70
the ceremonies performed on each occasion are deliberate-
ly avoided as they are not of great use in a work which is
mainly economic. However the expenses that they incur
on different ceremonial occasions are of great importance
to us. We have, therefore, collected from as many commu-
nities as we could, the figures of expenses incurred on the
celebration of the first marriage of a boy or girl, and re-
marriage of widowers and widows ; and also the expenses
incurred for the performance of death-ceremony of boys
and girls and adults. These figures are summarised in
appendix V.
The conclusions from these figures are :—
(i) With the exception of Anavil Brahmins and Par-
sis, in all communities the expenses on the marriage of a
boy are usually less than those on the marriage of a girl.
(ii) Expenses on remarriage of a widower are less
than those on widow-remarriage in all classes except Ko-
lis, Bharwads, Kumbhars, Khalpas and Mochis.
(iii) Expenses incurred for the performance of death-
ceremonies of boys and girls are less in all cases than those
incurred in the case of deaths of adults.
(iv) Expenses on the death-ceremonies of male and
female adults are almost equal among all communities ex-
cept Kolis, Bharwads, Dheds, Suthars, Valands and
Mahommedans.
(v) If we compare the figures of net income per
family,^1 and the figures of expenses on the celebration of
first marriage, we find that with the exception of Ana-
vils, Khalpas, Mochis, Kumbhars and Banias, in all
communities the expenses on the first marriage do not
outrun the average annual family-income to an abnormal
extent.
The first four conclusions are mere statements of
facts. This last observation is of importance and hence
we shall concentrate our attention on it. At first sight it
appears that this ceremonial expenditure does not weigh
1 Cf. Chapter XIV.