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himself before him. The king raises him up and
takes him to the temple of the palace. On the fourth
day, the Brahmin priests sprinkle holy water on his
head and divide his lock into three parts in allusion
to the Hindu trimitrii. The king himself cuts the
locks of the Prince, while the Brahmin priests shave his
head. Two other Brahmin priests blow the conch.
Then the prince goes to an artificial mountain, which
stands for the sacred mountain of Kailasa, where the
god Siva is said to have shaved his son Gaijesa. Holy
water is sprinkled on the Prince's head, where a
crown of pure white cotton is placed by a Brahmin
priest. The festival continues for a week. Every
boy is required to enter the monastery as a novice
after this ceremony. The Siamese Prince is not
exempted from this rule, though Princes like Chula
longkorn would not like to stay in the monastery for
more than three days.1
MARRIAGE
In Siam, the average age of marriage for girls
is fifteen and for boys seventeen, Polygamy is prev-
alent in the country. Marriages are often arranged
by the parents, but love marriage also takes place
in Siam. It is strange that the Siamese law allows
the husband the right to sell his wife, but he cannot
sell the wife, who brought him a dowry.
About the marriage customs in the seventeenth
century in Siam, we read in Jeremias Van Vliet's ac-
L gee_g;am in & lOr ™