A set of Bael Karma – wedding video images from Bhutan.
Format: DV 720×576
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In Hinduism, the Bael tree is very sacred, used in worship of the God Shiva.
A Bael karma is a ceremony in which pre-adolescent Hindu girls are married to a bael fruit, which is a symbol of the god Shiva, ensuring that the girl becomes and remains fertile.
It is believed that if the girls husband dies later in her life, she is not considered a widow because she is married to Shiva and so already has a husband that is believed to be still alive. As a widow she would not be permitted to wear colour, make-up or jewellery and often would have a diminished position in society or may be expected to offer herself on the funeral pyre of her disease husband.
In Bhutan the Pradhan caste follow the tradition of Bael karma for girls which takes the form of a full marriage ceremony performed on an auspicious date by the Brahmin.