292 On the Marriage Rites and Usages (June, 
groom is metvat the door of the house by his father-in-law, who re- 
ceives him with every mark of honour, and with his own hands washes 
his feet. The feet of the other guests are also washed by the bride’s 
relatives. The whole party then proceed into the interior of the pavi- 
lion, beneath which they seat themselves in their prescribed order, and 
the repast, consisting of various kinds of sweetmeats, is served up on 
platters of the leaves of the mango-tree. These with pure water and 
clarified butter constitute the whole of the feast. 
As I particularly wished to be present at a Hindu feast, I made a 
point of attending on this occasion, having first of all ascertained that 
by so doing I should not in any way hurt the feelings or prejudices of 
the parties. The zidfat in fact consisted merely of sweetmeats, and these 
as before stated are eaten by all classes without prejudice or observance 
of the forms which attend a regular meat, such as purifying the ground 
with cow-dung, constructing a chulha, drawing the lines around it, and 
eating food cooked by your own hands, or bya Brahman. We were seated 
near the Raja, and had our platters of mango-leaves filled with sweet- 
meats, as had the other guests. The persons in our immediate vicinity, 
whether ‘restrained by our presence, or from etiquette, did not appear 
to do much honour to the viands. I observed however that those seat- 
ed further off were either more hungry or less ceremonious, and I was 
much amused by the prowess of one of the guests, ‘‘a good portly 
man i’ faith and a corpulent one of a cheerful look, a pleasing eye, anda 
noble carriage,” whose platter appeared, like the cask of the Danaidz, to 
empty as fast as it was filled. On the third day largesse is distributed 
by the bridegroom’s father to the Bhdts or bards who assemble in 
large numbers on such occasions. The mode of distribution is as 
follows :—For some days previous to the celebration of the marriage, 
these votaries of the ‘‘ Gentile art’’ flock from all quarters to the place 
at which the wedding is to be solemnized. To every man, woman, and 
child, so assembling, a donation is made, generally to the amount of one 
rupee per head, whilst smaller sums of from eight to four annas are 
also given for the wretched tattdés or bullocks on which the owners may 
have come, and frequently to any animals, such as monkeys, parrots, 
or dogs which they may bring with them :—for it would be considered 
a stigma on the bridegroom’s hospitality, should any creature attend 
his marriage with the hope of largesse, and be sent away empty-hand- 
ed. This custom of promiscuous .and_ ill-judging expenditure on the 
occasion of marriage obtains amongst all classes of Hindus, from the 
Raja, to the chumar or outcast. It even masters the well known 
avarice of the Banya or merchant, who will squander in marriage re- 
