'No snakes, no marriage': This Chhattisgarh tribe offers serpents as dowry

The Sanwara tribe in Chhattisgarh's Korba follows a unique and peculiar tradition in their weddings. They offer snakes as dowry. The age-old tradition is considered so important that if the bride fails to carry nine different species of snakes to the groom's home, the marriage is considered to be incomplete. Bharat Lal, a local resident said snakes are an inherent part of the community and when a woman gets married, her parents ensure she takes a few snakes of different types with her. Lal said that even the children in the community know how to catch snakes. "They catch them and play with them as well," he said.  

Katangi, a local snake charmer said offering snakes as dowry was an important tradition in their community. "Our ancestors used to offer 60 snakes for dowry. It came down to 14 and now we give 21 (snakes) as part of the dowry. If we don't offer dowry, no one gets married in the society. So, we have to search for snakes anyhow. (Bride's) relatives start by collecting 3-4 snakes and at last, give them for dowry," he said.

The custom is respected by the local administration, but it frequently issues advisories to the snake catchers to be cautious. Siyaram Karmakar, Range Officer, Forest Division Korba, said, "People of the Sanwara tribe from the village Korkoma belong to my jurisdiction. Their main job is to catch non-venomous snakes and show them to people in order to earn a living. We often advise them to be careful and only catch non-poisonous snakes as it can be dangerous for humans." The custom of offering snakes in dowry is linked to the Sanwara tribe's practice of collecting snakes and displaying them for people to earn their livelihood.