In these 3 villages in Gujarat, the groom’s sister is married to the bride
Ahmedabad, May 26: Tribals in the villages of Surkheda, Sanada and Ambal follow a bizarre tradition that might just surprise you. Yes you heard it right. Keeping up with the old tradition, a groom was not allowed to attend his own wedding and his unmarried sister represented him in the wedding ceremonies and married the bride.
According to the ritual, grooms are not allowed to attend their own wedding ceremony and their unmarried sister or any unmarried woman from their family represent them in the ceremony.
The groom's job during the wedding is to dress up in a 'sherwani', wear a 'safa' on his head, carry a traditional sword and stay at his own home, waiting for his sister to bring his bride.
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The groom's sister leads the 'baraat' to the bride's door, marries her and brings her home.
"All the rituals that a groom traditionally does is conducted by his sister. She takes the "mangal phere" with the bride instead of her brother," said Kanjibhai Rathwa, a local resident Surkheda village.
Ramsingbhai Rathwa, the village head of Surkedha village in the district said, "This practice is followed in three villages. It is believed that if we don't follow this custom then some harm will befall".
"A couple of times some people have tried not to follow the tradition, either they ended up with broken marriages or other types of problems arose," he added.