THE TRADITIONAL WEDDING II :- PHERA AND SENURA-DAAN

PHERA and SENURA-DAAN

The moving round of the sacrificial fire is done by both bride and bridegroom. The bride holds it in her hands in front of her and the bridegroom follows her with an arm passing round her on each side, also supporting the sieve. Her brother fills the sieve as they go along with parched grain prepared in the fireplace formerly under the marhwa, which the bridegroom at the same time scatters by shaking the sieve with his hands . This ceremony is called bhawar or fera. This is performed seven times This is followed by the application of vermilion. In this the bridegroom takes a small wooden cup , sinhoura containing vermilion in one hand, and applies vermilion to the parting of the bride's hair with a piece of hemp. This is called senura daan or sindur daan...

The paddy reserved from the dhanbatti is parched in the chulha.

This parched grain is taken with the wedding procession, and mixed with that parched in the bride's house, and with it scattered at the phera.They then cover the bridegroom with cosmetic ubtan, and his nails are cut , he sitting in front of his mother, and his mother wearing the maur. This, as in the bride's case, is called nahchhu. The ceremony of imli ghontai is also observed .

He is then bathed and anointed, and sets out with the marriage procession. A little of the water in which he was bathed is brought with him. This is called sineh ke pani. He is not allowed to bathe again until the chauthari. When the marriage party arrives at the bride's house, this water is given to her mother, and at the time of the girl's nahchhu, the barber's wife mix it with other water, and bathe the bride with it immediately before cutting her nails.

When the bridegroom arrives at the door of the bride's house, the women of her family receive him, and scatter over him uncooked rice, the dung of a heifer, halls of cooked rice, and other articles. A married woman of the family then takes a brass pan, chhippi or thari and a diya and gives them to the bridegroom ; and then, holding two corners of her chunari, touches with them the pan, then the boy's forehead, and then her own. This is called parichhawan, parichhan or galsedi
The Marriage of Shiva & Parvati : Carved ivory with traces of tamarind juice,Madurai,1766 AD

The girl's mother then rubs in the palm of her hand a curry pestle (lorha), which she applies to the cheeks of the bridegroom. Ths is called gal senki.

The marking of the bridegroom's forehead with sandal paste before marriage is tilak or chandan. This is done by a man called tilkahru or tilakiya. He is generally the bride's father. This tilak is quite distinct from the tilak paid at the time of proposal of marriage.These ceremonies at the door are called collectively duar puja,also known as duar lagai. Somewhere, elder presents to the bridegroom by scattering rice achchhat over him.

A male member of the bride's family(generally her sister's husband) then brings a bowl of sweet drink or sharbat, called dhua,covered with a red cloth. He also brings some urid flour mixed up with finely-powdered pepper. This is called bukua. He scatters this in the air,causing the bridegroom's party to sneeze.The whole ceremony is called bukua urai. A similar ceremony is called, north of the Ganges,dhurchhak,in which water is sent in pitchers, and a little scattered over the party with mango sprays. Then the bridegroom's maur or head-dress, is taken away tothe bride's house.

When all is ready the friends of the bridegroom come with the presents for the bride. Amongst these is a valuable cloth, culled kaneyai or bihauti, which is taken to the female apartments, and in which she is dressed. She is then brought out and made to sit in the marhwa. This visit is called nirichhan, as the bridegroom's party see the bride now for the first time.

Then the ceremony of making the bracelet is performed.The bridegroom and seven other men husk paddy in a mortar. When husked, two or three grains are wrapped up in mango leaves to form a kind of bracelet. Two of these bracelets are made, and one is tied on to the bridegroom's right wrist, and the other on the bride's left wrist. These bracelets are called kangan. The ceremony is called athongar.
Then follows the adoration of the bride. In this ceremony the elder brother of the bridegroom offers sweets,dresses and and ornaments to the bride. He then takes some betel-leaf and dahi in his right hand, and presses it against the bride's forehead, at the same time pressing his left hand against the back of her head.

These two ceremonies ars together called bandan or gurhatthi and signify that he has touchedher once for all, and that if he touch her again he will be guilty of a sin.

Then the bride's mother sits in the marhwa with the bride between her knees, holding her round the waist. The ceremony is called nahchhu.

Folk tales of Bihar: A Trip to Heaven:-

 Folk tales of Bihar: A Trip to Heaven:-

 It has every element to please the heart of a common man- reality, religion, fantasy, luck and laughter. There was great economic pressure on the common man in ancient Bihar. Folktales such as this one helped to lighten the burden and to provide an escape from the drudgery of daily existence.

Rajdev was a poor farmer. He owned a small plot of land on which he grew seasonal vegetables like brinjals, pumpkins and cauliflowers. It was not much but for Rajdev it was enough. He worked hard and slept well for he was a contented man at heart.

One particular winter Rajdev grew a super crop of cauliflower. People came from far and near to admire the fresh, creamy looking, snow-white heads of cauliflower. One day Rajdev`s wife told him that their crop is the talk of the village and some might try to steal them so he can sleep in the fields at night to keep guard.

Rajdev thought this a jolly good idea. Right in the middle of his fields he raised a platform of bamboo and thatch. On this platform he spread a sheet and his bed was ready. That evening, after the family had eaten, Rajdev left his wife and children in his hut, walked to the platform and climbed up. Tired after the day`s work, he soon fell asleep. He slept soundly till the crack of dawn. Then he walked back to his hut to start another day. The same thing happened the following night.

On the third night Rajdev went to sleep on the platform as usual, but in the middle of the night something disturbed him. He sat up. It was quiet all around. The entire village was asleep.

Even the jackals in the forest beyond had fallen silent. Rajdev looked around and suddenly caught his breath in surprise. A shining white cloud was slowly coming down from the sky. As Rajdev watched the cloud headed straight for his fields and made a perfect landing among the cauliflowers. And out stepped an elephant. But it was no ordinary elephant. It was grey in colour and glowed as though made of silver. The elephant stretched out its trunk, uprooted a cauliflower and daintily placed it in its mouth, then another and another. Rajdev watched helplessly as the elephant ate up some twenty heads of cauliflower. Having had its fill, the elephant stepped inside the cloud again. The cloud slowly floated up into the sky and was soon lost to view.

For a long time Rajdev sat in a daze. As soon as he had recovered, he raced home to tell his wife what he had seen. The poor woman was fast asleep. Rajdev shook her awake and told her everything. But she would not believe him. She negated his idea and said that he must be dreaming. The following night Rajdev lay awake on the platform. Sure enough the elephant came again. As before, he ate his fill of cauliflower and went back the way he had come. Rajdev raced back home to tell his wife.

This time his wife believed him. She said that the elephant came straight from heaven. He belongs to Lord Indra, king of the gods, and his name is Aeravat. Rajdev was listening dumbfounded. His wife was the daughter of a pundit and knew a lot about such things. Suddenly she clutched his arm and said that the next time the elephant appeared he must hang on to its tail and take a trip to heaven.

A little more persuasion from his wife and Rajdev agreed. He was scared stiff at the thought of flying up into the sky at the end of an elephant`s tail. But somehow he picked up the courage to do so. The following night, when the elephant entered the cloud to go back to heaven, there was Rajdev hanging on to its tail.

Rajdev spent a full 24 hours in heaven and what a glorious time he had. Heaven was a beautiful place. The streets were paved with silver, the palaces were made of gold. When he got tired walking, he had only to wash at one of the many clear, cool streams to feel refreshed again. The air was full of birdsong and the scent of flowers. But what Rajdev enjoyed most of all was his visit to the kitchen. Right in the middle of the kitchen of heaven stood a giant dish of `halwa` (a sweet dish). Piping hot and sweet and flavoured with cardamom and to top it all there was nobody to stop him.

When Rajdev came back to earth via the elephant`s tail he walked as in a dream. It was not only the things that he had seen; it was the halwa that he had eaten. He could not think of anything else. That night he hardly slept. Day dawned. Instead of going to work in his fields, Rajdev went and sat in front of his hut. Some of the other men from the village passed by on their way to work and asked why he was sleeping. Rajdev replied that he had too much halwa yesterday. The men were amazed. Some more men had joined them. They all gathered around Rajdev and asked where he found all that halwa.

Now Rajdev`s wife had warned him not to talk about the halwa to anyone. But with so many people asking him for details, he forgot all about the warning. He proudly said that he had halwa in heaven. The other farmers thought Rajdev had gone out of his mind. They suggested him to meet the Vaid ji (village doctor).

However, bit by bit the farmers were convinced that Rajdev was indeed telling the truth. One by one they dropped their shoes and sat down in a tight circle around Rajdev. They too wanted to go to heaven with him. Rajdev had never received so much attention in his life. He got all puffed up. Without a moment`s thought he said that they can come to the heaven with him. He will hang on to the tail of the elephant and the next man catches his kurta and like this a number of people can make a trip to heaven.

There was a wild shout from the men gathered around him. Naturally, the news spread like fire. All the men of the village had a nice long bath at the river and got into their best clothes. The women were not going, neither were the children. But they all wanted a share in the halwa. The men offered to bring some in their pockets. And they could not carry bags for both their hands had to be free to hang on to the kurta of the man in front. Here was a problem indeed till someone thought of a sling bag. The women spent the entire day making sling bags out of sacking, old saris and old pajamas. When evening came, the men stood in a line near Rajdev`s fields, hearts thumping and mouths dry with excitement.

The night wore on. It became very dark. At first jackals howled in the forest beyond the village. But in time they fell silent. Even the village dogs stopped barking. Everything was quiet when a gasp went up from all the men. The shining white cloud was coming down slowly, ever so slowly. It made a perfect landing among the cauliflowers and out stepped a silver elephant.

The men waited patiently and in total silence till the elephant had eaten its fill. Then Rajdev ran forward and caught the elephant`s tail. There was a bit of a scramble as every man tried to catch hold of Rajdev`s kurta. But soon they fell in line. Each had a firm grip on the kurta of the man before him. Slowly the cloud rose in the air. With it rose the elephant and Rajdev and one by one, all the men, down to the last one who was the fat man of the village.

The journey to heaven was long and the men had waited all day for the promised halwa. So halfway up to heaven their patience gave out. The fat man in particular was feeling very anxious. He asked the man directly in front and asked whether there will be enough halwa left for each man. Now each man started asking the same question to the man in front of him. And so the question went from man to man, right up the line till it reached the man directly behind Rajdev. He replied that there will be enough halwa left for all.

The news travelled back to the fat man. For a while he was quiet. Then he could not stand it any longer. He grumbled that Rajdev must tell them exactly how much would be left. Once again the question travelled up the line till it reached Rajdev. This time Rajdev, replied, slightly irritated that there is enough. The news travelled back and for a while the fat man was quiet. But not for long and the journey did not seem to end and he was tired and hungry. So he jerked at the kurta of the man in front and asked again that how much halwa he can eat in heaven.

The question travelled up the line once again. But by the time it reached Rajdev, he had lost his patience. He threw out his arms as far as they could go and yelled to say a lot. The elephant`s tail shot out of his grasp and all the men came tumbling down to earth. The fat man came first and all the others landed on top of him. There was a series of loud thuds and then all was quiet. For a while they all lay there, stunned. Then slowly they picked themselves up, dusted their clothes and went back home, grumbling at the fat man for asking silly questions. That was the end of their dream of eating halwa, for sad to say, the elephant never came again.