SRIKAKULAM: Thirty-six couples got married at Nuvvalarevu village of Vajrapukotturu mandal in Srikakulam district in the early hours of Monday. The Odia-speaking villagers continue the centuries-old tradition of mass weddings. After three years, heads of Nuvvalarevu performed mass weddings in the village on Monday. The villagers had to postpone their plan to perform mass marriages last year due to the threat of Covid-19.
There are about 10,000 people in the village and 99 per cent of them belong to the same fishermen community. Their forefathers had migrated to the seacoast area of Andhra Pradesh near Palasa from Odisha about 400 years ago. As they were the only Odia-speaking fishermen who lived in AP initially, they had to select life partners within the village. The tradition continues in the village even now.
“Even the present generation of youths do not prefer partners from outside the village. The tradition continues for the past nine generations in the village,” said village head Behara Madhusudhana Rao.
He told TNIE that they had performed 136 marriages last time in 2018. As the tradition continues for the past nine generations, almost all the villagers have become close relatives like one combined family. Following the tradition of the village, parents-in-law should take care of the new couple for three years. They should provide money, essential commodities and hospital expenses to the new couple for three years.
He said that the village heads will fix the muhurtas for the mass marriage after discussing with parents of the young couple. “We fixed the muhurtam at 2:50 am and the mass marriage was held in a grand note,” he explained. Behara Nanda, who got married to Bainapalli Janaki, told TNIE that the elders of the family had selected the bride from the village. He said that he tied the holy knot along with other 35 couples in the village. The bride in turn tied the holy knot to him.