Friday, March 29, 2024
Himachal Pradesh

Himachal People

Customs and Traditions


Remarriage and The Sati

The higher castes do not allow the widows to remarry but the lower castes allow remarriage.

In some cases after the death of the older brother, the younger one marries the widow. Some times the widow leaves her husband's house and moves in with someone. This is known as Ghar Karna (taking another house). Among the lower castes a woman may make four to five such changes of spouse in her lifetime. In such cases the new husband has to undertake the responsibilities for all the children born of previous marriages.

The Dehris (monuments) outside most villages are reminders of the prevalence of the system of Sati in which the widow burnt herself on the funeral pyre of her husband. Among the higher castes, the husbands presence is the only security for most woman. They observe a lot of fasts and perform many rituals to prolong their husband's life. Among them, even if widowed young, a women must suffer her widowhood till her dying day but may not take another husband.