KOLLAM: A marriage that was solemnised in the morning was called off by the bride in the afternoon as the groom objected to certain rituals, leading to a dispute between two families. The unpleasant incident that happened at Kadakkal in Kollam district on Friday had a happy twist finally as the bride’s cousin came forward to marry her and the ceremony was conducted at the same venue later in the day. As both families belonged to Ezhava caste, the engagement was held in a harmonious environment.
However, the bride’s family living at Altharamoodu near Kadakkal didn’t know about the recent conversion of the groom, who hails from Pulimoth in Kilimanoor, to the Christian Pentecostal church. At the wedding venue, the groom objected to lighting the traditional lamp and also refused to take off the pair of shoes he was wearing before entering the decorated ‘kathirmandapam’, giving a shock to guests.
As he insisted on these conditions, elders present evolved a compromise and arranged the ‘thali charthal’ ceremony outside the ‘kathirmandapam’. “The groom had set some other impractical conditions for other rituals like the visit to the groom’s house by the bride’s family. Then, elders in the family took a decision and the bride returned the ‘thali’ to the groom and called off the marriage,” said a neighbour.