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of turmeric. This legend has, however, no real value and the meaning of the superstition attaching to the plant is obscure. Though the growing of turmeric is tabooed yet it is a sacred plant, and no Hindu girl, at least in the Central Provinces, can be married without having turmeric powder rubbed on her body. Mr. Gordon remarks in _Indian Folk-Tales_: "I was once speaking to a Hindu gardener of the possibility of turmeric and garlic being stolen from his garden. 'These two vegetables are never stolen,' he replied, 'for we Hindus believe that he who steals turmeric and garlic will appear with six fingers in the next birth, and this deformity is always considered the birth-mark of a thief.'" The Jire Malis are so named because they were formerly the only subcaste who would grow cumin (_jira_), but this distinction no longer exists as other Malis, except perhaps the Phulmalis, now grow it. Other subcastes have territorial names, as Baone from Berar, Jaipuria, Kanaujia, and so on. The caste have also exogamous septs or _bargas_, with designations taken from villages, titles or nicknames or inanimate objects. 6. Marriage Marriage is forbidden between members of the same sept and between first and second cousins. Girls are generally betrothed in childhood and should be married before maturity. In the Uriya country if no suitable husband can be found for a girl she is sometimes made to go through the marriage ceremony with a peg of mahua wood driven into the ground and covered over with a cloth. She is then tied to a tree in the forest and any member of the caste may go and release her, when she becomes his wife. The Marars of Balaghat and Bhandara have the _lamjhana_ form of marriage, in which the prospective husband serves for his wife; this is a Dravidian custom and shows their connection with the forest tribes. The marriage ceremony follows the standard form prevalent in the locality. In Betul the couple go seven times round a slab on which a stone roller is placed, with their clothes knotted together and holding in their hands a lighted lamp. The slab and roller may be the implements used in powdering turmeric. "Among the Marars of Balaghat [167] the maternal uncle of the bridegroom goes to the village of the bride and brings back with him the bridal party. The bride's party do not at once cross the boundary of the bridegroom's village, but will stay outside it for a few hours. Word is sent and the bridegroom'
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