Married to a Fruit

I was in class 9. One of my classmates (I think her name was Karuna, though I am not very sure) was absent for 2 days. On her return she said that she had missed school because she got married. Yes, married!!! To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. The first sentence that came out of me was “but it’s illegal, your parents will be jailed”. (I was not really diplomatic and careful with words). She smiled and that just confused me more. I guess she was enjoying every bit of it. Finally she decided to reveal the details. Thank god. And the details shocked me further to the extent that it took me close to 5 or 6 years to believe her. She said that she got married to a “bael” fruit (Wood Apple). I am sure you can imagine how strange it sounded to a 14 year old girl, the age where one is at one’s rational and idealistic best. I just told her that it was a very, very stupid joke. Now it was her turn to get serious. In fact, now that I think of it, I did annoy her. She reiterated that according to the local customs she is supposed to wed a bael. I was still skeptical, but I kept it to myself.

I grew up and with age as one forgets a lot of things I forgot about this incident as well till one day when I came across an article on Nepal. I am a quite an internet person as in I love doing random search on the net. That particular day Nepal was my chosen topic and I was trying to dig information on the country, its customs, religion, etc. This is how I stumbled upon a small article that a particular community in Nepal had a ritual of marrying off little girls to a fruit. It captured my interest and I started searching for more details on the same. The custom is followed by the Newar community. It is known as Eehi in the local language (Betrothal to a bael). A young girl (usually between the age of 8 to 12 years) is married to a bael fruit. The wedding ceremony is just like a Hindu wedding (with the yagna and vermillion smearing), the only difference being that here the groom is an inanimate object. This symbolic marriage, however, do not stop a Newar girl to take a “human” husband in the later course of her life. The most interesting part is, however, that if she preserves the bael she can never be widowed. She can end her marriage with the Human husband by giving him back the areca nuts that she received at the time of the wedding. In case of the death of her husband she can place these nuts against hi dead body, thus freeing herself from the marriage and the customary mourning. This would leave her free to remarry.

Quite an interesting custom, I must say. And beneficial for the Newar women as well. Pity, the Newar boy enjoys no such privilege.

P.S. The current Kumari retired early and it is said the early retirement happened so that she could be a part of this custom