'Pretha Kalyanam’: Man, woman dead for over 30 years just got married in Karnataka

Recently, a Twitter user attended a union of a man and woman who have been dead for over thirty years.'Pretha Kalyanam’, a tradition of posthumously marrying off two infants, is still prevalent in parts of Kerala and Karnataka.

YouTuber Anny Arun shared a thread on his Twitter timeline to give a glimpse of this unique wedding, which took place in Dakshina Kannada.

“I am attending a marriage today. You might ask why it deserves a tweet. Well, the groom is dead actually. And the bride is dead too. Like about 30 years ago,” the user wrote, starting the thread.




The wedding includes all the rituals performed in a regular wedding. Family members of the deceased go to each other's houses for the engagement. This is followed by a marriage procession, which finally culminates with a wedding ceremony.



As part of the rituals, the bride has to don a "Dhare Saree" that is brought by the groom’s family.

After this the couple has to perform seven rounds. At the end of the rituals, the bride is adorned with a Mangalasutra and the couple seeks the blessings of the gods and the elders.



Arun said that the atmosphere is very jovial even though the bride and groom are dead.



“It is as jovial as any other marriage. Everyone cracking jokes and keeping the mood high. It is a celebration of marriage,” he said.


The wedding ceremony is followed by scrumptious food, which is served on banana leaves.

According to Arun, kids and unmarried people are not allowed to become part of the ceremony.