Gumla: A mass marriage of 101 couples, including orphans and the poor, was solemnised at Telgaon village in Gumla on Sunday. Of the 101 couples, 68 belonged to tribal and 33 to Sadan communities.“I organise marriages for the poor and those who lost their parents or are children of single parents,” said retired police officer Jagarnath Oraon, who has “got over 600 such couples married free of cost since 2021 to date”.
Raj Kumar Oraon of Kurumgarh village, Nishant Oraon of Kundo village, and Sandeep Oraon of Lohardaga said, “We don’t have parents. Here, we got blessings from the villagers and organisers.”The villagers played hosts to both the brides’ and grooms’ parties and contributed food and other items for the marriage feast.Kaushalya Agarwal and Anjali Agarwal of Beliaghata locality in Kolkata said, “We never watched such a beautiful marriage ceremony in a tribal village.”A youth, Suraj Mahli, said, “We are poor and unable to arrange our marriage. So I came here for marriage.”The tribal tradition of Yera-Sundari was performed by three village women — Shanti Oraon, Chandramani Oraon, and Jaima Oraon.Om Prakash Agarwal, a retired Tata company officer, said, “It’s a noble act on the part of Jagarnath Oraon to come forward for the sake of the marriage of rural poor couples.”Satish Suman Chachra, a businessman and social activist from Jamshedpur, said, “The simple marriage ceremony, following rituals and traditions of both tribals and non-tribals, is wonderful.”While wedding rituals were presided over by tribal priests for tribal couples, Brahmin priests presided over those for the Sadan community comprising several local castes, said Hiteshwar Bhagat, a close aide of Jagannath Oraon and a social activist.
