2 brothers, 1 wife: Why is polyandry practiced by Himachal Pradesh’s Hatti tribe and what is it called

An atypical tradition of Hatti community is in the limelight after wedding photos of a bride, who married two grooms, went viral. This unusual wedding took place in Himachal Pradesh. While many from the community no longer follow this outdated practice, this trio embraced the age-old polyandry tradition.

The woman named Sunita Chauhan tied the knot with two brothers in Himachal’s Shillai village on July 12 in a regular ceremony. The three-day wedding festivities involved local folk songs, dances and hundreds of guests, PTI reported. The grooms Pradeep and Kapil Negi solemnised the marriage under the anachronistic tradition of polyandry.

Why polyandry was practiced by Hatti tribe and what is it called?

This polyandry tradition of Hatti community, declared as Scheduled Tribe, is recognised by Himachal Pradesh’s revenue laws and is known as “Jodidara”. This tradition is prevalent in Kinnaur, a tribal district of Himachal Pradesh and Jaunsar Babar, tribal area of Uttarakhand.

The unconventional tribal tradition of marriage is called “Jajda” locally. The bride is escorted to groom’s village in a procession and the ritual known as “Seenj” which is performed at the residence of the groom.

• One of the main reasons why this tradition came into existence was to ensure that the ancestral land was not divided after marriage, PTI reported citing expert view. While tribal women’s share in the ancestral property is a contentious issue, polyandry continues to be a practising tradition in some villages in a clandestine manner.

According to general secretary of Kendriya Hatti Samiti, Kundan Singh Shastri, this tradition was invented thousands of years ago to save a family’s agricultural land from further division.

• The Hatti community leader further noted that Jajda tradition promotes brotherhood and mutual understanding in a joint family setup, PTI reported. Understanding deepens when two or more brothers, including those born from different mothers, marry a single bride, Kundan Singh Shastri said.
• The third reason the general secretary mentioned for the prevalence of Jajda is “security” while he emphasised that it also helps in managing scattered agriculture lands. The economic needs have translated to socio-cultural practices as the far-flung farming lands in hard hilly areas require a family for a long-time care and cultivation.

“If you have bigger family, more men, you are more secure in a tribal society”, PTI quoted Kundan Singh Shastri as saying.

Thus, the above-mentioned reasons have kept the thousand-year-old polyandry practice still alive. However, with increasing literacy among women and economic uplift of communities, polyandry cases are on massive decline.