Not Married Till Bride is Pregnant
Couples from the Toda tribe in the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu practice a bizarre wedding tradition inasmuch they are not officially married until the ‘wife’ becomes pregnant.
After the marriage the bride stays with her husband for a couple of months before returning back to her parent’s home.
Once she has confirmed she is pregnant they hold a joint occasion called the bow and arrow ceremony where the groom goes into the forest to make a bow and arrow from the tender stems of a tree. On his return he presents his wife with the bow and arrow and on accepting it she is confirming the baby she is carrying is indeed his and fully accepts him as her legal husband.
A ceremony is then organised at the beginning of the seventh month of pregnancy on the day before a full moon where traditional songs and dances are performed with the whole clam wearing colourful shawls.
A tribal mother said, “My son got married one and a half years before. Now my daughter-in-law has conceived fifth month. And we are doing big ceremony. We are very happy that a new member is coming to our community.
Can this be a tribal term of ‘shotgun wedding’?
Author - Pauline
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