The bride sat with a 10 inch male doll as the Pandit recited “mantras” at the wedding ceremony.
When the time came for the “pheras,” the bride nonchalantly picked up the doll and took seven rounds of the sacred fire.
This unique wedding was solemnised in Unchahar in Rae Bareli district on Wednesday night in Gangauli village.
The groom, Sahil, is in jail on charges of murdering his own brother-in-law.
His wedding was scheduled for Wednesday and both the parties did not want any further postponement.
“Once the wedding was fixed, we decided to share each other’s fate. I told Sahil’s father, Thakurdin, that the wedding would be held on schedule and we discussed the matter with our priests. The priests told us that in mythology there are instances where marriages have been solemnised in the absence of the bride or the groom by keeping a doll and we decided to follow the pattern,” said the bride’s father Suresh.
Suresh and his family members came to Lucknow last week and purchased a 10-inch male doll for the wedding.
“We could not find a bigger one though we wanted a life-sized doll. We dressed up the doll in wedding finery and put it in a sitting position during the rituals,” he informed.
The wedding attracted huge crowds as soon as the word spread that the groom was being replaced by a doll.
Some people even questioned the idea but were pacified when the priests explained the situation to them.
On Thursday morning, the “baraat” returned to Dalmau along with the bride and the “groom” and the wedding festivities came to an end.
Thakurdin said that the bride would now live with them and perform all duties as a daughter-in-law.
“We will have another small wedding when Sahil comes out of jail but till then his bride is our responsibility,” he said.