‘Pretha Kalyanam’ is a tradition, still followed in some parts of Karnataka and Kerala, where marriage ritual is conducted for those who died during birth. The communities here believe this is a way of honouring their spirits.

Shobha and Chandappa got married in a traditional wedding ceremony in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district on Thursday. 30 years after their death. Clearly not an ordinary wedding, it was a ‘Pretha Kalyanam’ or the ‘marriage of the dead’.

‘Pretha Kalyanam’ is a tradition, still followed in some parts of Karnataka and Kerala, where marriage ritual is conducted for those who died during birth. The communities here believe this is a way of honouring their spirits.

YouTuber Anny Arun shared every detail of this peculiar union on Twitter.

“I’m attending a marriage today. You might ask why it deserves a tweet. Well, the groom is dead actually. And the bride is dead too. Like about 30 years ago. And their marriage is today,” he tweeted.

As chronicled by Anny Arun’s 20-tweet thread, the wedding was as formal as it gets for any routine wedding. The only difference was that instead of an actual bride and groom, their effigies were used.

“.. it’s a serious tradition here. Those who died in childbirth, are usually married off to another child who is deceased during childbirth. All the customs happen just like any marriage. Two families will go to each other’s house for the engagement,” he tweeted describing the tradition followed in Dakshina Kannada.

The event also consisted of a marriage procession and “Saptapadi”, detailed the thread with multiple videos of the ceremony.

Source: NDTV

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