India is a land filled with varied cultures, traditions, and every state has something that is diverse and has a deep-rooted historic belief system. A tradition that recently hogged the limelight from Himachal Pradesh was a rare marital custom where two brothers from the Hatti community married the same woman. Pradeep and Kapil Negi got married to Sunita Chauhan from Kunhat village in a three-day-long wedding ritual. Now, the brothers have been brutally trolled and abused, which made them make a video on their YouTube channel. They followed a polyandrous ritual called Jodidar Pratha and explained that they did the same to promote their culture.
Himachal’s ‘Jodidar’ brothers reveal that they married the same woman to preserve their culture
The two brothers from the Hatti tribe got married to Sunita between July 12 and 14, 2025. Now, Pradeep and Kapil defended their decision to marry Sunita by saying that they have not been the first ones to do the same. They also shared that the ritual has been followed for years and will continue into the future. The Negi brothers, who belong to the Shillai Thindo family, shared that the ritual has existed even in the Uttarakhand region. ‘Jodidara’, for the unversed, is the word for fraternal polyandry, and the brothers explained to those who were abusing that they were promoting their culture. In their words:
“Aapke ghar mei maa behen beti hai. Yeh mat socho ki woh gali aap hamei de rahe hoh. Hum toh life mei khush hai khushi se jee rahe hai. Woh gaaliyan aap maa behen beti ko de rahe hoh. Hum hamare culture, riti riwaz ko badhawa de rahe hai. Kuch log hamei support karte hai unhe dhanyawadh karte hai. Jinhe hamare culture ke bare mei pata nahi hai wioh gyan baat rahe hai. Shadi ki taaki kal haamre beech dispute nai aaye.”
