Sidhyant

Pune


There was a dialogue in my husband Mr Lallan Prasad Thakur's drama: "he jamana badail gelai ya", that means the time has changed. That is very true. We can see a drastic change in 10 years. I am not saying the change is bad thing, but in my view we should not leave our values. There are many messages which he gave through the dialogues of his drama.


In Maithil's marriage Mool, Gotra and Adhikar is very important. Each of the Gotra is named after a Muni or Rishi and one can't marry in same Gotra. It is said that the marriage in same gotra has genetic disorder in the children. Mool which depicts the origin of the ancestors of a person. Adhikar means right, and in Maithil's marriage a person can have an Adhikar to marry if he or she doesn't have blood relation with the girl or boy. From the girl's side six steps and from boy's side seven steps are counted for that. The genealogical records of Maithil Brahmins are kept with the genealogists. Each family has their genealogist and the genealogical record which is called panji(पंजी) are kept with them in their house in Saurath, these records are invaluable for Maithils because it has their ancestors name and the place their ancestors belonged to. Saurath is a village which is five kilometers from Madhubani. After going through the genealogical record the genealogist confirms the adhikar and then the Sidhyant is done.


Sidhyant is one of the step in Maithil marriage which is performed after the marriage negotiation is final. Actually the marriage is called final or settled after Sidhyant. In Sidhyant the genealogist enters the name of the bride and bridegroom in the genealogical record and is written on a bhojpatra too.When both the sides agree for the marriage they go to Saurath and to their particular genealogist. The genealogist takes out the records of the family and see whether they have blood relation. If a boy or the girl has blood relation then the marriage is not possible. If they don't have the blood relation then the sidhyant is done and is brought to brides house and kept near their pooja place. Now the arrangement for the wedding starts.


Now a days many people are not maintaining the Adhikar. Some even don't maintain the Gotra too and get married to the same gotra. Even the girls after their marriage don't put sindoor which has the significance. I feel, really time has changed or "jamana badail gelai ya".