Saat pheras (seven rounds of the holy fire) at Hindu weddings are passé. It is now time for eight pheras. Gayatri Parivar priests will now make couples take yet another vow at the time of marriage, the eighth being not to indulge in gender discrimination and female feticide.
Manoj Sengar, a Gayatri Parivar priest in Kanpur, says, “We have launched this initiative from June 21. We will inform anyone who comes to us for marriage, and if they agree, we will solemnise the wedding. If not, they are free to go elsewhere.”
The Gayatri Parivar, which vows to remove social evils and make Hindu religion less ritualistic, is catching on with the young generation with more people opting for Gayatri weddings that cut out vulgar displays of wealth.
“Female foeticide is not only a criminal act but also a social evil. The man-woman ratio is increasingly imbalanced. This will endanger the human species one day,” he explained.
They feel the “eighth phera” should not irk other Hindu priests. “We are not altering any ritual, we are merely adding something and that does not damage the essence of the ceremony,” said the Gayatri priest.
Priests in the traditional mould differ. “They (Gayatri) cannot add another phera. The saat pheras have a religious significance that cannot be altered. The number seven has its own significance. However, they can make the couple take a vow on female feticide, we have no objection,” said pandit Ram Mohan Pandey.