Marriage Rituals of the Halba Tribe of India

The Halba is one of the most progressive tribal communities of India, and prevalent mostly in the central regions of India in the present states of Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & India. They have elaborate and often quite meaningful rituals including the rituals of puberty & child birth that I wrote on earlier. In this article I will write about the elaborate marriage rituals of the Halba tribes.

Although the Halbas are typically a patriarchal society, women are held in high regard. This reflects in the marriage many rituals of the Halba tribal people as well, with customs like brides and women decorating themselves with one-rupee coins to flaunt their affluence, or the groom paying a “bridal price” similar to a dowry to the bride’s family as a show of respect.

The societal structure of this Halba tribal community too follows the customs and beliefs of most of the tribes of India. The Halba tribal community too hold marriages in a position of prominence. Certain special rituals & customs are performed that are closely related to the marriage. For instance, a Halba female cannot opt to divorce her spouse. It is also important to note that the Halba widowers can only tie the wedding knots for the second time to widows only. Halbas permit widow marriage and divorce as referred in the Raipur District Gazetter, 1973.

In the Halba tribal society marriages amongst cousins are not only permissible but is also favored. While Halba monogamy is the general tradition, polygamy is also permitted to a certain extent. Previously child marriage was the rule but now the girls get married at a mature age of around 18 years and boys in their early to mind twenties. The proposal of marriage traditionally comes from the grooms family.

When a match is finalized, a ceremony, called tel-chandan, that involves smearing the would-be bride & groom with turmeric paste, is observed several times, ranging from for three to seven. After that the the ritual of “parghani” is followed in which the bridegroom’s party starts for the bride’s village with gifts & ceremonial offerings of rice pulses, goat, clothes etc.. The bride party receives them as an acknowledgement of the groom’s gesture of marriage.

In the main event of finalizing the ties & the vows between the bride & the groom, the bride is smeared with turmeric paste and the ritual of showering the couple with turmeric paste and soaked rice is done. The main ritual, known as lagan (or “auspicious time”), an elderly man ties the palms of the bride and her groom with a thread. This ritual is known as “gatiodna” & signifies the blessings of higher powers in solidifying the bond of marriage.

Finally, after all the preliminary rituals are over, the marriage ceremony takes place. The bride and groom stand facing each other with a sheet of cloth held between them. The Halba marriages are preferred to be held on auspicious days & times. As such there are additional rituals performed in the Halba weddings based on the day of the week the marriage is performed.

If the wedding is held on a Sunday, Tuesday or Saturday the bridegroom stands facing the east and if the marriage happens on a Monday, Thursday or Friday, he faces the north. The “Joshi” or the high priest of the caste, takes two lamps and mingles their flames, and the cloth between the couple is slowly brought down down while the bridegroom drags the bride over to him.

After this the cloths of the couple are tied together, or the end of the bridegroom’s scarf is tucked in the bride’s waistcloth, and they go round the marriage-post seven times, the bride following the bridegroom throughout. A plough-yoke is then brought and placed close by the marriage-post and the couple take their seats on it, the bride sitting on the left of the bridegroom.

The bundles of rice consecrated by the Joshi are given to them and they throw it over each other. The bridegroom takes some red lead and smears the bride’s face with it, making a line from the end of her nose up across her forehead and along the parting of her hair. He says her name aloud and covers her head with her cloth, almost like a veil. This signifies that she is a married woman, as in Chhattisgarh unmarried girls go about with the head bare.

The marriage ritual of the Halba tribe concludes in a way that is common to other marriages done in the Hindu families. It ends with the ritual of “bavar” in which the newly wed couple makes seven rounds around the rituals place & finally the ceremony of “paidhova” is customary in which the bride’s parents wash the feet of both the bride & her groom. After that they start for the bride leaves her home for her groom’s house where almost similar rituals are followed as a gesture of welcoming the new bride into the groom’s family.

This marriage rituals are simple when both the bride & the groom are from the same castes & hierarchies of social & financial stands. There are additional Halba rituals & customs when the marriage between a man & a woman who come from different casts, social standings or does not necessarily have all the necessities prescribed in their customs for a straightforward marriage.

Photo credits: OrissaPost.

In the next article on Halba marriage customs & rituals I will describe some of these customs & marriage practices in details.