Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-07-22

On such remarkable festive occasions there
will always he u great deal Of local small
talk-gup. rs we An9lo-indians call it
and | could not help hearing. in BhoW-
nugger, that, although the young Thakore
wa, fully impressed with the calm dignity
of Wudwan, the serenity Of Vankaneer,
and the sweet simplicity of little Dank.
yet he was most apparently struck At heart
by his bride of Gondul. who can actually
read Il little English and desires to learn
to play on the piino. Wulwan Is the
first wife rs in her veins it is reputed
the blue-t blood flows; bat Gondul is de-
cidedly the wcaltlie>t. and brought Il
dowry worthy even of The acceptance Of
the princely millionaire of BhoWnuggur.
Long before the 19,h uliimo, the fcs-
tivities connected with the fourfold well
ding commenced. The brides had to be
brought from their several kaltywar homes
to Bhownuggur. For this purpose, about
Il fortnight previons to the actual marriage
celebrations, four old and tru-ty retainer>
ofthe Bhownugger Ri were dispatched to
WudWan, G0ndul. Nankaneer and Tal2ia.
They Wee dismissed on their several
errands with all due flrmalitics. The
ThakOre accompanied them with an i'm
posing retinue to tie city @a'es. This may
be called the commencement of the mar
riage festivities. In such festivities yOu
well know professions form Il prominent
part in the East This opening procession
was but the first Of a long series ofmarches
and cOlntermarchts by sunlight and torch
/ light, heralded by Tie long lrly of the
cholera horn, and brought up behind by
dancers dancing in tune The Rljah'S
guards mounted and on foot; hug cle-
10
and blue howlahs; durbar cam IS AMI
nmbling Kattywar palfreys; drummers
/ humping away with might IN main IN
/ their tom-toms; shrcks OF pipe and twang
of guitar; the royal chariot. f,iloWc by an
interminable winding line of vehicles Of
all descriptions: and over and beyond thr
Bhownungur all contributed towards
making the grand departure Of the fon
Eliezers a splendid success from u native
point of view.
A fortnight p1sset, and professions
poured in from all sides 10 BhoWnuTgur.
| refer not only to tile foar professions
which hal been diSmis~e ami now returned
but also to scores and scores Of others.
sent to Bhownuggur to express the con-
gratulations to the young Tiiakore of the
elite of the kattywar peninsula. | WAS IN
time to see several of these professions.
and dozens of others in Bh0WnnggIr itself
Little need is there for my describing these
in dettil-one was bat tIe CO Interpart of
the other. In each there WIS the Slmc
tumult, strident music. exaggerated pomp
and ce:lseless noise. Again rose th' bray
inc of horns; again the rockets rushed
Skyward There was the elephant with lis
gaudy trappings and the humble country
hack painted yellow Hud green. with hi
tail dred red. In the mid lie of tn rolling
crowd came the clo-elv-rurjained ear OF
the brides. | need hardly inform yol that
their faces are too scared to be seen by any
man save by their husband. The huge
kattvwar oxen dragging Those cars had
each their horns encaSel in thi'I p'a'es
of gold. ana silver bells tinkle from the
garlands round their throIt- ~ they tro,tea
along.
And 50 the brides come in on, by one
, They did n7t enter the city, bIt fol.owe,
native etiquette. encampu4 at various resi-
: dences of wealthy relations outside Of The
walls till the auspicious 19th Of April AZ
rived. Then, about noon of that day. ;
t procession, longer and more no'sy jh N
any previous one. passed Gu, Of the city
| gates under the waving palms and quivcl
bridegroom TO fetch his first bride-she o
Wudwan
| The Thakore was in capital spirits
2 and laughed anl jaked with his caurtier
and Brahmin priests is he went to NEE
his fair batro.heI By this time she to,
had set out on her journey towards him
: Her ruih. or car, came in sight. Ih'
: Young ThakOre alightcd from his splendi,
' Kattvwar mare, and. having dulv congrlt
, uated the guardians of the precio1s t.tls
e ure within the rth {and. l4y the WY
a promised them handsome presents fo
f bringing his wife to him safe and -Ouud)
J, he entered, and sat himself down by til
side of the Princess This is great inna
e vation in those Raipoot rites anl custom
: which the Thakorc> Of Hhownuggur hay
! hitherto adopted and followed. Formerl
t it was the custom for the bride 10 sit .,
: the f~et of the bridegroom on his cuterin
her ear. to show her suhserviency to him
/. The Thakores wise at on this OCct>io
: was noted with great approval by all bu
/ a few bigcted sticklers for caste. On III
J. meeting of the pair the royal c0rtcge pro
cceded 10 the house Of near relation q
= the Thakore There in The central hall,
+ iealou>lv excluded from all but about
t hundred of the nobleot R1ipoot- Of KATY
= war. the marriage took place. No ElrC
|. pcans were present: but it WIS Whispcrc
Il that little Parsee-whp PLAYS. b,liev,
the role of Il Boswell to the Thakore
it JohnSon-was allowed to peep at one @
+. two of the less important ccremonie
if The RIipoot rite is a simple one: men
d that caste from time immemorial hty
e been better fighters Than ritIali>ts.
< few flowers are sprinkled. altar AMI p:,
1t distributed, the diety invoked. and ii
80 lares and penates duly honored, the brio
L duly authenticated and hlnded over to ii
II bridegroom, and then comes the momcI
t. when the bridegroom first rem ives IL
1t sacred catta2. and catches glimpse
the face of the girl lie has married-;lu
it is all over When the rite WAS performe
the young Thakore came out to view II
2. loyal and enthusiastic thousands wiilin
10 to cheer him in the streets. He was
20 grand spirits. took his newly made wi
: to the palace with him, and then left he
and rushed off to marry in the same fasl
m ion, the fair one from GOndul. And
r. the four weddings came of, the two latt
,c by torchlight and u pretty risk q
pr the town of Bhownuggur run that ni2l
,s from the bonires, fireworks. blazing ere
or sets. &c, which tried their best to tul
n night into day in its midst.
tie What chiefly interested me were ii
le trousseaur of the brides, which were e
n travagantly rich and varied. | should ;;
v Gondul had, amongst her kit about fl
10 thousand silk dresses. May she live loI
O. enough to wear them all out, Wudwar
le dowrv was Rs. 100000; Gondul also, r
a 200 900; Vunkaneer, Rs. 100000; Al
IS Dank, Rs $4,000. The tr0nsSeau of Go
cd dul was the richest, and a portion of this
at was privileged to see. 1t was laid ont
On an upper room of the Thakores Palac
and | was escorted to see it by sever
nd ministers of state Never in my life did
of see such sight. There were huge shaw
lie clothes, scarfs, mantles, counterpanes ii
ed hankerchiefs of silk, embroidered mC