Two young women marry in Sundarbans temple as villagers bless same

In a rare show of acceptance, two young women from West Bengal’s Sundarbans married at a village temple with full rituals and community support. The same-sex wedding, though lacking legal sanction, drew villagers’ blessings and symbolised quiet defiance rooted in love

Kultali (WB): In a quiet hamlet deep inside Sundarbans, where mangrove forests guard a maze of rivers and traditions run long and deep, two young women stood before a village temple and chose each other for life.

Professional dancers Riya Sardar and Rakhi Naskar, both in their early twenties, tied the knot at the Paler Chak temple in Jalaberia in Kultali block, on November 4, in a ceremony that drew hundreds of villagers who ululated, blew conch shells, and blessed the couple.

In a country where same sex marriages have no