Raiganj: Trees made to tie the knot to spread awareness on plantation

It was one-of-a-kind wedding as the groom ‘Pakur’ (Golden rumph’s fig) tied the knot with the bride, Banyan. The marriage was solemnised at Ragapukur of Raiganj in North Dinajpur in the presence of more than one thousand villagers who made merry and feasted on an elaborate marriage spread.

With the objective of creating awareness on planting trees, a Pakur (groom) tree was wedded to a banyan tree (bride) on Tuesday. Panchanan Barman, a resident of the village has no child of his own. He had planted a Pakur tree in his garden some years ago. He took care of the sapling as his own child and nurtured it to a tree.

There was a Banyan tree close to the Pakur tree in Barman’s garden. “One day this idea dawned upon me. I decided that I should get the Pakur tree married to the Banyan, just as I would have done if I had a son,” stated Barman. Shankar Sarkar, a neighbour, agreed to be the father of the bride. Then marriage was held following all Hindu rituals.

Panchanan Barman said: “I planted the Pakur tea and nurtured it like my son. Then I settled his marriage. I urged the villagers that they too should nurture trees like their own sons and daughters and care for their proper growth. We also distributed some saplings among the locals.”