Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 258

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RITES ON FIRST THREE DAYS
place on a metal dish, and proceed, singing songs and accom-
panied by all the guests, to offer it as neiveddya to these
gods, having first, of course, done puja to them.
They
even go so far as to place to the right of them pickles, to
give a relish to their rice, while on their left they place
a cup full of the sweet drink called paramanna, with which
to quench their thirst.
The master of the house then
performs the sam-kalpa and offers sandalwood, akshatas,
flowers, and lustral water to his guests, who ought, when
receiving all this, to think of the household gods, in whose
honour the feast immediately following is spread, great
pains having been taken to make it bountiful and magnifi-
cent.
Betel is distributed at the termination of the repast,
after which the guests disperse.
The second day, nine Brahmins specially chosen for the
purpose perform the sacrifice of homam and another to
fire, in honour of the nine planets, as at the ceremony of
the upanayana. Two women take the consecrated fire
and carry it, singing the while, to the centre of the pandal,
placing it on the raised dais of earth.
Each of the women
then receives a present of a new cloth, and a little bodice
called ravikai.
All present then walk round the brazier of
hot coal reciting mantrams, scattering darbha grass and
bowing to the ground. Presents are given to the nine
Brahmins who have sacrificed to the planets, and, as usual,
the meeting ends with a feast.
The third day the father of the bridegroom, having made
his ablutions, takes some akshatas in a cup, and goes out
early to call together relatives and friends.
As soon as all
are assembled under the pandal, a pure cloth or carpet is
spread on the raised earthen dais, and the future husband
and wife are seated thereon facing the east. The married
women
then approach them and rub their heads with oil,
and then proceed with the important
ceremony known as nalangu, which consists in smearing
the naked parts of their bodies with powdered saffron, and
immediately after pouring a great quantity of warm water
over their heads \ The women never cease singing the
singing the while,
1
Xalangu is not a religious ceremony. The powdered saffron is mixed
with quicklime, and made into a paste which is red in colour. It is
rubbed only on the feet. Ed.