aoni, or that which
is given in Shrawan. It consists of a _chakri_ or reel, to which
a string is attached, and the reel is thrown up into the air and
wound and unwound on the string; a _bhora_ or wooden top spun by a
string; a _bansuli_ or wooden flute; a stick and ball, lac bangles
and a spangle, and cloth, usually of red chintz. All these toys are
made by the carpenter and coloured red with lac by the Lakhera, with
the exception of the bangles which may be yellow or green. For five
years the bride plays with the toys, and then they are sent to her no
longer as her childhood has passed. It is probable that some, if not
all of them, are in a manner connected with the crops, and supposed
to have a magical influence, because during the same period it is the
custom for boys to walk on stilts and play at swinging themselves;
and in these cases the original idea is to make the crops grow as
high as the stilts or swing. As in the other cases, the red colour
appears to have a protective influence against evil spirits, who are
more than usually active at a time of fasting.

Lodhi

List of Paragraphs

1. _Origin and traditions_.
2. _Position in the Central Provinces_.
3. _Subdivisions_.
4. _Exogamous groups_.
5. _Marriage customs_.
6. _The Gauna ceremony. Fertility rites_.
7. _Widow-marriage and puberty rite_.
8. _Mourning impurity_.
9. _Social customs_.
10. _Greetings and method of address_.
11. _Sacred thread and social status_.

1. Origin and traditions

_Lodhi, Lodha._--An important agricultural caste residing principally
in the Vindhyan Districts and Nerbudda valley, whence they have spread
to the Wainganga valley and the Khairagarh State of Chhattisgarh. Their
total strength in the Province is 300,000 persons. The Lodhis
are immigrants from the United Provinces, in whose Gazetteers it
is stated that they belonged originally to the Ludhiana District
and took their name from it. Their proper designation is Lodha,
but it has become corrupted to Lodhi in the Central Provinces. A
number of persons resident in the Harda tahsil of Hoshangabad are
called Lodha and say that they are distinct from the Lodhis. There is
nothing to support their statement, however, and it is probable that
they simply represent the separate wave of immigration which took
place from Central India into the Hoshangabad and Betul Districts
in the fifteenth century. They spoke a differ