Bihar’s sweet heritage: A hungry bride and her box of sweetmeats

The custom of a personal box of the Bihari bride with sweetmeats is only symbolic now but the sweets prepared by the women of the house were nutritious and stayed fresh for months together

Sumitra Devi remembers the time when, as a bride, she left for her husband’s home in the remote village of Adauri in Sitamarhi district, Bihar. With her dowry, the now 80-year-old, who lives in Patna, carried a very special bridal box. Traditionally called kaleva, meaning gift, it included sweets with her personal items. “These sweets were nutritious and could last for a long time without going bad,” says Sumitra, explaining that the bride was confined to her room for months till she became familiar with her new surroundings and could roam about the house freely. “Could a bride ask for food when hungry?” says Nirala Bidesia, a social scientist researching Bihar's folk and food lineage. “No, that was deemed unfit behaviour. A bride was supposed to be coy. Hence when she left for her new home, the women of her household — mother, aunts, grandmother, would prepare items such as khaja, kasak, neura and bookini that were both nutritious and long-lasting and pack them in her bridal box,” syas Nirala, adding that the custom probably stems from mythology, “from the time of Princess Sita’s wedding.”