood before the
assembly with folded hands, and prayed that materials might be given
to him for making the pots. So Vishnu gave his Sudarsana (discus) to
be used as a wheel, and the mountain of Mandara was fixed as a pivot
beneath it to hold it up. The scraper was Adi Kurma the tortoise,
and a rain-cloud was used for the water-tub. So Kulalaka made the
pots and gave them to Maheshwar for his marriage, and ever since his
descendants have been known as Kumbhakar or maker of water-jars."

2. Caste sub-divisions

The Kumhars have a number of subcastes, many of which, as might
be expected, are of the territorial type and indicate the different
localities from which they migrated to the Central Provinces. Such are
the Malwi from Malwa, the Telenga from the Telugu country in Hyderabad,
the Pardeshi from northern India and the Maratha from the Maratha
Districts. Other divisions are the Lingayats who belong to the sect of
this name, the Gadhewal or Gadhere who make tiles and carry them about
on donkeys (_gadha_), the Bardia who use bullocks for transport and the
Sungaria who keep pigs (_suar_). Certain endogamous groups have arisen
simply from differences in the method of working. Thus the Hathgarhia
[3] mould vessels with their hands only without using the wheel; the
Goria [4] make white or red pots only and not black ones; the Kurere
mould their vessels on a stone slab revolving on a stick and not on
a wheel; while the Chakere are Kumhars who use the wheel (_chak_)
in localities where other Kumhars do not use it. The Chhutakia and
Rakhotia are illegitimate sections, being the offspring of kept women.

3. Social Customs

Girls are married at an early age when their parents can afford it,
the matches being usually arranged at caste feasts. In Chanda parents
who allow a daughter to become adolescent while still unwed are put
out of caste, but elsewhere the rule is by no means so strict. The
ceremony is of the normal type and a Brahman usually officiates,
but in Betul it is performed by the Sawasa or husband of the bride's
paternal aunt. After the wedding the couple are given kneaded flour
to hold in their hands and snatch from each other as an emblem of
their trade. In Mandla a bride price of Rs. 50 is paid.

The Kumhars recognise divorce and the remarri