Archive for the 'Sikh Wedding' Category
A PUNJABI WEDDING—“BELLE- BELLE”
The Punjab, a North Indian State, is well-known for its lavish festivals and colorful weddings. Punjabis usually hold their weddings in hotels or banquet halls and in cities like New Delhi huge decorative tents known as “Shamianas” are erected to host weddings and the receptions frequently.
Pre-wedding rituals include “Thaka”/”Roka”-announcement of the wedding is performed at the bride’s house where the boy and girl give their consent to get married to each other. “Magni”/”Sagaai”/”Kudmai” is the formal engagement wherein the bride and groom exchange rings in the presence of a “Pujari”/priest, relatives and close friends and the date for the wedding is also finalized after the “sagaai”.
“Sagan” and “Chunni chadana”-dressing up and blessing of the bride-are usually conducted together in a banquet hall or a club. The priest performs a “havan” and the bride’s father applies a “tilak” on the groom’s forehead. The bride is attired in the clothes and the jewelry gifted to her by the groom’s parents.
In Ladies “Sangeet”/music family members and relatives sing several songs to tease the groom’s mother and other members of his family.
“Mehendi”/Henna ceremony is held both in the bride’s and the groom’s houses. The mehendi is sent to all present for their blessings after which it is applied on the bride’s palms and she leaves the impressions of them on the wall behind her. Now-a- days a paper is pasted to protect the wall. After cleaning her palms, “Mehendiwalli or henna artist decorates her palms and feet and her female relatives’ and friends’ palms with intricate and beautiful patterns. Mehendi is smeared onto the palms of the groom and washed off immediately. Then the henna artist decorates the palms of the women in his family. This ceremony is accompanied by ladies singing and dancing to the beat of “Dholak”-a small drum.
The ritual “Kangan Bandhana” involves the tying of the sacred thread “mouli” to the right wrists of the bride and the groom on the wedding morning. An iron “Challa”/bracelet, turmeric sticks, betel nut and “kaudis”/shells are tied to the ‘mouli’.
For the “Chuda Charana” ritual the priest performs a “havan” and after the ‘puja’ the “Chuda”, a set of red and cream ivory bangles, is touched by all present for their blessings and the bride slips the ‘Chuda’ on her wrist followed by an iron bangle with shells and beads and a ‘mouli’ tied by the priest around her wrist. The girl’s maternal uncle, aunts, cousins and friends tie “Kaliras”(gold, silver or gold-plated traditional ornaments) to the ‘Chuda.’
Two days before the wedding, wearing old clothes the bride sits in the vicinity of four lighted oil lamps the glow from which is reflected on her face. In the ritual “Ghara Ghardholi”, held on the wedding morning, the bride and the groom in their respective houses are bathed by a pitcher of water brought from a nearby temple by a relative. A paste “Vatna”/”Uptan” (a paste of turmeric powder and mustard oil) is applied on their bodies before bath.
The bride’s mother, female relatives and friends help her to dress up for the wedding. Most of the Punjabi brides go for heavily embroidered Punjabi Patyala suits, Salwar-kurta/churidar-kurta in traditional red, pink, maroon etc. These days Indian Punjabi brides could be traced in saris and lehenga-choli with rich embroidery, stone, sequence or zari work and in auspicious colors like red, orange, magenta or maroon. Punjabi brides are adorned with heavy and chunky gold jewelry embedded with colored stones. Knowing their passion for gold the jewelers exhibits a wide range of beautiful and intricate designs in necklaces, bangles, fingerings, earrings, anklets and toerings for the brides. They also wear attractive nose-pins and hair ornaments.
The groom could be seen in traditional “Sherwani” in light brown with heavy embellishments or cream with a matching “Churidar”. His sisters tie the “Sehra”, a veil of golden threads onto his turban. The groom is taken to the richly caparisoned mare or a decorated car for the “Baraat”-the wedding procession.
When the ‘baraat’ arrives at the entrance of the bride’s house it is greeted by the male members of the bride’s family, followed by the exchange of garlands between the couple.
The “mahurat” or the auspicious time for the wedding takes place only after the dinner. The priest first conducts a “puja” for the groom who chants a few mantras. The priest then conducts another ‘puja’ in which the couple and their parents take part. The bride’s father gives his daughter away to the groom in the ritual “Kanyadaan” followed by the “pheras/circles around the sacred fire, tying the bride’s sari to the groom’s “pagdi”, using a red ‘chunni’. The newly-weds seek the blessings of the elders by touching their feet.
Before the bride leaves her house she lights an earthen lamp or switches on all the lights. She then takes “Laju”, puffed rice (a sign of prosperity) in her hands and showers on all her family members over the top of her head. She continues
The couple unties each other’s bracelets in the presence of all family members and the new “bahu” (daughter-in-law) is introduced to all who gift and bless her. The ceremony “Phere palna” has the newly weds visiting the parents of the bride next day and this occasion is marked by hoisting an elaborate LUNCH. No comments
Sikh Wedding or Anand Karaj
Anand Karaj, meaning ‘blissful union’ is the traditional name for the Sikh Wedding conducted during the day. This joyous and festive event is very family oriented and informal in its atmosphere. The traditional Sikh wedding is marked with several interesting and colorful rituals.
Some of the pre-wedding rituals are ‘Kurmai’, an engagement ceremony, though not mandatory, sometimes performed one week before the wedding, Maiya, a sort of confinement of the bride and the groom in their respective houses for a few days before the wedding, Gana, tying of an auspicious red thread to the right wrist of the groom and the left wrist of the bride, Vatna, a scented powder of barley flour, turmeric and mustard oil applied to the bodies of the bride and the groom in their respective homes two days prior to the wedding and Mehendi ki raat, the application of henna on the hands and feet of the bride on the eve of the wedding day.
The morning of the wedding is marked by certain other rituals like Ghardi-a decorated earthern pitcher to be filled with well water by female relatives to bathe the groom later, Khare charna ceremony and chooda the bride is made to wear a set of red and white bone or plastic bangles dipped in buttermilk. Her close relatives tie a kaleeren or golden danglers to the bride’s waist. Now the bride starts her dress op for the main wedding
The traditional costume of a Sikh bride is costly bright salwar kameez that is usually red or magenta in color. The bridal kameez is heavily embroidered with golden thread or studded with costly pearls or semi-precious stones. Rarely the bride also wears an expensive thickly embellished flowing flare lehenga-choli-dupatta. Often a kiran is attached to the thin dupatta to make it prettier. The bride wears a tikka in the parting of the hair. The special jewelry worn by a Sikh bride is Mohra, a necklace made of gold coins and Chuda, a set of bangles.
The traditional costume of Sikh groom is a Kurta-Pyjama or he wears a brocade achakan (long coat) churidar pyjamas. He also wears a turban known as Pagri veiled in flowers.
The wedding rituals are held in Gurdwara and only four Pheras (rounds) take place in the wedding. In Lawan Phere the bride and the groom sit together listening to the first Lawan or hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib recited by the bhaiji of the Gurudwara. When the hymns are sung, the bride and the groom walk around the Guru Granth, groom walking first with a sword in his hand. After the first round both sit and wait for the second Lawan. During the fourth round the newly weds are showered with flowers.
After the wedding the bride puts on new clothes gifted by the groom’s side and parts from her house throwing back grains of rice.