Vol. wes ; 0. 9.] Ethnography of the Bashahr State. 535 
On the birth of a son the goddess Dolma is adored, and the 
chant called Bhum chung, which runs: Om tdyathd gate gate 
para gate swahds (‘may God bless the child’) is sung. The 
old women of the family perform the midwife’s functions ; 
and for a fortnight the mother lives apart, being debarred 
nom touching anything. At the end of that period she 
and a 
brought out of the house for the first time at the full moon 
and, if possible, at an auspicious moment, when one or two 
months old. Charms for its long life are also made by the lamas. 
A boy’s head is shaved when one year old, the lamas per- 
forming a hom,! pija, or path sacrifice. As the Kanawaris only 
marry a joint wife, the ldmdas solemnizing the wedding by chant- 
ing certain and worshipping the gods or goddesses, 
goats also sacrificed. 
“The nuptial rites in Kanawar are peculiar. In the first 
place the amount of the dheri is unusually high, varying from 
Rs. 100 to Rs. 1,000.8 The custom as to dower is also different. 
One of the brothers, most usually the one who is the bride’s 
equal in age, goes with some of his relatives to her father’s house 
on the day fixed by the Jama (priest). There the party are well 
entertained, and the dma solemnizes the wedding by reciting 
some chants in Tibetan after the Tibetan manner. Next day they 
return to their own house with the bride richly dressed and 
adorned. On reaching home the bride is made welcome, es- 
pecially by her mother-in-law. After a religious ceremony, 
the bride’s right hand is held by all the bridegroom’s brothers, 
See hae SS ete 
1 Hom is a rite in which flames are fed with clarified butter mixed 
with barley and sesamum seed ; if possible almonds and dried grapes are 
also mixed in i ‘4 is an offering to the deity of a lamp fed with 
butter, water, flowers, sweetmeats, fruit, etc. , while Path consists in reading 
or reciting the Tibetan scripture calle Chhas or Chhoss. 
The Kathi is an ordinary necklace made of tulsi, the holy basin 
cymum sacrum). These kanthis are generally made in Hardwar, Brinda- 
o 
who takes on himself the responsibility for it is entitled to keep the 
woman. It is a sum paid to the bride’s guardian by those of the bride- 
room, and must be refunded to the latter if the marriage turns out badly, 
e.g., if the wife leave her husband and go off with another man, he has 
to refund the amount to them. 
