The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India,...

The tribe dress in the somewhat primitive fashion prevalent in Chhattīsgarh, and there is nothing distinctive about their clothing. Women are tattooed at their parents’ house before or just after marriage. It is said that the tattoo marks remain on the soul after death, and that she shows them to God, probably for purposes of identification. There is a saying, ‘All other pleasures are transient, but the tattoo marks are my companions through life.’ A Dhanwār will not take water from a woman who is not tattooed.