286 On the Marriage Rites and Usages (Jung, 
grants of land from the state or a share in the assessments levied upon 
villages, they are of course more or less dependent on the will of the 
reigning Prince. 
I may mention here, in order to: preserve myself from the imputation 
of having mistaken the ground on which the extraordinary marks of 
respect above detailed are paid by the Bharatpur Rajas, to the Mehant 
of the Behari Ji Mandir, that the present Raja, for reasons which 
have been already mentioned, had not become the Chela of any Guru 
at the time of his marriage, and that consequently it was not as his 
Guru or spiritual adviser that he reverenced the Mehant, but as being 
the superior of a temple especially dedicated to Krisuna. 
Quitting the temple, the cavalcade proceeds on its way. As it 
passes through the city, the inhabitants crowd the tops of the houses, 
anxious to obtain a sight of the precession, and compare it with those 
of former princes. The streets are illuminated, with chiraghs fixed 
upon bambu trelles work ; and as the Prince himself advances, the loud 
cries of “‘Ram! Ram!” become more and more frequent; uttered as 
they are by all ranks and ages, from the grey-headed men of sixty down 
to the child of three or. four years old; add to these sounds, the ‘‘ con- 
cordia discors’”’ of the large shankh or shell ; the blowing of fifes and 
trumpets, and beating of drums on the part of the Paltans, which 
precede the Raja; the deep bass sounds of the -Nakdras or kettle-drums 
borne by the camel Sowars; the shrill piercing tones of the bambu 
pipe; the tinkling of the elephants’ and camels’ bells; the waving of 
chouries; ‘‘the dancing of the tall spears’ on which the national 
standards* are fixed; the discharge of fire-works and jingalls, and we 
have a pretty correct enumeration of the attributes of pomp (and melo- 
dy !) with which a Hindi Prince goes forth to his wedding. 
The women of the different villages through which the Bardt passes 
advance to, meet it, singing the songs of rejoicing usually sung at the 
Hilit. In return for this mark. of respect presents are given them, 
generally about five rupees per each village. 
them by the state upon all villages. The number of villages is about 1,200, and 
the Chanda varies according to the Rakba, being seldom if ever above two rupees, 
nor less than four annas. Besides the Chanda, they have the “‘ Changi”? or 
tithe in kind, levied upon all sorts of grain when exported for sale in the bazars, 
and a pious or superstitious Prince occasionally makes them a grant of a village, 
i, e. of the government share of the produce, which is collected by the Mehant 
instead of by the Sirkar. 
* A yellow flag, with the figure of the monkey-general HANUMAN rampant 
in the centre. 
+ Phagua, so called from the month Phagun. 
