Mithilalok Foundation's video: Chaloo Saurath Sabha Appeal

Maithils join hands to revive 700-year-old Bihar tradition to facilitate marriages. Saurath Sabha or Sabha Gachhi, a 700-year old tradition, which provides a platform to facilitate marriages within the Maithil community world wide, is to be revived in Saurath Sabhagachhi village of Bihar’s Madhubani district, 175 kms north-east of Patna. The move has been initiated after some Delhi-based Biharis evinced interest to infuse a second lease of life into the long-established tradition, making it functional and relevant to the contemporary society. A ‘Chalo Saurath Sabha’ campaign has been launched, urging Maithils to gather at Saurath and discuss the issue on June 25. As per tradition, parents and relatives of prospective grooms and brides used to congregate at Saurath Sabhagachhi for match-making, taking into consideration individual profile, qualification and family history. For centuries, Sabha Gachhi kept throbbing with prospective bridegrooms and guardians of boys and girls who turned up in thousands to negotiate before every marriage season. It, however, lost its charm in the last few decades. The trend is fast changing. People are now open for inter-caste and inter-religion marriages. Besides, some consider Sabha Gachhi a venue to settle marriages in families belonging to the low income group, as it saves time and money for people who do not need to visit various places in search of a suitable match. But we also need to realise that the Mithila tradition has been a great leveller and has brought together the rich and the poor on one platform,” said Birbal Jha, convener of Mithila Lok, a private organisation espousing the cause to revive the Saurath Sabha. “Our appeal to revive the custom has evoked a very good response. Maithils from various parts of the country are arriving at Saurath Sabhagachhi on June 25 to plan and revive the age old tradition,” he said. “We will also appeal to the local administration to develop Sabha Gachhi. It has to help us remove encroachment on the 22-acre Saurath Sabha land, where we can have a multi-purpose hall with space for wedding, accommodating guests and negotiations,” he added. Video Presentation: Keshav Kumar