Jaipur: It’s back to basics in Rajasthan. The old-time returns as people are using camels and bullock carts for baraats in weddings. Two such processions were seen in districts Jaisalmer and Pali in the last four days. The government has put curbs on marriage ceremonies and private vehicles are allowed only with 50 per cent capacity, so adhering to the rules people are using traditional modes and it has become a matter of attraction among others.
Rajasthan is a desert state and when there were no modes of modern transportation camels and bullock carts were used. These can still be seen in the remote areas, particularly in the desert where there are no roads, but the use of camels and bullock carts for baraat that go from one village to another is a rare thing now. People usually use buses or private vehicles for this.
Now due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has put curbs on wedding ceremonies. The number of invitees restricted to 31 and private vehicles are allowed with 50 per cent of their capacity. Besides the inter-district movement of private vehicles is allowed only for a medical emergency, so now people are using traditional modes of transport.
One such baraat was seen in Khinwada town of Pali district where a barat had arrived on 21 camels from village Mevinkala, 6 kilometres away from Khinwada. It was a long procession and became viral on social media. Almost the same kind of procession was seen in Pokhran of Jaisalmer district on Sunday. The baraat had to go to Kesubala village of Badmer which is about 8 km away from Pokhran in Jaisalmer.
Anand Singh Rathod relative of bridegroom Ganpat Singh said, "Usually buses are used for baraats but invitees were very few and safety was important so we decided to use camels, which is a traditional mode of transport in this area for centuries. It is quite cost-effective also. We used 15 camels for our 25 guests. We hope in this time of pandemic people will follow this to follow the rules of the government."
