The bride's sister then comes holding above her head a small
frame like a _tazia_ [196] with a cocoanut core hanging inside. She
raises the frame as high as she can to prevent the bridegroom from
plucking out the cocoanut core, which, however, he succeeds in doing
in the end. The girl applies powdered _mehndi_ or henna to the little
finger of the boy's right hand, in return for which she receives a
rupee and a piece of cloth. The Kazi then recites verses from the
Koran which the bridegroom repeats after him, and the bride does the
same in her turn. This is the Nikah or marriage proper, and before
it takes place the bridegroom's father must present a nose-ring to
the bride. The parents also fix the Meher or dowry, which, however,
is not a dowry proper, but a stipulation that if the bridegroom
should put away his wife after marriage he will pay her a certain
agreed sum. After the Nikah the bridegroom is given some spices,
which he grinds on a slab with a roller. He must do the grinding very
slowly and gently so as to make no noise, or it is believed that
the married life of the couple will be broken by quarrels. A widow
is permitted to marry the younger brother of her deceased husband,
but not his elder brother. The caste bury their dead with the head to
the north. The corpse is first bathed and wrapped in a new white sheet,
with another sheet over it, and is then laid on a cot or in a _janaza_
or coffin. While it is being carried to the cemetery the bearers are
changed every few steps, so that every man who accompanies the funeral
may carry the corpse for a short distance. When it is lowered into
the grave the sheet is taken off and given to a Fakir or beggar. When
the body is covered with earth the priest reads the funeral verses
at a distance of forty steps from the grave. Feasts are given to the
caste-fellows on the third, tenth, twentieth and fortieth days after
the death. The Manihars observe the Shabrat festival by distributing to
the caste-fellows _halua_ or a mixture of melted butter and flour. The
Shabrat is the middle night of the month Shaban, and Muhammad declared
that on this night God registers the actions which every man will
perform during the following year, and all those who are fated to die
and the children who are to be born. Like Hindu widows the Manihar
women break their bangles when their husband's corpse is removed to
the burial-ground. The Manihars eat flesh, but not beef or pork; and
they also ab