Unusual Marriage Customs in the Halba Tribe of Chattisgarh

Marriage is one of the most critical events in the lives & communities of the Halba tribe of Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Odisha. While many of the Halba rituals are similar to that followed by a large Hindu population of the present days, it is amazing to learn that the Halba marriage rituals shows their intent to be diverse, inclusive of various castes of tribal people as well as accommodate rituals with evolving time.

I wrote earlier on Marriage Rituals of the Halba Tribal people of Chattisgarh which you will find interesting. In this post, I will share what our field research from Jay Shakuntala Welfare Foundation team discovered through our direct interactions with Halba tribal elders & community members on the various rituals of marriage. I believe it will show the progressive nature & maturity of the Halba tribal people when it comes to liberal but mindful practices even in events as critical as marriages.

If an unmarried girl courts or has a relationship with an outsider of low caste she is expelled from the community but if her suitor happens to be a member of a caste from whom a Halba can take water, she may be readmitted into her caste provided she has not eaten food, cooked in an earthen pot, from the hands of her suitor. She would however remain expelled from her caste is if she has done so.

If there be a child of the seducer she must wait until it is weaned and either taken by the father or given away to a Chamar or Gond. The girl can then be given in marriage to any Halba as a widow. Women of other castes married by Halbas are admitted into the community. This happens most frequently in the case of women of the Rawat (herdsman) caste.

Halba marriages among cousins

In intra-family marriages, a match which is commonly arranged is between that of a brother’s daughter to a sister’s son. A man always shows a special regard and respect for his sister’s son, touching his feet as if he is a superior, while, whenever he desires to make a gift as an offering of thanks or atonement or as a meritorious action, the sister’s son is the recipient.

In such intra-family marriages between cousins, the uncle plays a pivotal role. He provides support to the family as needed and upon his death he usually leaves a substantial legacy to his nephew, such as one or two buffaloes, while the remainder of the property going to his own family.

This recognition of a special relationship is probably a survival of the matriarchal systems, when property descended through women, and a sister’s son would be his uncle’s heir. Thus a man would naturally desire to marry his daughter to his nephew in order that she might inherit his property and hence arose the custom of making such matches, which is still remains the most favored among the Halbas.

The matches are usually arranged on the initiative of the groom’s father through any mutual friend who acts as a matchmaker (known as the Mahalia) in a ceremony in bride’s village. When the agreement is settled the boy’s father sends a present of grain to the girl towards the bride-price, and subsequently, on an auspicious day selected by the family priest, he and his friends proceed to the girl’s village with the offering ceremonies.

The girl meets them, standing at the entrance of the house, dressed in the new clothes sent by the bridegroom’s family, and holding out her cloth for receiving the presents.

What follows is a traditional act of blessing for the would be couple. The boy’s father goes up to the would be bride and touches her hair with his hand, chucks her under the chin with his right hand, and makes a noise with his lips as if he were kissing her. He then touches her feet, places a rupee on the skirt of her cloth, and retires. The other members of his party follow his example, giving small presents of copper as a symbol of goodwill and prosperity.

Afterwards the women of the girl’s party treat the bridegroom in the same manner, but they actually kiss the groom. Betrothals can be held only in the five months from Magh to Jeth (coincides with the months of January to May), while marriages may be celebrated anytime during the eight dry months, the auspicious date being selected by the community caste-priest (known as Joshi). A very unique ritual in Halba marriages has to do with all that the community can do to hope for a long wedded life of the couple has to do with the name. If the names of the couple do not indicate an auspicious union the bridegroom’s name may be changed either temporarily or permanently.

The Joshi takes two pieces of cloth, which should be torn from the scarf of the groom’s father, and ties some rice, areca nuts, turmeric and dub grass (Cynodon dactylori) in each of them. The one for the bride is marked with red lead while that intended for the groom is left in plain colors. At the wedding some of this rice with pulse is placed with a twig of mahua in a hole inside the marriage shed and offered to the goddess of wealth Lachhmi symbolizing prosperity in the marriage.

Small & large Halba weddings

The Halbas, like the other tribes of Chhattisgarh, have two forms of wedding based on the financial status of the families, known as the “Small” and “Large”. “Small” weddings are held at the bridegroom’s house with curtailed ceremonies with minimal financial expenses. “Large” weddings which are more lavish in nature, follow closely other Hindu marriage rituals & is held at the bride’s house.

The “small” weddings are more popular among the Halbas, and for this the bride, accompanied by some of her friends, arrives at the bridegroom’s village in the evening, her parents following her only on the third day. On entering the premises of the village her party begin singing obscene songs filled with abuses to the bridegroom’s parents and relatives.

According to the customs, no one from the grooms family are to welcome them. On reaching the bridegroom’s house they enter it without ceremony and sit down in the room where the family Gods are kept. All this time they continue singing, and the musicians keep up a deafening din in accompaniment. What follows from here are the remaining rituals of a normal marriage.

Divorces & Re-Marriages in Halba Tribes

Divorce is permitted among Halba man & woman where the relationship has faded due to barrenness, maladjustment or one’s illegitimate relation with others. Remarriage for widow or divorcee is allowed in Halba traditions. It is freely permitted in Halba tribe when the main reason is disagreement & maladjustments between the couple.

But if a husband decides to separate from his wife when she has not been unfaithful to him he must provide for her support. In some communities there are no ceremonies for such separations especially when the situation arises where a wife or husband simply abandons the other.

The Halba tribal ritual for divorces could be slightly different in different places. In Bastar, for example, a wife cannot divorce her husband. A divorced woman does not break her glass bangles until she marries again, when new ones are given to her by her second husband.

Halba tribal people are mostly Hindus. The Christian missionaries have taken undue advantages of their social & financial poverty from time to time & has converted a small segment into Christianity. Their typical tactic is popularly known as “a bag of rice” where families who convert into Christianity are offered a bag of rice. There are an even smaller segment within the Halba tribes who are Muslims. The influence of religion is evident in the marriage practices of the Halbas.

The ones we observed as part of our research are predominantly the ones who belong to the Hindu community with a lot of the marriage rituals are still observed in any other Hindu marriages.