1893.] S. C. Das— Marriage Customs of Tibet. 17 



long conjugal life, of prosperity and happiness. The presents are then 

 collected and made over to the best man with a list of them. As soon as 

 he comes to receive them, the companions of the bride by way of 

 of a joke, secretly remove his earring, head dress, wrapper or any other 

 article they can get hold of belonging to him. At the time he takes no 

 notice of their jokes, but on the following morning he complains to them 

 about the loss of his things, and offers a reward for their recovery. A 

 present of three to four srang (ounces of silver) to them secures him the 

 return of the lost things. 



A Tantrik priest called Nag-chang performs the ceremony of 

 propitiating the Pholha (the household god) with incense burnt at 

 a conspicuous place. The representative of the bridegroom now makes 

 a present of five or nine varieties of articles to the mother of the bride, 

 and says that as the usage of the country sanctions the offering of 

 what is called the nu-tin (the price of mother's milk) she must accept it. 



When the bride leaves the house of her parents which is usually 

 done a little before the dawn, the Nag-chang burns some incense to 

 please the ndga demons who (are supposed to) live underground 

 within the premises of her parents. These unseen beings are believed 

 to be often attached to some individual member of a family so as to 

 follow them like a dog wherever they happen to go. Tt is the duty of 

 the Nag-chang to keep them back by the efficacy of his charms and pre- 

 vent their following the bride to her husband's place. 



The su-mi (the bridegroom's people who come to escort the bride) 

 and ley el-mi (men who escort her to her hasband's place), and the bag- 

 yog-ma (female attendant of the bride), proceed to the altar of the house- 

 hold god of the family to take leave of him. They make three saluta- 

 tions to him each time taking their hats off. 



Then coming out of the house they seat the bride on a stool placed 

 at the door. A priest (of the Bon religion) now performs the ceremony 

 of yangug (invoking good luck) by reciting some mystic charms and 

 walking round her from right to left in the manner of a Bon religious 

 circumambulation. When this is done, a small arrow studded with five 

 precious stones and with five scraps of silk of five colours attached to its 

 pinnacle, is fixed on the neck of her dress, its point touching the top of 

 her head-dress. She is then placed on the back of a pony and slowly 

 led to her future home. The parents with tears in their eyes now come 

 to bid her farewell, and present her with the auspicious scarf called 

 tashi-khatag . They send the kyel-chang (farewell wine) to be served to 

 her at a short distance from the gate of their residence. 



The bridal party then proceeds towards the bridegroom's house, 

 being heralded by what is called ta-kar mi-kar (a man in white 

 J m, 3 



