THE TRADITIONAL WEDDING :- MAUR and MAURI

The Head-dresses: MAUR and MAURI     
                                         
There are two head- dresses, one worn by the bridegroom, which was earlier made of talipot-leaves but now a days made of some ornamental paper,mirror etc. is called maur ; the other is worn by the bride, and is mauri, or patmauri. The bride's head-dress is made of date-leaves or mango leaves. These are brought to the bride's house and the maur is put on the mother's head and the mauri on the bride's head.
The bridegroom's party then returns to the janwasa, and the bride goes inside the house and exchanges her kaneyai or bihauti for her wedding dress piyeri. The father or elder male relat
                           
ion brings the bride and seats her beside the bridegroom under the marhwa to his left. Some one belonging to the bride's family then goes inside and gets the bridegroom's maur from the bride's mother, and brings it out, and it is put on the bridegroom's head.
The marriage service is now read by the Purohit. This is called shumangali. The bridegroom sits under the marhwa in front of the bride. The father of the bride sits kneeling on one knee, keeping the bride sitting on his other thigh. This is the ceremony of giving the girl in marriage, and is called kanyadan.
The officiating Purohit recites verses from the Vedas, and leads in various acts of worship. From the time of the arrival of the bariyat up to the completion of the kanyadan the father and mother of the bride can eat nothing.
Next follows the knotting together of the clothes of the bride and bridegroom. This is gath bandhan or genth jor same time something of small value, such as few paisa or sometimes a piece of betel-nut, is tied in the bride's waist-band and in her breast-cloth by the Purohit. Sometimes an ornament is tied to the bride's sheet, which is called anchri .
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 is called lawa chhitai or lawa merai . Care is taken to keep the sacrificial fire to the right. It is considered unlucky for the girl to pass it to her left. This ceremony is called bhawar or fera. This is performed seven times, and is the important part of the ceremony. 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 senur dan or sindur dan.
The couple then leave the courtyard and go into the house where the family deity is put. This house
is called kohbar. At the door they are stopped by the sister of the bride, who requires
the bridegroom to repeat certain verses, called duraundh or duar path. The bridegroom demands a present for doing so, and on this being given he repeats the verses. This ceremony is called duar chhenkai .
The bridegroom takes off his shoes before entering the house. If he is silent or is too nervous to speak much, the bride's sister may, as a joke, steal his shoes while he is inside, and conceal them somewhere, in order to compel him on his reappearance to speak, " where are my shoes ? " This ceremony is called juta chorai .
The couple then kneel facing the north-east, and perform the worship of the tutelary deity of the family, offerings being made to him at the same time. This is called gor lagai. The clothes of the bride and bridegroom are then untied, the promised presents given to the sister of the bridegroom, and the marriage is concluded.

THE STORIES NEVER TOLD :- HEROES OF BIHAR

Heroes of Tirhut

Heroes of Tirhut-Chain Choudhary,Ounga Choudhary and Nubee Meah
The early establishments of Europeans in Bihar were in form of indigo plantations and factories,particularly in Tirhut.
Those were against the interests of local peasant and Jamindars. Some brave people of Bihar had opposed their unworthy settlements through various means. These Struggles though isolated are very much important keeping in mind the socio-political scenario of that time.
The Kontai house- the bungalow of the first indigo factory at Kanti built in 1778, A photo of 1897 A book named HISTORY OF BEHAR INDIGO FACTORIES Written by MINDEN WILSON was published by THE CALCUTTA GENERAL PRINTING COMPANY in 1905, which was based on archives of the indigo factories of Bihar and then official correspondence .According to this book,Mr. Grand was sent to Tirhoot in 1782 as Collector of Revenue, where he built three indigo factories. In these factories,he was conducting the manufacture of indigo on the manner of Europeans and was evidently making money. The mokarrarie patta of these factories were any how taken from the local jamindars and raiyats.
He was opposed by the local raiyats and when Lord Cornwallis arrived in Calcutta in 1786 as the first Governor-General of East India.

Company,Mr.Bathurst was appointed Collector of Tirhoot . on the 29th August 1787, by him and Mr. Grand was ordered to go as Judge of Patna in 1788. He was shortly afterward ordered to give up or dispose of his indigo factories in Tirhoot.
Thereafter, on the basis of his conduct as a Judge at Patna, he was removed from the service and was send to Calcutta .
Chain Chowdhary, a zamindar of tirhut had opposed the misconducts of the very early indigo planters in dewani adalat.There was a letter addressed to James Gentil, Indigo Planterof Attur Factory, from J. Neave, Judge of Tirhoo,dated 4th August 1793, telling him to prosecute Chain Chowdhary in the Dewani Adawlut and to file a suit to sign a penalty bond as prescribed by the 38th article of Revenue Regulation.
Ounga Chowdry and some raiyats of Kunouli petitioned against Mr. Hunter, proprietor of Daudpur Factory, for hoeing up land and oppression for the cultivation of indigo. There was a remark that Mr. Hunter seemed to be a very troublesome man. The Judge wrote him referring him to a certain section which he could see daily from 9 a.m. to 4 P.M., Sunday excepted, at' the Judge's Court and Mr. Hunter after some days, replied, asking, " In what Room?”
The British settler and interlopers of that time had established private forces, who had regular struggles with Indian raiyats and Jamindars .Their misconducts were often challenged and in some cases favorable decrees were followed by.
On 2nd November 1793 Mr. Neave, Judge of Tirhoot, ordered a Frenchman named Dombal, who was at Saraiya Factory, to at once go to Calcutta, giving due notice of date of departure when an officer of the Court would accompany him and place him in the hands of the Military Secretary.
On the 17th February 1793 Mr. Neave wrote to James Arnold of Dholi Factory, acknowledging his letter enclosing license to live in the country:—
Whenever the Brahmin you have beaten shall complain to the Criminal Court you will hear from me officially on the subject. In the meantime I caution you in the most serious manner against all ill usage of natives.There was also a letter to one Thomas Parke, a trader at Singhia, to quit the district within a month and go to Calcutta.
The brave Nubbee Meah of Hursinghpur
The Bungalow of Hursinghpur, was being built by M. H. Gale who was the manager of Pandaul Indigo concern. Nubbee Meah of Hursinghpur disputed the right to build and there was every chance of a serious row. So the Collector of Darbhanga went out specially to intervene. He unfortunately had a long beard and so had Mr.Gale, and Nubbee Meah , taking the Collector for the planter, attacked on him and badly wounded him. It ended in the Nubbee Meah eventually getting the worst of it, and where once lived the happy Nubbee family ,was demolished and the Hursingpore bungalow was erected.
The brave Nubbee Meah was sentenced heavily for taking the law into his own hands.