The Punjabi Custom of “Chaddar” and Widow re-marriage to Younger Brother

 “Chaddar” literally translated means Bed sheet.

How Society Reacted to Widows Rehabilitation

 Punjabi society had its own solution for a problem of a widow and her future life. They adopted a custom that took care of this problem. Nobody is aware how this custom originated. The custom involved the wife of a deceased man marrying the younger brother (her brother in law). This was done in a brief ceremony where the widow placed a white Chaddar (bed sheet) on the younger brother. From that moment she became the wife of the younger brother. This was done to keep the woman in the same family and provide protection to children from the first marriage. Otherwise her life was doomed. As can be assumed woman was forced into this alliance by the mother in laws.

Practical Aspects of Chaddar

  Placing the chaddar had its own problems. In some cases a widow became the second wife of her brother in law. In other cases the bridegroom was much younger than the widow, yet the marriage was consummated. There were cases of a widow entering a new house hold where there were already pubescent daughters. This had its own problems but the generally placing the chaddar on the younger brother gave a new lease of life to the widow in terms of sex, companionship and status.

Effect of the Chaddar on Land Holdings

One reason for placing the chaddar is to stop fragmentation of land holdings. In the Punjab land has tremendous value and agricultural land in particular is a status symbol. This is particularly prevalent among the Jat community, who are the major owners of land in the Punjab.

Once a woman cast a chaddar on her husband’s younger brother she became his wife and all the land owned by the elder brother came to the younger brother. Thus fragmentation of the agricultural lands was avoided and land remained within the family.