I do. Twice! Modern Draupadis and the polyandry debate
Sneha Bhura
TNN
Jul 26, 2025, 19:47 IST IST
One bride, two grooms — a viral Himachal wedding revives interest in a fading custom in high, hard places
Indian weddings have a way of making the world sit up and watch. Think star-studded Bollywood nuptials in Lake Como or extravagant pre-wedding galas. But this month, another kind of wedding went viral: Sunita Chauhan, a young woman from Shillai village in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, married two brothers, Pradeep and Kapil Negi , from the Hatti tribe. Their three-day wedding—complete with folk dances, blessings from the village panchayat and shared vows — catapulted the word ' polyandry ' into our living-room discourse. But how did this practice of a woman marrying multiple men find its way into our news feed in 2025?
It's not that polyandry is flourishing in the country. Researchers confirm its steep decline, driven by more educated women, men migrating for jobs, legal curbs and the rise of nuclear families. Still, polyandrous households persist in parts of Himachal and elsewhere, especially where arable land is scarce and joint families endure.
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