Setting aside tradition, bride ties nuptial knot at groom’s house

Setting aside traditions, a bride and her family arrived at the bridegroom’s house in Champawat district for a wedding. The bride, groom and their families wore PPE kits during the wedding ceremony and were later put under isolation, officials said.

Champawat tehsildar Jyoti Dhapwal said, “47 people of Swala village tested Covid-19 positive on Sunday. Therefore, the village was declared a containment zone the very next day and the movement of villagers was banned.”

The groom, Prakash Bhatt (26), belongs to Swala village and his marriage with Priyanka (20) of Punawe village in the same district was fixed on Wednesday.

“Permission to take baraat to Punawe village, 30 km from Swala, was not granted after the containment zone was declared. Both the parties contacted the administration and requested for permission for the wedding. Administration granted permission for the wedding if the bride and her family would come to Swala,” Dhapwal said.

“The tradition of taking wedding procession by the groom to the bride’s house was forgone. The bride’s parents and the pundit came to the groom’s house and performed rituals wearing PPE kits. After the ceremony, the bride stayed with the groom while her parents went back to their village in the evening.”

Govind Samant, a social activist from Champawat, said, “It becomes difficult to postpone a wedding ceremony at the eleventh hour. People of the hills are forced to set aside traditions to carry out ceremonies during the Covid-19 pandemic.”