THE BHOTIAS OF ALMORA AND BRITISH GARHWAL. 107 



offers the girl a sum of money (lakchhab) varying from five rupees to one hundred 

 bound up in a piece of cloth. Generally the young lady is not directly approached, but 

 the gift is handed over to her intimate associates (popularly called taram, which means 

 literally a key), and they promise to exercise their influence with her. Her answer is not 

 obtained without a family consultation of her relations, and should the match appear a 

 suitable one the gift is retained, otherwise it is returned. In the case of acceptance the 

 tarams always pose as having been indispensable. 



In fixing a day for the marriage, Monday is carefully avoided as that is universally 

 considered an unlucky day, and although the date thus fixed is well known by both 

 families, a pretence is always kept up that the girl's parents are not going to let her go 

 willingly. Therefore, when the bridegroom {by oil shy a) leaves his house to fetch his 

 bride {by old), his father summons his son's friends (called dhami) to a feast quietly at 

 night, and subsequently they are despatched by him with secrecy in the dark hours in the 

 company of his son to the bride's village. Arrived at the village they go to the Ram- 

 bang where they find the bride and her bridesmaids (skyasya) with whom they consort for 

 a time, and then carry off the bride in their arms. They convey her only a short way to 

 keep up the semblance of forcible removal, and then wait and call the bridesmaids, and 

 with them proceed homewards until they reach the groom's house, outside which they all 

 sit down. Each one of the groom's women relations brings them a glass {lota) of 

 liquor {sagun) to show the pleasure felt at the marriage, and in the name of all the gods 

 they drink to future happiness. On entering the house the first part of the binding 

 ceremony of marriage is performed by the elders of the village, who produce two 

 dalangs, two glasses of liquor and rice, and calling all the gods to witness, break off the tops 

 of the dalangs and give them to the bride and bridegroom to eat and the liquor to drink. 

 Feasting now commences, which lasts for a fortnight, each family of relations taking it 

 in turns to entertain the bridal party ; and jan is drunk until, as a Bhotia described it, a man 

 "is bathed in drink." Then follows the second binding ceremony — purls are given to 

 the groomsmen and bridesmaids, and also a waist wrap {jujang) to each of the latter, and 

 then the formal rite of datu takes place, i.e., small pieces of dalang are broken off 

 and put in a dish and the couple are made to exchange by giving a piece with one hand 

 and taking with the other. This ceremony, done before the gods, with the elders and 

 bridesmaids as witnesses, ties the final knot of wedlock. This is known as a patkam day, 

 that is, the releasing of a girl from her house, and the local blacksmith claims a gift 

 {dasturi) which takes the form of money or a blanket. The bridesmaids are then allowed 

 to go, but the groomsmen, who have by now become their firm friends, take them into 

 their charge and feast them for some days. Before they are allowed to depart they 

 combine in erecting as a sign of the marriage a chandan : that is, they place two long 

 poles in the ground (darchos) and fasten a rope between them, and on to the rope they 

 tie all sorts of things, such as, caps, books, mirrors, daj'as of different colours of cloth, 

 scissors, etc., and no one would dream of removing any of them. Subsequently it is 

 a point of honour for the bridesmaids to invite back the groomsmen, a few at a time, and 

 return their hospitality in their own village. 



Keeping up the semblance of a forcible removal, on the day when datu takes place, 



