Marriage between Girl and “wood apple”

The girl is then presented with new clothes and offered three times a handful of rice by her relatives.

Bhaktapur: Dressed in a red sari, Newari girls below 10 years get ready to marry with wood apple, a tradition that has continued for centuries.

Known as Ihi or ‘Bel Bibaha’ (Marriage with a wood apple) is the first-of-its-kind where the girls from the Newar Community take part before entering the adolescent age.

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“Before mensuration, especially between the ages of 5 to 9 years, they are married to Bel (Wood Apple) which is considered as the statue of Subarna Kumar, parents perform the kanyadan,” Krishna Raj Joshi, one of the priests conducting the ritual said.

As per the beliefs and various scriptures, a girl from Newar or the Newa Community gets married at least three times in her lifetime. The first one is ‘Ihi’ or the “BelBibaha” in their pre-adolescent period where they get married to ‘Wood Apple’ followed by “Bahra” where they are married to the Sun which also is performed before reaching the age of puberty.

“As per our Newari Culture, a girl gets married 3 times in her lifetime. At first, they get married to ‘Bel’ (Wood Apple) who also is considered as Narayana and then with the Sun when they undergo the ritual of ‘Gufa’ and in the last, they get married to a human,” said Shyam Shinkhwal, a father whose daughter lately took part in the ritual.

It is believed that a Newa woman is not considered a widow even if her husband passes away later in life since they would still be married to the gods Vishnu and Sun.

The Ehi ritual is performed for two days. The first day is known as DusalaKriya. The girl has to go for purification which is then followed by other rituals. The second day of Ehi also begins with ritual purification. It is the important day in which Kanyadan takes place, a ritual of offering the girl to Lord Vishnu is also known as Subarna Kumar by the girl’s father accompanied by her mother.

The girl is then presented with new clothes and offered three times a handful of rice by her relatives.