of
turmeric. This legend has, however, no real value and the meaning of
the superstition attaching to the plant is obscure. Though the growing
of turmeric is tabooed yet it is a sacred plant, and no Hindu girl, at
least in the Central Provinces, can be married without having turmeric
powder rubbed on her body. Mr. Gordon remarks in _Indian Folk-Tales_:
"I was once speaking to a Hindu gardener of the possibility of turmeric
and garlic being stolen from his garden. 'These two vegetables
are never stolen,' he replied, 'for we Hindus believe that he who
steals turmeric and garlic will appear with six fingers in the next
birth, and this deformity is always considered the birth-mark of a
thief.'" The Jire Malis are so named because they were formerly the
only subcaste who would grow cumin (_jira_), but this distinction
no longer exists as other Malis, except perhaps the Phulmalis, now
grow it. Other subcastes have territorial names, as Baone from Berar,
Jaipuria, Kanaujia, and so on. The caste have also exogamous septs or
_bargas_, with designations taken from villages, titles or nicknames
or inanimate objects.

6. Marriage

Marriage is forbidden between members of the same sept and between
first and second cousins. Girls are generally betrothed in childhood
and should be married before maturity. In the Uriya country if no
suitable husband can be found for a girl she is sometimes made to go
through the marriage ceremony with a peg of mahua wood driven into
the ground and covered over with a cloth. She is then tied to a tree
in the forest and any member of the caste may go and release her,
when she becomes his wife. The Marars of Balaghat and Bhandara have
the _lamjhana_ form of marriage, in which the prospective husband
serves for his wife; this is a Dravidian custom and shows their
connection with the forest tribes. The marriage ceremony follows
the standard form prevalent in the locality. In Betul the couple
go seven times round a slab on which a stone roller is placed, with
their clothes knotted together and holding in their hands a lighted
lamp. The slab and roller may be the implements used in powdering
turmeric. "Among the Marars of Balaghat [167] the maternal uncle
of the bridegroom goes to the village of the bride and brings back
with him the bridal party. The bride's party do not at once cross
the boundary of the bridegroom's village, but will stay outside it
for a few hours. Word is sent and the bridegroom'