In order to ensure that, they are not intruments in underage marriages, priests at this Uttarakhand village have opted for a unique solution. According to the recent local rule, a couple can get marred only if they have an Aadhar card in at the Chitai Golu devta temple.
Priests at the Chitai Golu devta temple in Uttarakhand has decided to check the Aadhar Cards of the couple before getting them hitched together. The priests at this temple have collectively decided that they will check the Aadhar card first and then conduct the marriage. There have been instances when couples who came to the temple were found to be underage and it turned out they had eloped to get married and hence Aadhar Card is extremely important.
During the wedding season, four to five marriages take place every day and more than 400 marriages take place in a year. Many couples want to get married in this temple as it is considered auspicious. Blessings of Golu devta, a deity of the temple is another reason for getting married here. People of Kumaon consider Golu Devta as the god of justice.
In order to ensure that they are not instruments in underage marriage, priests have decided to opt for this rule. As per a Times of India, Hari Vinod Pant, the priest and treasurer of the temple committee said that there have been cases of underage Nepalese girls who want to get married. Because of a large number of marriages taking place every day, it becomes very difficult for the priests to check if they were marrying adults or minors.
According to the priests in Uttarakhand, they check only Aadhar card and nothing else. They do not require other identity proof like Voter ID, driving license or anything else.
When asked why Aadhar card is picked up as the important document for marriage, a committee member said that “Aadhar card has a great deal of composite information like name, age, father’s name, address and is a trustworthy identity proof. That is why, we have decided that couples should bring their Aadhaar cards along with them.”
There is another way to get married if you don’t have an Aadhar card. Couples can get married without Aadhar Card only if any of the temple committee knows any of the family of the bride or groom and that they have completed minimum age requirements.
The famous temple of Chitai Golu Devta Temple (Goljyu) is dedicated to god Gollu an avatar of Lord Shiva in the form of Gaur Bhairav. Every worship Golu lord through letters which is the sole reason why you can observe letters pinned all around the temple.
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