tue to purify their bodies. Another favourite ornament
is the _hamel_ or necklace of rupees. The sanctity of coined metal
would probably be increased by the royal image and superscription and
also by its virtue as currency. Mr. Nunn states that gold mohur coins
are still made solely for the purpose of ornament, being commonly
engraved with the formula of belief of Islam and worn by Muhammadans
as a charm. Suspended to the _hamel_ or necklace of rupees in front
is a silver pendant in the shape of a betel-leaf, this leaf being
very efficacious in magic; and on this is carved either the image of
Hanuman, the god of strength, or a peacock's feather as a symbol of
Kartikeya, the god of war. The silver bar necklet known as _hasli_
is intended to resemble the collar-bone. Children carried in their
mother's cloth are liable to be jarred and shaken against her body,
so that the collar-bone is bruised and becomes painful. It is thought
that the wearing of a silver collar-bone will prevent this, just as
silver eyes are offered in smallpox to protect the sufferer's eyes and
a silver wire to save his throat from being choked. Little children
sometimes have round the waist a band of silver beads which is called
_bora_; these beads are meant to resemble the smallpox pustules and the
_bora_ protects the wearer from smallpox. There are usually 84 beads,
this number being lucky among the Hindus. At her wedding a Hindu bride
must wear a wristlet of nine little cones of silver like the _kalas_
or pinnacle of a temple. This is called _nau-graha_ or _nau-giri_ and
represents the nine planets which are worshipped at weddings--that is,
the sun, moon and the five planets, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and
Saturn, which were known to the ancients and gave their names to the
days of the week in many of the Aryan languages; while the remaining
two are said to have been Rahu and Ketu, the nodes of the moon and
the demons which cause eclipses. The _bonhta_ or _bankra_, the rigid
circular bangle on the upper arm, is supposed to make a woman's arm
stronger by the pressure exercised on the veins and muscles. Circular
ornaments worn on the legs similarly strengthen them and prevent a
woman from getting stiffness or pins and needles in her legs after
long squatting on the ground. The _chutka_, a large silver ring worn
by men on the big toe, is believed to attract to itself the ends of
all the veins and ligaments from the navel downwards, and hold them
all