A woman in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district married two men – who are brothers from the Hatti tribe – in a ceremony that lasted three days and drawn widespread attention.
One bride and two brothers. Yes, you read that right! A village in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district kept alive the age-old tradition of polyandry, wherein a woman married two men who are brothers, despite the practice not being legally recognised in India.
Polyandry is a practice whereby a woman is married to two or more husbands. The term comes from the Greek roots ‘poly’, meaning many, and ‘aner’, meaning man.
Pradeep Negi and Kapil Negi, two brothers from the Hatti tribe from Shillai village, married Sunita Chauhan from Kunhat village, in a ceremony held in the Trans-Giri area, which lasted from July 12 to 14, and witnessed by hundreds of people.
Pradeep works in a government department while his younger brother Kapil has a job abroad.
The throuple said they took the decision without any pressure and got consent from their families. A video of the marriage has surfaced on social media. The polyandry marriage has sparked a widespread discussion on social media.
WHY POLYANDRY IS CHERISHED IN HIMACHAL VILLAGES AND NOT ACROSS INDIA?
Despite polyandry being illegal in India, the practice remains prevalent in several villages of Sirmaur district. The tradition is also alive in Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts in Himachal Pradesh, and some parts of neighbouring Uttarakhand, though in some villages there, the practice is slowly getting obsolete.
Families from the Hatti tribe argue that the marriage remains intact, even if worse was to befall on one of the two men. Known locally as ‘Jodidaran’ or ‘Draupadi Pratha’, after Draupadi of the Mahabharata who had the five Pandavas as her husbands, polyandry ensures that family properties remain intact across generations.
For the Hattis, polyandry not only remains a cherished part of their cultural heritage, but is also a means to sustain their lives in a world full of uncertainties.
The Hattis, having recently been granted Scheduled Tribe status, view polyandry as a crucial marker of cultural identity. However, the shift towards modern values and urban lifestyles poses a challenge to the continuation of the anachronistic tradition.
In an interview with IndiaToday.in last year, Kundan Singh Shastri, general secretary of Hatti Central Coimmittee, believes ‘Jodidaran’ will die a slow death as more villagers become educated and shift to cities for jobs.
The Hattis are governed by the Hindu Marriage Act and for official purposes. However, there are provisions in Indian laws to protect the customs and traditions of other tribal communities.
Reacting to the recent polyandry in Sirmaur district, Ransingh Chauhan, a lawyer, said the practice has been prevalent in the region for decades and stressed it was legally recognised by the Himachal Pradesh High Court under the ‘Jodidar Law’.
“Hundreds of marriages happen through polyandry and other age-old traditions. Media highlighted the marriage in Shillai prominently and they should not be astonished as this is a regular phenomenon. The practice is being done to ensure that families stay united and lands are not divided among themselves,” Chauhan, a legal advisor for the Central Hatti Committee, told India Today’s TV sister channel, Aaj Tak.
