the bride with her
foot and the bridegroom with his fist. Widow-marriage is allowed. The
dead are buried in a sitting posture with their faces turned towards
the east. Water sanctified by the Jangam having dipped his toe into
it is placed in the mouth of the corpse. The Jangam presses down the
earth over the grave and then stands on it and refuses to come off
until he is paid a sum of money varying with the means of the man,
the minimum payment being Rs. 1-4. In some cases a platform with an
image of Mahadeo is made over the grave. When meeting each other the
Lingayats give the salutation _Sharnat_, or, 'I prostrate myself before
you.' They address the Jangam as Maharaj and touch his feet with their
head. The Lingayat Banias of the Central Provinces usually belong to
Madras and speak Telugu in their houses. As they deny the authority
of Brahmans, the latter have naturally a great antipathy for them,
and make various statements to their discredit. One of these is that
after a death the Lingayats have a feast, and, setting up the corpse
in the centre, arrange themselves round it and eat their food. But
this is not authenticated. Similarly the Abbe Dubois stated: [298]
"They do not recognise the laws relating to defilement which are
generally accepted by other castes, such, for instance, as those
occasioned by a woman's periodical ailments, and by the death and
funeral of relations. Their indifference to all such prescriptive
customs relating to defilement and cleanliness has given rise to a
Hindu proverb which says, 'There is no river for a Lingayat,' meaning
that the members of the sect do not recognise, at all events on many
occasions, the virtues and merits of ablutions." The same author also
states that they entirely reject the doctrine of migration of souls,
and that, in consequence of their peculiar views on this point, they
have no _tithis_ or anniversary festivals to commemorate the dead. A
Lingayat is no sooner buried than he is forgotten. In view of these
remarks it must be held to be doubtful whether the Lingayats have
the doctrine of the immortality of the soul.

Muhammadan Religion

[_Bibliography_: Rev. T.P. Hughes, _Notes on Muhammadanism_, and
_Dictionary of Islam_, London, W.H. Allen, 1895; _Bombay Gazetteer_,
vol. ix. Part II. _Muhammadans of Gujarat_, by Khan Bahadur Fazalullah
Lutfullah Faridi; _Qaun-i-Islam,_ G.A. Herklots, Madras, Higginbotham,
reprint 1895; _Muhammadanism and Early Devel