walking round the sacred pole
called _magrohan_, the skirts of the pair being knotted together. In
some localities this is done twice, a first set of perambulations
being called the Kunwari (maiden) Bhanwar, and the second one of
seven, the Byahi (married) Bhanwar. After the wedding the bride and
her relations return with the bridegroom to his house, their party
being known as Chauthia. The couple are taken to a river and throw
their tinsel wedding ornaments into the water. The bride then returns
home if she is a minor, and when she subsequently goes to live with her
husband the _gauna_ ceremony is performed. Widow-marriage is permitted,
and divorce may be effected for bad conduct on the part of the wife,
the husband giving a sort of funeral feast, called _Marti jiti ka
bhat_, to the castefellows. Usually a man gives several warnings to
his wife to amend her bad conduct before he finally casts her off.

5. Religion

The Pankas worship only Kabir. They prepare a _chauka_ and, sitting in
it, sing songs in his praise, and a cocoanut is afterwards broken and
distributed to those who are present. The assembly is presided over
by a Mahant or priest and the _chauka_ is prepared by his subordinate
called the Diwan. The offices of Mahant and Diwan are hereditary, and
they officiate for a collection of ten or fifteen villages. Otherwise
the caste perform no special worship, but observe the full moon days
of Magh (January), Phagun (February) and Kartik (October) as fasts
in honour of Kabir. Some of the Kabirhas observe the Hindu festivals,
and the Saktahas, as already stated, have the same religious practices
as other Hindus. They admit into the community members of most castes
except the impure ones. In Chhattisgarh a new convert is shaved and
the other Pankas wash their feet over him in order to purify him. He
then breaks a stick in token of having given up his former caste
and is invested with a necklace of _tulsi_ [367] beads. A woman
of any such caste who has gone wrong with a man of the Panka caste
may be admitted after she has lived with him for a certain period on
probation, during which her conduct must be satisfactory, her paramour
also being put out of caste for the same time. Both are then shaved and
invested with the necklaces of _tulsi_ beads. In Mandla a new convert
must clean and whitewash his house and then vacate it with his family
while the Panch or caste committee come and stay there for some time
in or