288 On the Marriage Rites and Usages [Junz, 
In the evening of the first day, the ceremony of the Toran takes place, 
and at midnight that of the Hom. Though there is no mention of the 
Loran in Mr. Couesrooxe’s Essays, nor any allusion to it in the “Hin- 
du Theatre,”’ or law, it is considered by the Jats, and I am assured, by 
all Hindts in Upper India, as a very important ceremony, andas such, 
is never omitted. The Toran is a wooden ornament, or rather the figures 
of certain little birds, carved in wood, and gilded over with gold leaf. 
These are fixed above the doorway leading into the Mandap or 
marriage pavilion, and the ceremony consists in the bridegroom’s strik- 
ing or touching them with a sheathed sword. 
As soon as this feat has been accomplished, a general sprinkling of 
Hiuli powder and explosion of fire-works takes place. The Sirdars 
partake of a zyafat at the Samdhi’s house, whilst the bridegroom 
returns to his tents, it being considered improper that he should be 
feasted by his father-in-law prior to the performance of the Hom. 
Though I have made repeated inquiries as to the origin and mean- 
ing of the Toran, I have not hitherto received any satisfactory explana- 
tion of it :—one reason assigned, and it is certainly a plausible one, is 
that the touching it with the sword is intended to represent the bride- 
groom’s superiority over the bride, and to convey a hint to her and all 
present, of the treatment she will receive, if refractory. The New 
Zealanders, if I recollect aright, convey a similar hint to their intend- 
ed wives, though in a somewhat coarser fashion, by knocking them down 
with large clubs previously to the marriage ; or perhaps, the Toran is 
some allusion to the kind of wedding or rape entitled Rakhasa, which 
took place between Krisona and Rv’kumanr’, and is one of the 
forms enumerated by MENv. 
The sacred ceremony of the Hom or burnt-offering takes place at 
midnight, and as it is decidedly the most classical and interesting of all 
the Hindi sacrifices, I shall endeavour to describe it minutely. I shall 
not attempt to give the Mantras, or incantations used on the occasion : 
first, because on account of my very slight knowledge of Sanscrit I was 
unable to determine the particular Mantra chaunted by the priests ; and 
secondly because the Mantras generally used on such occasions have 
already been given by Mr. Cotzsrooke in his admirable papers on the 
religious ceremonies of the Hindus. 
The Hom was performed under the Mandap or marriage pavilion, 
at the gateway of which the ceremony of the Toran had taken place. 
The pavilionis erected by the bride’s father, and is constructed of wood- 
en posts, gaily ornamented and gilded with gold leaf, having niches for 
the reception of the small earthen lamps which serve to illuminate the 
