# Agri Koli Wedding Traditions - Haldi, Dhavale Songs and Finding a Match > Agri and Koli are two distinct communities of the Konkan coast. Their wedding customs, the dhavlarin and her dhavale songs, the haldi, and what families check in an Agri Koli match. - Page: https://vivahswapn.com/articles/agri-koli-wedding-traditions - In Marathi (मराठीत): https://vivahswapn.com/lekh/agri-koli-lagna-parampara - Published 2026-11-10, by Raj Patil **Agri and Koli are two distinct communities of the Konkan coast, not one, and in Agri Koli matrimony a match starts with knowing which community each family belongs to. Their weddings have customs of their own: by the Maharashtra state gazetteer's account, an Agri wedding begins with the sakharpuda and runs to about forty rites, each led by a woman called the *dhavlarin*, who sings a ritual song, a *dhavale*, for every one.** Agri families have their roots in the salt pans, rice fields and orchards of Thane, Raigad and Mumbai's suburbs. The coastal Kolis, the Son Kolis, are fishing families who live along the shore from Ratnagiri district north to Arnala, and in large numbers in Mumbai itself. Customs differ from village to village and family to family, so read this as a guide and ask your own elders how your family does it. --- ## Agri and Koli: two distinct communities The two names often appear together, in news headlines and in matrimony searches, but they do not name one community. The Maharashtra government's own gazetteer, [*Maharashtra: Land and Its People*](https://web.archive.org/web/20250528133911/https://gazetteers.maharashtra.gov.in/cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/land_and_people/L%20&%20P%20pdf/Chapter%20II/2%20Major%20Castes%20and%20Tribes.pdf), gives them separate entries, with different histories, work and gods. ### Agri - **Where.** The gazetteer places the Agari, or Agri, community in Thane and Raigad districts and in the suburbs of Mumbai. It records one sub-group, the Das or Karad Agaris, in Palghar and Alibag talukas. - **The name.** *Agar* means a place where salt is made, and also a village of coconut and areca-nut orchards. Agris are recorded as workers in the salt pans, and are also known as Kharpate or Agare Kunbi. - **Sub-groups.** The gazetteer names Mith Agari, Dhol Agari and Das Agari. The name Dhol Agari goes back to a folk story that the Agris were once court musicians, and the gazetteer notes that some Agris still work as musicians. - **Work, then and now.** Very few still make salt. Most farm, and the gazetteer singles out their skill at harvesting rice even on saline land. It also notes that education has taken many Agris into salaried jobs. - **Gods and festivals.** Khandoba, Bahiri, Bhavani, Mhasoba and Maruti. The Ganesh festival and Holi are the big festivals of the year. ### Koli "Koli" is a wider name. The gazetteer counts several groups under it: the Son Kolis, who are the fishing families of the Konkan coast, and the Mahadeo (or Dongar), Malhar and Dhor Kolis of the Sahyadri and Satpuda hills. The hill groups have their own customs. The [Marathi Vishwakosh](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/21254/) notes, for instance, that a Mahadev Koli wedding has no dhavlarin. When this article says Koli, it means the coastal Son Kolis. - **Where.** The gazetteer describes the Son Kolis as spread along the Konkan coastline from Harne port in Ratnagiri district to Arnala. The Vishwakosh says they live in large numbers in Mumbai city and along parts of the coast. In Mumbai the old fishing settlements are the *koliwadas*. A 2021 [PARI report](https://ruralindiaonline.org/article/koli-women-fish-friendship-and-fighting-spirit) puts Colaba Koliwada alone at 800 families, citing the 2010 Marine Fisheries Census, and mentions the koliwada at Mazgaon. - **Work.** Fishing. The gazetteer notes that women grade, dry and sell the fish. - **Gods and festivals.** The principal deities are Khandoba of Jejuri and the goddess Ekvira of Karla. On Narali Paurnima, Koli families offer a coconut to the sea before the fishing season begins. The full moon of Magh and Navratri are also big celebrations. - **Women at home.** The Vishwakosh records that Son Koli women run the household and hold a respected place in the community. ### Why the two are named together They share the same coast, and Khandoba is worshipped by both. Older writers went further: the [1882 Thana gazetteer](https://web.archive.org/web/20250513003432/https://gazetteers.maharashtra.gov.in/cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/Thana%20District/Thane-I/population_hindus.html) notes that two earlier writers, Mackintosh and Wilson, ranked the Agris as Kolis, and the Vishwakosh's Koli entry lists Agris among the branches of Kolis that Dr Wilson recorded. The state gazetteer today treats them as separate communities. For a match, the respectful starting point is to ask a family how it describes itself. --- ## The Agri wedding: the traditional sequence The gazetteer's Agri entry gives the outline. It describes how things were done, and families today keep more of it or less: - **Season.** Weddings were held mostly in Margashirsha (November-December) and Vaishakh (April-May), after the harvest, when the grain bins are full. - **Start.** The wedding begins with the sakharpuda, the engagement. - **About forty rites.** They are carried out under a woman priest, the dhavlarin, and each rite has its own song, the dhavale. - **The Brahmin's part.** A Brahmin priest was invited for only two rites: installing the *mandap devata*, the goddess of the wedding pandal, and the moment when bride and groom garland each other. - **The vavsa.** The new bride goes to her in-laws' home in a procession the gazetteer calls the *vavsa*. - **The welcome after the first child.** When she returns to her in-laws' home after her first child is born, she is welcomed with a celebration called the *panvet*. The gazetteer calls the vavsa and the panvet the two joyous occasions in a married Agri woman's life. Many of these rites have counterparts in other Marathi weddings. Our guide to [Marathi wedding rituals](https://vivahswapn.com/articles/maharashtrian-wedding-rituals) gives the common order. --- ## The Agri haldi: turmeric, vade and the bath In most Marathi weddings the haldi is one of the loudest, happiest days, and in Agri and Koli families it is also one of the rites the dhavale accompany. A March 2026 report in [Pudhari](https://pudhari.news/maharashtra/palghar/agri-koli-dhavla-songs-tradition-mumbai-competition-culture-vu03) lists the moments when the songs are sung, starting from the sakharpuda: - while turmeric is applied to the bride and the groom; - while the *vade* are fried for the wedding; - at the bride's and groom's bath; - while they are dressed and the *bashing*, the wedding headpiece, is tied on. A [Sakal report from Panvel](https://www.esakal.com/mumbai/todays-latest-marathi-news-mum26i92062-txt-navimumbai-20261011112415) (October 2026) describes the dhavlarin's work as running from the haldi through the wedding until the varat, the procession, reaches the groom's home. Music at the haldi has changed. The same Pudhari report says the growing popularity of DJ music has raised fears that the dhavale tradition will be pushed aside. Families settle the music, the guest list and the size of the haldi between themselves, so agree on it early. --- ## Dhavale and the dhavlarin The words appear in a few spellings. The gazetteer writes *Dhavalarini* and *Dhavale*. Marathi newspapers write धवलारीण or धवलारीन for the singer and धवला गीते for the songs. - **What the dhavlarin does.** In the gazetteer's account she is the woman priest of the Agri wedding. She leads the rites and sings the song that belongs to each one. - **Who she is today.** The Sakal report says dhavlarins are usually women aged 50 to 70. It profiles Avani Patil of Dombivli, a civil engineer who sings dhavale at weddings and has built a large following online for it. - **Fewer singers.** The Pudhari report says the women who keep the tradition can now be counted on the fingers of one hand. A dhavale competition held in Navi Mumbai on International Women's Day 2026 was in its second year. Shanubai Joshi of Bhiwandi took first place. - **An old word.** The [Vishwakosh](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/40923/) entry on early Marathi literature describes the dhavale of Mahadamba, counted as the first woman poet in Marathi. Her dhavale, composed around 1286, are songs addressed to the groom and the first Marathi composition on the wedding of Krishna and Rukmini. - **Dhavleri.** Another [Vishwakosh entry](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/32114/) uses the spelling *dhavleri* for the woman priest who conducts weddings in some Adivasi communities. There too, the songs she sings, the dhavale, take the place of wedding mantras. --- ## Dance and music The gazetteers record dance traditions on both sides, though as festival dances, not wedding customs: - **Koli dance.** The gazetteer's chapter on [the sub-regional cultures of Maharashtra](https://web.archive.org/web/20231103062745/https://gazetteers.maharashtra.gov.in/cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/land_and_people/L%20&%20P%20pdf/Chapter%20III/3%20Distinctive%20Features%20of%20Sub-regional%20Culture%20of%20Maharashtra.pdf) names the Koli dance of the Son Kolis among the major folk dances of the Konkan. The Koli entry adds that Koli songs and dances are very popular. - **Agri dance.** The same chapter names the Gauri-Ganapati dance of the Agris and Kunbis. The Agri entry calls the Ganesh dance and the Holi dance a valuable part of Agri heritage. - **Musicians.** As above, the Dhol Agari name points to a musical past, and some Agris still work as musicians. What band or DJ plays at a particular haldi or varat today is a family's choice. We found no reliable written account of a single band tradition, so we do not describe one here. --- ## Koli weddings and the sea Koli life is tied to the sea, and so were some of its wedding customs. The 1882 Thana gazetteer recorded that at Son Koli weddings, the glass bangles meant for the bride's right hand were consecrated and thrown into the sea, and the sea was asked to look after her husband. She wore silver bangles on that hand instead. That record is more than 140 years old, and families today may not keep the custom. The sea also sets the Koli calendar. Narali Paurnima, when the sea is offered a coconut before fishing begins, is one of the year's big days, and Ekvira of Karla and Khandoba of Jejuri are the community's principal deities. --- ## Agri Koli matrimony: what families check Most of the list is the same one any Marathi family uses. A few points matter more on the coast. 1. **Community and sub-group.** Agri or Koli, and within that, which group. Ask how the family describes itself instead of guessing from a surname or a village. 2. **Clan and surname.** The gazetteer describes the Agris as divided into exogamous clans whose names are used as surnames, such as Mhatre, Thakur, More, Mokal, Patil, Dhumal, Dandekar, Pingle, Raut and Naik. Exogamous means a match within one's own clan is traditionally avoided, so families ask about it early. Our post on [gotra and devak](https://vivahswapn.com/articles/gotra-devak-explained) explains why this kind of check exists. 3. **Maternal uncle's daughter.** Both the gazetteer for the Agris and the Vishwakosh for the Son Kolis record that marriage with the mother's brother's daughter is allowed. Some families welcome such a match today and others do not, so settle it plainly and early. 4. **Kuldaivat and family goddess.** Ekvira, Khandoba, Bahiri, Bhavani or another deity. See our [kuldaivat guide](https://vivahswapn.com/articles/kuldaivat-guide). 5. **Native village, pada or koliwada.** The gazetteer describes a large Agri village as divided into *padas* of 25 to 40 families sharing one surname. A family's village and pada, or its koliwada in Mumbai, tells the other side where its roots and relatives are. 6. **Second marriages.** The gazetteer records that divorce and widow remarriage are permitted among Agris, though not within the late husband's family, and the Vishwakosh records widow remarriage and divorce among Son Kolis. A second marriage is not new to either community, but each family has its own view. 7. **Work and where the couple will live.** Fishing, farming, a job in Mumbai or Navi Mumbai, a family business. Whether the couple will live in the village or the city is often the real question. 8. **The wedding itself.** Whether the families will invite a dhavlarin, which rites they will keep, and which month. These are easier to settle a few weeks ahead than on the haldi morning. --- ## What to put on the biodata A biodata for an Agri or Koli family can answer most of the list above before the first phone call. Our [free biodata maker](https://vivahswapn.com/marriage-biodata-maker) has rows for gotra, devak, kul, kuldaivat, kuldevi (the family goddess), the maternal uncle (mama), the paternal uncle (kaka), the paternal and maternal aunts (atya, mavshi), relatives' surnames, and native place. As of November 2026 it has no separate Agri or Koli preset. Start from the General one and show the rows you need. The kul, devak, kaka, atya, mavshi and relatives' surnames rows start hidden, and one click shows each of them. Useful lines to fill in: - full name and surname, and the kul, if your family uses one; - kuldaivat or family goddess, such as Ekvira or Khandoba; - native village with taluka, and the pada or koliwada; - the mama's name and village; - relatives' surnames, so the other side can find people it knows. The maker is free in full: no sign-up and no watermark. It makes a Marathi or English biodata as a PDF, Word file or JPEG, and what you type stays in your browser. Our [biodata guide](https://vivahswapn.com/articles/marriage-biodata-guide) covers the rest of the page. --- ## How to search for Agri and Koli matches on Vivah Swapn Here is how search works on Vivah Swapn as of November 2026: - **Start from the community page.** [Agri Koli Matrimony](https://vivahswapn.com/community/agri-koli) is the landing page for these families. - **Choose the community.** In member search, the "Community / caste" filter lists Agri and Koli as separate entries. Under Koli it also lists Koli Mahadev, Koli Patel and Mangela. If your family is open to both communities, pick both. - **Add place.** The State and City filters cover where a person lives now. They are free, like the age, height, religion, marital status and photo filters. Filters for education, occupation, income, diet, manglik, mother tongue and verified-only profiles come with a membership. - **Use "For you".** This view shows people who meet your partner preferences and whose preferences you meet in turn. Partner preferences include native district and native taluka, so a family that wants roots in Raigad or Palghar can say so there. - **Profiles are read first.** Our team reads every profile before anyone else can see it. Families in and around Mumbai can also start from [Mumbai](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-matrimony-in-mumbai), [Navi Mumbai](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-matrimony-in-navi-mumbai) or [Thane](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-matrimony-in-thane). For Son Koli roots further down the coast, there is [Ratnagiri](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-matrimony-in-ratnagiri). --- ## Frequently asked questions **Are Agri and Koli the same community?** No. They are two distinct communities of the Konkan coast, with separate entries in the state gazetteer. The Agris are traditionally salt makers, farmers and orchard keepers of Thane, Raigad and Mumbai's suburbs. The coastal Kolis, or Son Kolis, are fishing families along the shore and in Mumbai's koliwadas. **What is a dhavlarin?** The woman who leads the rites of a traditional Agri wedding and sings a dhavale for each one. The state gazetteer calls her a female priestess. Marathi newspapers report that few dhavlarins remain, and most are women aged 50 to 70. **What are dhavale songs?** Wedding songs, one for each rite, sung from the sakharpuda and the haldi through to the varat. The word is old in Marathi: the poet Mahadamba's dhavale, from around 1286, are songs addressed to the groom. **Which gods do Agri and Koli families worship?** The gazetteer names Khandoba, Bahiri, Bhavani, Mhasoba and Maruti for the Agris, and Khandoba of Jejuri and Ekvira of Karla as the principal deities of the Son Kolis. Every family has its own kuldaivat, so ask. **When are Agri weddings traditionally held?** The gazetteer says mostly in Margashirsha (November-December) and Vaishakh (April-May), after the harvest. For how the wedding calendar works across Maharashtra, see our guide to [wedding seasons in Maharashtra](https://vivahswapn.com/articles/wedding-seasons-maharashtra). --- ## Read next - [Marathi wedding rituals from sakharpuda to varat](https://vivahswapn.com/articles/maharashtrian-wedding-rituals) - [Gotra and devak explained](https://vivahswapn.com/articles/gotra-devak-explained) - [Kuldaivat - finding your family deity](https://vivahswapn.com/articles/kuldaivat-guide) - [How to make a marriage biodata](https://vivahswapn.com/articles/marriage-biodata-guide) --- ## Still looking for the right match? Vivah Swapn is a Marathi matrimony platform with verified profiles across Maharashtra: - [Agri Koli Matrimony](https://vivahswapn.com/community/agri-koli) · [Marathi Matrimony](https://vivahswapn.com/online-marathi-matrimony) · [Kunbi](https://vivahswapn.com/community/kunbi) · [Marathi Brides](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-brides-for-marriage) · [Marathi Grooms](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-grooms-for-marriage) - [Mumbai](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-matrimony-in-mumbai) · [Navi Mumbai](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-matrimony-in-navi-mumbai) · [Thane](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-matrimony-in-thane) · [Ratnagiri](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-matrimony-in-ratnagiri) · [Sindhudurg](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-matrimony-in-sindhudurg) - [Divorcee Marathi Matrimony](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-divorcee-matrimony) · [NRI Marathi Matrimony](https://vivahswapn.com/marathi-nri-matrimony) · [Vadhu Var Suchak Kendra](https://vivahswapn.com/marriage-bureau)