3S93.] S. C. Das— Marriage Customs in SiTcTcim. 27 



the officiating Lama makes offerings to the gods at the auspicious 

 moments called the du-tsi jor (in Sanskrit Amrita yoga), the moments 

 called cM-jor, the conjunction of the malignant stars, heing avoided. 



The offerings are first applied to the heads of the bride's parents 

 and then thrown away, generally at the junction of two roads. At the 

 same auspicious time the bride sets off for her future home. The 

 astrologer new furnishes instructions on the following points : — 



1. In what direction the bride should first look on starting. 



2. "What food or thing she should taste on her arrival at her 

 husband's house. 



3. What should be the year of birth of the woman who dresses 

 her hair. 



4. To what work the bride should put her hands first. 



5. What should be the year of birth of pag-pon, the best-man. 



6. The name of the man, who should first serve the bride with food. 



7. The name of the man who should conduct her to her husband's 



house. 



8. What should be the colour of the horse to be used for her con- 

 veyance. 



9. The colour of the cushion, on which she should sit on arriving 

 at her husband's house. 



The bridal party start early in the morning. The bride is now 

 surrounded by her friends and female relations, who shed tears on parting 

 with her. The pag-pon (best-man,) the bridesmaid, ~kliyun-bag-~ko, and 

 other attendants who form the su-mi, take charge of her from her parents. 

 Some of her father's relations and friends join the party to escort her safely 

 to the bride°room's house All the people who form the bridal party are 

 called hun-don. If the bridegroom's house be a day's journey distant the 

 kiln-don halt at some convenient place midway for refreshment, where a 

 tent or temporary shed has been erected for the purpose. At this time 

 they are not allowed admission into any dwelling-house. It is believed 

 that a malignant spirit called dong-ser-geg always walks before the bride, 

 and those who fall in his way suffer all kinds of danger. It is for this 

 reason that passevs-by turn aside when they happen to come across a 



bridal party. 



Here the hun-chan, now transformed into a great man, waits for the 

 bridal party. He is called the tha-pon (hawk-chief), for having come 

 out of the ordeal successfully, i. e., having snatched away the bride from 

 the midst of her parents and friends like a hawk. Here he becomes the 

 leader of the party, his position being second only to that of the pag-pon 



(best-man). 



In the meantime the bridegroom sends another party of su-mi with 



