[206] 82.

The Hindu caste-feasts.
The analogy of Greece and Rome would suggest the probability that the tie uniting the members of the Indian caste or subcaste is also participation in a common sacrificial meal, and there is a considerable amount of evidence to support this view.

The Confarreatio or eating together of the bride and bridegroom finds a close parallel in the family sacrament of the _Meher_ or marriage cakes, which has already been described.

This would appear formerly to have been a clan rite, and to have marked the admission of the bride to the bridegroom's clan.

It is obligatory on relations of the families to attend a wedding and they proceed from great distances to do so, and clerks and other officials are much aggrieved if the exigencies of Government business prevent them from obtaining leave.