“Wedding ceremony is a luxury that not everybody can afford among the tribal community. With sanction of the family and relatives, the couple starts to live together as husband and wife waiting to save money to get married. In the past, tribal couple had the marriage before their eldest son got married,” said Vivek Pandit of Shramajivi Sanghatna.

It is sheer poverty that prevents the tribal couples from having a proper wedding ceremony. A simple tribal wedding would cost about Rs 8,000 while a lavish one with music band and decorative pandals would incur expenses of Rs 30,000. Spending thousands of rupees for a marriage is something that these tribals, working in meager jobs like as labourers, can not afford. They can only borrow that amount from money-lenders and repay for the rest of their lives.

So for labourers like Dhanu Dalvi, who is wedding his wife Gulab in the presence of their two-year-old son Suraj, this mass marriage is an opportunity they would not miss. Besides the feast for the friends and relatives, the mass marriage comes with the benefit of free bridal and groom make-up, garlands, mangalsutra, music band, one wedding photograph and a marriage certificate.

Some of them came in the best outfits they could manage for the big day. Like Devji Kothi was dressed in tattered jeans, shirt and a pair of sleepers. Devji was all smiles as this was a big milestone in his life for he was going to wed his companion of four years. Devji and his wife Lata have three-year-old son.

Pandit, however, clarifies that not all of those who registered for the mass marriage were already living together as husband and wives. Many of them are couples who would start living together only after the marriage. The couples getting married before having any children were eligible for a grant of Rs 10,000 from the Tribal Development department.

“I am requesting the state to release the grants also to those couples having children. Let these people also live with dignity they deserve,” said Pandit.

Unlike Hindus where a male priest conducts the marriage ceremony, the tirbals marriage is conducted by females known as Davlerin, who perform the ritual by singing and holding their deity, a lamp, in their hand. At Dahanu, six Davlerins solemnised the marriage of the 470 couples.