By Dhirendra Prasad Sah, Rajbiraj, Apr. 12: The nationwide lockdown imposed by the government to combat COVID-19 has brought all marriage ceremonies to a halt.

Months from November to July are considered auspicious for marriage in Hinduism while Islam religion considers March and April auspicious for ceremonies to tie the knots.

Although wedding dates for March and April were confirmed in February, the denizens in Saptari district have been compelled to either cancel or postpone their marriage due to the lockdown.

Halima Khatun, a local, said that she had in March confirmed the date for April to marry her daughter off.

"As we have not been able to go out, we are worried about how we would organise our daughter's marriage ceremony," she added.

Like Khatun, no less anxious is Prabej Alam of Rajbiraj Municipality-4 about his son's marriage.

"I had fixed my son's marriage a month ago, but as the lockdown has not ended, we are uncertain about how we would conduct his marriage," Alam expressed his fret.

Phuleshwor Yadav, who had scheduled his daughter's marriage date for April 20, has been in trouble due to the lockdown.

"We were preparing for our daughter's marriage right after the marriage date was fixed," said Yadav. "We couldn’t prepare much due to the lockdown and my daughter's wedding is on the verge of being cancelled."

Ram Prasad Shah, who have been working as middleman for marriages, said that more than one thousand knots would be tied in Rajbiraj as planned had the lockdown not been enforced.

"I alone had fixed the date of 50-60 marriages for April and May," said Shah. "But these weddings are uncertain to be held in the date fixed due to the lockdown."

Shah said that the wedding dates would be fixed again after the government lifts the lockdown.

Also, the practice of seeing each other's families to fix their son and daughters' wedding has also stopped along with the enforcement of lockdown.

The parents and guardians have been worried about how they would find bride and groom for their son and daughter amid the lockdown.

The practice of spending handsome amount of money in wedding ceremonies, lavish decorations and parties, involvement of relatives, acquaintances and neighbours prevail significantly in the Terai region.

Normally preparations for wedding ceremonies begin a week earlier in the Terai, which includes shopping, printing and distributing of invitation cards, arrangement of food and drinks, construction of tents and even for managing dowries.

As no one has been allowed to step out of their houses and crowding of people has been prohibited, people have not been able to prepare for weddings, thereby halting all wedding ceremonies.