Aurangabad, March 11, 2020: A village in Maharashtra’s Beed district on Tuesday kept alive its 90-year-old tryst with a Holi tradition where the “newest” son-in-law gets a donkey ride and receives clothes of his choice at the end of it.
The donkey ride tradition of the village, which is almost 125 km away from Aurangabad, is a much-awaited part of Holi for the villagers and for people from the neighbouring areas, said resident Angad Dethe.
“The newest son-in-law of the village is first zeroed in on through a process that takes three to four days. The villagers then keep a watch to ensure he does not go missing on Holi to skip the donkey ride. This year the village gave the honour to Dattatray Gaikwad,” local journalist Datta Deshmukh told PTI.
Anandrao Deshmukh, who was highly regarded by villagers, started this donkey-ride ritual 90 years ago, Mr Dethe said.
“The tradition started with Anandrao Deshmukh’s son-in-law and has continued since. Even I have got to ride a donkey when I came here after my marriage,” Mr Dethe told PTI.
The ride starts from the middle of the village and ends at its Hanuman Temple at 11 am, with people giving the son-in-law clothes of his choice.
https://www.ndtv.com/aurangabad-news/newest-son-in-law-rides-donkey-on-holi-in-maharashtra-village-2192854