Till now you must have heard about different types of unique traditions happening on festivals, but on the occasion of Holi in Beed district of Maharashtra, such a tradition is celebrated which you will also be surprised to hear. Actually, under this tradition, the ‘new son-in-law of the village’ is made to go around the village by sitting on a donkey. People from the surrounding areas also come here to see this son-in-law’s ride on a donkey. Not only this, after the donkey ride, the son-in-law is rewarded with a gold ring and new clothes.
According to the information, this tradition is going on for about 80 years in Vida Yevata village of Kej tehsil of Beed, Maharashtra. It takes two to three days to choose which new son-in-law of the village will be seated on the donkey. Many times before Holi, some sons-in-law leave the village and hide somewhere, so the selected son-in-law is constantly monitored by the villagers so that he does not go anywhere before Holi. The son-in-law is taken out in a procession by sitting on a donkey and later the son-in-law is given clothes of his choice, sweets and a gold ring.
How the tradition started
According to the information, this tradition was started about eight decades ago by Anantrao Thakur Deshmukh of the village. It is said that Anantrao Thakur Deshmukh’s son-in-law was refusing to play colors on the day of Holi, for which he arranged for a donkey. After this he decorated the donkey with flowers and made his son-in-law sit on the donkey and roamed the whole village. Just since then this tradition has been going on continuously in Beed village. Even today, on the festival of Holi, a procession is taken out in the village by carrying the new son-in-law on a donkey.