Vivaha Samskara
Pundit Tiwari was the first Pundit to perform a Hindu marriage ceremony or Vivaha Samskara in the day despite opposition from other Pundits who even threatened his life. The Hindu marriage ceremony at the time was performed in the night and this resulted in the procession from the boy side or Baraat having to stay overnight. The family of the girl side or Dulahin had to look after and entertain the Baraatians, a rather costly exercise.
It was because of such economic circumstances that Pundit Sahadeo Tiwari felt it best to perform the marriage ceremony of Francis Jairam Bhopalsingh and Rajoo Narayansingh in the day. The ceremony took place on April 23, 1933 at 11:00 am in Tunapuna at the Old Railway Station. By importing a book from India called the Vivah Paddhati, a Hindu manual on the marriage ceremony, Pundit Tiwari was able to silence his opposition against performing the ceremony during the day. Debate among the elite (Panchayat) was simple. Pundit Kaysho Byragie stressed that a wedding performed in the night meant that the Dhruva Taara (North Star) was shown to the bride and because the star was fixed, it was used to demonstrate to the bride that she should remain fixed in her commitment to her marriage. However, if the ceremony was done in the day, then Surya Darshan or the Sun was shown and it was made clear that the Sun held the same significance of the North Pole Star which was that it is in a fixed position. Thus, Pundit Byragie concluded, the validity of the day wedding was established through the facts put forward by Pundit Sahadeo Tiwari.
Pundit Sahadeo Tiwari died on the 14th April, 1972. During his life he tutored a number of well known Pundits such as the late Ramcharan Byragie, the late Satnarayan Panday and Pundit Param among others.
Read more about this topic: Sahadeo Tiwari