Latest news with #tradition
Times
an hour ago
- General
- Times
Why three's company for the tribal throuples of India
In the Mahabharata, a Hindu epic with which every Indian is familiar, Draupadi prays to Shiva for a husband who has five essential qualities: he should be handsome, noble, strong, a skilled archer and wise. Since no one man could possibly possess all these traits, according to Shiva's knowledge, he bestowed five husbands on her. Sunita Chauhan had different objectives. When the Hatti tribeswoman of Shillai village in Himachal Pradesh, northern India, married two brothers on July 12, she did it not out of romantic desire for a surfeit of manly attributes, but rather a hard-nosed need, and centuries-old tradition, to keep land in the family. By marrying one woman to multiple brothers the people of the Hatti tribe, which numbers about 300,000, ensure their land is not divided with the children of every marriage claiming their share, leaving diminishing returns for each generation. In hill areas, scant land is cultivable on the narrow terraces carved out of the mountainside. Polyandry is not the norm but a handful of such marriages take place every year. Chauhan's wedding to Pradeep Negi, who works in the local water department, and his brother Kapil, who is employed abroad, was a big event spread over three days. They say the decision was taken jointly; the bride told local media she 'made this decision without any pressure'. Jagat Singh Negi, a local politician who knows the families but is no relation, told The Times no woman in the tribe was coerced into the marriages. 'Pradeep and Kapil decided on marrying just one wife,' he said. 'They had known Sunita and her family for some time and approached them to see if they were willing. Sunita was perfectly happy with the proposal.' Hira Singh, a relative of the brothers, said the marriage was a moment of great joy for the tribe. 'We feel proud because our educated youth are not only keeping old traditions alive, they are also setting an example,' Singh said. 'There are many such secretive marriages but these three created history by marrying publicly.' Thanks to the chance presence of a local reporter, the story appeared in the press. What followed was a media storm that has shaken the newlyweds. Every time they go on social media they feel disturbed by the global coverage and commentary, both positive and negative. Some Indians believe polyandry exploits women, particularly if they have no choice in the matter. 'We've just withdrawn into a shell,' Pradeep told The Times. 'We're not celebrities. We're just ordinary villagers and we never expected this kind of interest. Every day, we've been getting 10 or 12 interview requests.' He sounded nonplussed by the intense interest, which they have found intrusive. 'It's our life, our private life, our personal story. But now we have no privacy. When I read some of the comments, I feel like some notorious criminal.' There is a national ban on polyandry in India but exceptions are made for some tribal areas. It is still rare enough to arouse great fascination, especially the conjugal protocols. Predictably, little information is available on these arrangements but a pre-determined rotation system is generally followed. Even less known is how much of a say the wife has in deciding the rota and what happens if she develops a preference, sexual or otherwise, for one brother. The offspring of such marriages also present a difficulty, given the remoteness of villages from DNA testing facilities. 'Families either legally name the eldest brother as the father or randomly ascribe the father — that is, one child to the elder brother and the other child to the younger brother,' Jagat Singh Negi said.
CTV News
18 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
‘A sense of pride': RCMP's traditional Sunset Ceremony held at Depot Division
The final Sunset Ceremony of the year was held at RCMP's Depot Division on July 22, 2025. (GarethDillistone/CTVNews) The final Sunset Ceremony of the year was held at RCMP Depot Division Tuesday night and the event starting off with a bang. Two RCMP cannons were loaded and fired along with a field gun from Fort Walsh in southwest Saskatchewan. The Sunset Ceremony is an RCMP tradition that dates back more than 60 years. The marching band plays while cadets perform dismounted cavalry maneuvers. And while the force is always modernizing and upgrading its technology, they feel it's important to hold onto their heritage. The event attracts hundreds of tourists, local residents and usually some retired RCMP veterans that reminisce their younger days. 'I know that it is very important to them. Depot is kind of the heart of the organization,' Chief Supt. of RCMP Depot Division, Mike Lokken said. 'This is where everybody starts their training and then are scattered all across Canada. So, this is like home to them. When they come here for one of the ceremonies, to see the traditions, I think it refuels their Mountie soul, gives even citizens that have never been here a sense of pride,' he added. The lowering of the Canadian flag is a part of every Sunset Ceremony. Cadets treat the flag with respect as they fold it and march it off the parade square.
CTV News
a day ago
- General
- CTV News
India brothers marry same woman in ancient custom
The Himalayan mountain ranges are seen from Shimla, the capital of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2007. (AP Photo/Anil Dayal) Shimla, India -- A pair of brothers in rural India have married the same woman, upholding an ancient custom and sparking criticism from a women's rights group after photos of the wedding went viral. Polyandry is banned in India but is legal in some of the tribal pockets, including Himalayan territories, allowing preservation of some ancient traditions. The grooms, Pradeep and Kapil Negi, married Sunita Chauhan in a three-day wedding witnessed by hundreds of villagers and relatives on July 12 in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh. During the ceremony, the trio from the Hatti tribe circled a fire considered sacred as villagers sang folksongs. 'We followed the tradition publicly as we are proud of it and it was a joint decision,' Pradeep said, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. His brother Kapil added: 'We're ensuring support, stability and love for our wife as a united family.' One of the brothers is a government employee and the other works overseas. Under the custom, the wife shifts between brothers on a mutually agreed schedule and the family raises the children together. The eldest brother is named the legal father. The All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), a women's rights group, condemned the wedding. 'Such acts of women's exploitation... go against the fundamental rights of a woman,' AIDWA general secretary Mariam Dhawale told local media. Around 300,000 members of the Hatti tribe live in small villages in the remote Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh. Local lawmaker Harshwardhan Singh Chauhan defended the practice, saying polyandry has long been a tradition of the Sirmaur people. 'We have a customary law to protect polyandry,' he told reporters, after photos of the marriage went viral on social media. Kundal Lal Shashtri, a local Hatti leader, justified the custom by citing the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata, in which the character Draupadi married five brothers.
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
‘Women are the guardians of our culture': why Kihnu is Estonia's island of true equality
'Welcome to Kihnu. We are not a matriarchy,' says Mare Mätas as she meets me off the ferry. I've stepped on to the wild and windswept Kihnu island, which floats in the Gulf of Riga off Estonia's western coast like a castaway from another time. Just four miles (7km) long and two miles wide, this Baltic outpost is a world unto itself that has long been shielded from the full impact of modernity, a place where motorbikes share the road with horse-drawn carts, and women in bright striped skirts still sing ancient sea songs. But Kihnu is no museum – it's a living, breathing culture all of its own, proudly cared for by its 650 or so residents. Mare, a traditional culture specialist and local guide, promptly ushers me into the open back of her truck and takes me on a whistlestop tour of the island, giving me a history quiz as we stop at the museum, the lighthouse, the cemetery and the school. The men of Kihnu would once have spent many months away at sea, sailing or hunting seals. Out of necessity, the women of the island became the heads of the family as well as the keepers of the island's cultural heritage. This led to Kihnu being nicknamed 'the island of women', and the BBC even proclaimed it 'Europe's last surviving matriarchy'. But Mare is very clear: 'If you must use a word, you could say that our culture is matrifocal. But I prefer to say that on Kihnu we are simply equal. Women have status in the community, and older women have a higher status – they are seen as wise elders. Women work as the guardians of our culture, and we look after the circle of life on the island – we have the children, we tend the land, we care for the dead.' The women of Kihnu have been lighthouse keepers, tractor drivers and even stand-in priests. Today, they play ancient melodies on violin and accordion, teach their daughters traditional dances and sing Kihnu's eerily beautiful runic songs, believed to be of pre-Christian origin. Most eyecatchingly, they wear traditional dress – bright red woollen skirts, embroidered blouses and patterned headscarves. These aren't just garments donned for weddings or festivals – this is the only place in Estonia where folk dress is still donned daily. Mare is wearing a red striped kört skirt and woollen jacket. Her daughters, in their teens and 20s, pair their traditional skirts with slogan T-shirts. The skirts are woven every winter and each tells the story of the wearer. Young women usually wear red – they are supposedly in the 'fairytale' era of their lives. If a woman is in mourning, she will don a black skirt. Over the months, her skirts will include more red and purple stripes until she's dressed in joyful red again. A married woman wears an apron over her skirt, and new fashions and patterns still influence designs today. 'When paisley was brought to the island from India, we began using it for our headscarves,' explains Mare. 'And in the 1960s, when miniskirts were the rage, we wore mini körts!' I spot women of all ages dressed in bright flashes of red as I cycle about the island's dirt roads on a sit-up-and-beg-bike. Kihnu is a patchwork of wildflower meadows and pine groves, edged by rocky coastline and dotted with wooden homes painted in primary yellows and reds. Outside one homestead I meet Jaak Visnap. An artist from Tallinn, he has run naive art camps here every summer for 20 years. Historically, many of the island's sailors were also naive painters (artists who typically have no formal training and exhibit a simplicity in their work), and when I meet Jaak, he and a group of painting students from Kihnu and the mainland are busy working on richly coloured paintings for an exhibition in the island's museum. Estonians often label themselves as cold and standoffish, but the painters welcome me warmly and offer me wine. The sun comes out and transforms the island – moody grey skies swept away by golden light – so I join them for a swim in the warm, shallow sea. As we bob on our backs in the evening glow, Viola from Tallinn tells me a joke: 'It's raining, and a foreigner asks an Estonian man: 'Don't you have summer in this country?' 'Of course,' he replies. 'But sadly I was at work that day.'' Before I leave the painters, I ask Jaak how the island has changed since his first summer here. 'This used to be the fishing island,' he says. 'Now, it's the tourist island.' But visitors don't seem to have transformed Kihnu just yet. Locals may drive modern cars and trucks, but I also pass Soviet-era motorbikes with side cars. There are a few shops and cafes, but they sell smoked dried fish and seal meat as well as coffee and cakes. Sign up to The Traveller Get travel inspiration, featured trips and local tips for your next break, as well as the latest deals from Guardian Holidays after newsletter promotion Outside her craft shop, I meet Elly Karjam, who knits the traditional troi sweaters worn by Kihnu's men, beautifully patterned in blue and white wool woven into protective symbols. 'I can knit hundreds of jumpers every winter, and each takes me 200 hours,' she says, her fingers clicking in a blur as she works on a new masterpiece for the local priest. Mare tells me that the island only wants to attract tourists interested in culture and craftsmanship, and that the islanders are musing over whether campervans should be banned. But tourism also allows the next generation to remain on the island, rather than leave for the mainland in search of work. And for now, most visitors seem to embrace slow travel, staying with local people in guest houses and B&Bs, and visiting to join midsummer dances and violin festivals, to learn to paint or knit, or just to find pastoral peace. The 'island of women' is a misnomer. Instead, Kihnu feels like an old-fashioned yet balanced place that moves to the beat of its own drum (or perhaps, the hum of its own accordion). In winter, cloaked in snow, it must be a tough place to live. But in summer, this slow-paced island is a joy to explore. As I leave, the rain that makes it so lush and green returns. The ferry has barely left the harbour before Kihnu is swallowed in the grey sea, a place of legend once again. Kihnu is reached by a one-hour ferry crossing from Munalaid harbour, which is an hour's bus journey from the coastal town of Pärnu. See Mare Mätas offers guided tours of Kihnu as well as guesthouse accommodation on her farm, about £40 a person a night, Elly Karjam offers comfy bedrooms and a traditional sauna on her homestead, where she also sells her knitting and homemade crafts, Pitch a tent at Kihnu Vald campsite,
Irish Times
2 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Flower-bed barriers to be placed around Molly Malone statue to discourage tourists from touching breasts
Dublin City Council plans to place flower beds around the plinth holding the statue of Molly Malone to prevent tourists from rubbing its bosom. The statue on Suffolk Street has suffered discolouration to its breasts due to a recently contrived 'tradition' suggesting touching them brings good luck. It is a popular place to take photographs, with members of the public climbing on to the unprotected plinth. The council had stewards in position for a week in May asking people not to interact with the sculpture. However, the stewards, while successfully in discouraging people, cannot be in place around the clock, and touching resumed as soon as they were absent. The bronze statue has lost its patina in the chest area, exposing the structure to further damage. Climbing on the plinth has also slightly dislodged the pins that hold it in place. READ MORE Council arts officer Ray Yeates said there are divided opinions about how important it is to prevent the so-called tourist tradition. 'Some people are very upset and others thinks 'what matter?'' he said. However, the damage to the statue has prompted council action. Noting the difficulty of changing visitors' behaviour, Mr Yeates said: 'We are exploring other avenues of protection for the sculpture, including installing flower beds around the base.' Over the next six weeks the site will be covered in a shroud as the statue's finish is restored and the plinth secured. Flower boxes will be put in position, making it more difficult to reach the seafood seller's chest. Overall the works are expected to cost in the region of €20,000. If this is not enough to discourage visitors from damaging the statue, 'we will try something else', Mr Yeates said.
