Nepali Ritual 'Weds' Girls To God
First Posted: 01/31/2012 10:23 am Updated: 01/31/2012 5:32 pm
By Gopal Sharma - Tue
Jan 31, 7:01 am ET
KATHMANDU (Reuters) -
Nine-year-old Bhintuna sat smiling in jewellery and a red and gold brocade
bridal dress as she held a tray of offerings, waiting for her turn to take part
in the ritual that would wed her to a god.
The schoolgirl is just
one of hundreds of Nepali girls set to take part in the rite that weds them to
the god Vishnu over the coming month, a symbolic time of weddings according to
tradition in this deeply religious, majority Hindu nation.
"It is fun. I am
happy to wear new clothes and be with so many friends," said Bhintuna.
The ritual, which takes
place before a girl reaches puberty, is one of three weddings that girls from
the Newar community, which dominates the Kathmandu valley that houses the
Nepali capital, undergo in their lives.
In a later ceremony she
will "wed" the sun by spending 12 nights in a darkened room at the
age of 11 or 13, a rite that earns her additional protection. Her final wedding
will be to her real, human husband, usually around the age of 25.
The origins of the
tradition are obscure but Rajendra
Rajopadhyaya, the priest who
conducted the ceremony, said it dated back at least several centuries.
One tale has it that
parents of a girl were afraid that a lewd entertainer in the court of the god
Vishnu, known as the god of protection, would flee with her, so they married
her off to Vishnu to keep her safe.
Hundreds of onlookers
thronged the copper-roofed temple in Kathmandu, lit by butter lamps and filled
with incense smoke, as 80 girls between the ages of six and nine awaited their
turn for the ceremony, draped in long strings of yellow glass beads and other
finery.
Many held trays of
auspicious offerings such as rice, bananas and vermilion powder as they sat on
the laps of their parents before being "married" to the fruit of the
wood-apple tree, a representation of Vishnu.
After the ceremony the
bride is offered a meal of rice with buffalo meat and the home-brewed liquor
called "aela," which is like vodka.
Bhintuna's mother,
36-year-old Sirjana Sakya, sat at her daughter's side and said she was reminded
of her own childhood, when she too performed the rite.
"I think my
daughter will be emotionally independent and capable of taking care of herself
under the protection of her divine husband," she said.
"I feel good
because we are saving our culture."
Nepal officially became
a secular nation and abolished its Hindu monarchy in 2008, but the majority of
its 26.6 million people remain deeply religious.
(Reporting by Gopal
Sharma; editing by Elaine Lies and Paul Casciato)
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