Col. Macxenzie on Hindu and Mahommedan Marriage Ceremonies. 173 
the day of the Lagan-Patra the bride and bridegroom are confined to their 
own houses, which they are not permitted to leave, nor even to put on clean 
clothes; they are every morning and evening rubbed with meal, that their 
limbs and bodies may be rendered soft and pliant; and they continue to 
wear the same clothes. The third day the Barat, or marriage procession, 
on the part of the bridegroom, is made ready. On the day of marriage the 
bride and bridegroom, with their fathers and mothers, must keep strict fast. 
When the Bdrdt is assembled, the bridegroom is clothed in a dress of 
brocade, or of yellow cloth, with a red turban, on which sundry orna- 
ments are placed, and over it a cap, in the form of the branch of a date 
tree, made of flowers or brocade, and bound by a string of real or false 
pearls on a piece of gold cloth. He is placed on a platform raised on 
men’s shoulders, or in a palankeen, or on a horse, whose saddle is highly 
ornamented ; he is preceded by illuminations, fireworks, flags, &c. and 
with various other decorations. Four large lanterns made of talc are 
suspended on poles, and carried close by his side, that he may be con- 
cealed under the shade of them; led horses are conducted before him; 
women, on platforms carried by men, sing and dance the whole time; his 
relations, some on horses and others on foot, follow immediately after him 
in a long line and in regular order. In this mode they proceed towards the 
house of the bride, at a short distance from which a man, on the part of the 
bride’s father, who had been dispatched to view the procession, meets them 
and delivers a letter to the bridegroom’s father, who dismisses the messenger 
with a present to acquaint the bride’s father of his near approach. The rela- 
tions and friends of the bride then set out in similar state and order, attended 
by music, fireworks, illuminations, &c. to meet the bridegroom’s procession, 
and conduct it to their house, at the door of which a ceremony is performed 
by the bride’s father. He takes in his hands money, consisting of gold and 
silver, according to his means, with vessels of brass or copper, which he pre- 
sents to the bridegroom, and places with his own hand the nuptial mark on 
his forehead. Both parties then retire to a place prepared for their recep- 
tion by the bride’s father, on which a cloth, sprinkled with scented water, 
grains of rice and grass, is spread; the relations of the-bridegroom there 
deposit the presents and other articles they have brought with them. 
The bridegroom is placed on a raised seat under the canopy, and his rela- 
tions take their stations round him; then the servants of the bride’s father 
bring trays, in number from five to fifty-one, according to his rank and situa- 
