PALAKKAD: “Ethra manoharamaaya acharangal...” (What a splendid ritual) Malayalis would have relished this sarcastic dialogue by Vishnu (played by Mohanlal) from the hit movie ‘Chithram’, wherein two newlyweds are seen tied to each other at the waist by a piece of cloth in a sacred ritual. In the following scenes, Vishnu, the groom, puts Kalyani, the bride, through a lot of hardship, all for comedic effect.
However, what transpired in Pallassena, an agrarian village in the hinterlands of Palakkad, during a wedding ceremony was no joke. In fact, it left the bride in tears.
Here, in an uncanny ritual, the heads of the groom and bride were banged together with much force as the girl was readying to enter the groom’s house. Following this incident, the bride was in a daze, and her eyes welled up. The traumatic incident happened to Sajila, who hails from Mukkam in Kozhikode. A social media influencer, she recounted the harrowing experience on Instagram, with over 2 million viewing the video until now.
TNIE spoke to people hailing from Pallassena to uncover the origins of this strange ritual. Most denied there ever being such a ritual. However, there were a handful who said that there was indeed a custom where the heads of the bride and the groom were touched gently. In any case, social media is abuzz with many advocating for and against such rituals.
Speaking to TNIE, Geetha, the mother of Sachin, the groom, said, “The custom usually only includes gently touching the heads of the newlyweds. No one likes to see the bride in tears on her wedding day. We all wish to see the newlyweds come to the house smiling and happy.”
“The person, Subash, who banged both their heads together is a distant relative. After the incident sparked controversy, he is nowhere to be seen. His mobile phone is also switched off,” Geeta added. Later, Sajila told media persons that she does not wish such trauma on anyone, especially on their wedding day. “No bride should have to undergo such harrowing experiences,” she said.
Prank gone wrong?
However, T Chakrapani, staff at the Pallassena temple, said that there was no such custom and he has seen marriages of many communities solemnised at various places. “Today’s youth conduct a lot of pranks, like making the couple drink bitter gourd juice, bursting crackers near the bedroom, etc. Though it is done for fun, it creates mental trauma in the newlyweds, especially the bride,” he added.
Ambareesh Ram, a videographer of a local channel who hailed from Pallassena, too, said that there was no such ritual and that some youths do it for fun. “Some sozzled youths enter into bets and indulge in painful pranks,” he said.