A group of people in the Mithila region has come forward to revive a 700-year-old community congregation to arrange marriages.
At a time when people are using marriage bureaus and matrimonial websites, many people in the region still depend upon the Saurath Sabha or Sabha Gachhi, as the congregation is alternatively called, to fix marriages. Many bachelor Maithil men come here from far-off places in search of suitable brides within the community.
The Sabha, which gets its name from a place in Madhubani district called Saurath, has lately seen a decline in interest and participation.
"Maithils of the world must come forward to rebuild this institution that played a key role in strengthening the way marriages used to be solemnised," said Birbal Jha, chairman of the Mithilalok Foundation that is working for the revival of the tradition."This unique model of marriage arrangement faces an acute crisis," Jha added.
The foundation is organising a Saurath Sabha or Sabha Gachhi from June 25 to July 3 during which thousands of Maithil youth will assemble to impress the fathers of prospective brides.
The foundation has also written to chief minister Nitish Kumar, urging him to build a marriage hall at Saurath, push for digitisation of the marriage registry and genealogical rec-ords, and restore the Sabha land by removing encroachment.
"We have invited people from across the globe," Jha said. "Many families from the Darbhanga/Madhubani region living in places like Chennai and Bangalore have said they will participate. "Invitation letters have been sent to people with roots in the Mithila origin living in Poland, US and UK, and we are also spreading the word through social media."
Pune-based Rantneshwar Jha, former head of history at Lalit Narayan Mithila University, said one of the main objectives of the traditional Saurath Sabha was to curb evil practices associated with arranged marriages. "Till two decades ago, Saurath Sabha used to attract more than 1 lakh people from across the country," he added.
The Bihar tableau at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi in 2009 had featured the Saurath Sabha.
