Kshama Bindu, 24, from Vadodara, India has announced that she is planning to hold a wedding this month – but the groom will be none other than herself.
As reported by the Times of India, the wedding will reportedly include all the traditional elements typical of an Indian wedding, such as the Saat Phere ceremony and the applying of the Sindoor – a vermillion mark indicating that a woman is married. The only thing absent will be the groom and the associated ‘baraat’ wedding procession.
“I never wanted to get married. But I did want to become a bride. So I decided to marry myself,” Kshama, who works in a private firm, said.
She says her decision to tie the knot with herself came after she realized she would become the first woman in India to practice sologamy and “set an example of self-love.”
“Self-marriage is a commitment to be there for yourself and unconditional love for oneself. It’s also an act of self-acceptance. People marry someone they love. I love myself and hence this wedding,” she explained.
Kshama added that her self-marriage is an attempt to show that “women matter,” even if some people think it is nothing but a joke.
The wedding is set to be held at a temple in Gotri on June 11. Kshama says she has already received her parent’s blessings for the union, and that she has written five vows she will recite to herself during the ceremony.
And, of course, she will also go on a honeymoon trip, for which she decided on Goa, where she will stay for two weeks after the wedding.
Sologamy, also known as autogamy, is the marriage of a person to themselves. The practice has become more widespread in the 21st century, especially among women, as supporters of the idea argue that it affirms one’s own value and leads to a happier life. However, self-marriage has yet to be legally recognized in any country, and has quite a way to go before becoming a social norm.