Indian Wedding

Andhra Pradesh, one of the Southern Indian states, has a rich and varied cultural heritage and the Andhra/Telugu weddings are as zany and glitzy as the Hyderabad Palace. Most of the Indian weddings involve several colorful rituals and the Telugu wedding is not an exception.

Pre wedding rituals: The choosing of the auspicious time of the day, Muhurtam, for the wedding is done through a ceremony. Andhra weddings usually take place in the evening hours between 7pm-11pm. Pendlikoothuru, a ritual conducted a day or two before the wedding, has the bride and the groom smeared with oil and turmeric. After bath the girl wears a sari, bangles and flowers on her hair and the boy a dhoti. Mangala Snaanam, the auspicious bath, taken by the bride and the groom individually implies the physical purification before proceeding for the marriage. The Aarti ceremony is done by the family members applying oil to the bride and the groom and doing aarti around them to safeguard them from evil influences. After bath the bride worships the goddess Gouri and the groom at the same time performs the Ganesh Puja. Snathakam, an important ritual conducted a few hours before the actual wedding muhurtam, involves only the groom as he wears a silver thread on his body. Kashi Yatra or journey to Kashi is another interesting unique ritual done at the end of Snathakam wherein the groom says that he has renounced all worldly pleasures and is going to Kashi, a holy place in North India. At this the bride’s brother requests him to stay back and offers his sister in marriage.
The actual wedding begins with the bride’s maternal uncle carrying her in a bamboo basket to the mandap/wedding altar. The bride looks too enchanting in her bridal costumes that consist of a bright colored silk sari, usually red color considered very auspicious or any other similar bright colors and decorated with heavy zari works or any other eye-catching embellishments and a matching blouse/jacket. From head to toe each part of the body is adorned with precious gold jewelry studded with pearls and stones. Pearl is immensely popular as it is a Hyderabadi specialty. Even the head along with the hair is decorated with small trinkets and the hair is adorned with a lot of natural flowers like jasmine. The grooms wear a South Indian dhoti and a shirt in their style except in a Brahmin wedding they are bare-bodied on the upper torso, draping only an angavastram, a piece of cloth.
Next is Kanyadan where the girl’s father gives away his daughter to the groom separated from the bride by a screen that is placed between them. While the priests chant the sacred Vedic mantras the couple applies a paste of cumin seeds and jaggery on each other’s hands symbolizing that they cannot be separated for ever. Then the screen is removed and the groom ties the mangalasutra, generally a golden necklace with alternate black and golden beads, around the bride’s neck with three knots followed by exchange of garlands while the relatives and friends shower flowers and turmeric rice called akshata on them. Then the couple takes seven steps/saptapadi together around the fire with the bride’s sari end tied to the groom’s dhoti. Finally the groom slips toe rings made of silver on the bride’s toes. When the wedding ceremony concludes the parents of the bride clean the groom’s feet with water.
The post marriage rituals include Graha Pravesh wherein the bride enters her husband’s house with all rites and fanfare. Sixteen days after the wedding the two mangalasutras are tied together on a common string with a few black or golden beads between the two plates to avoid clash with each other, symbolizing perfect harmony among the two families.

The culture of Maharashtra, a Western Indian state, is a blend of the northern Aryan and the southern Dravidian. Traditional Marathi wedding is conducted usually in the morning hours though it can take place in the afternoon also if there is the auspicious time known as muhurta, but never in night.

Like most other states Marathis also observe a number of rituals before, during and after wedding. An interesting ritual Kelvan entails both the bride’s and the groom’s families to host a feast at their respective houses for all the guests gathered there. The formal engagement is conducted after Kuldevta Pujan, offering prayers to the respective patron deities of the two families. These two rituals together constitute the ceremony known as Wang Nishchay, followed by a lavish feast.
The day before the marriage both the bride and groom are smeared with a paste of sandal and turmeric individually at their houses. After a few minutes they take bath. Turmeric is considered as a powerful cleansing and purifying agent while sandal is famous for its pleasing aroma. In the ritual called Seeman Pooja, a very interesting and traditional practice, the bride’s parents welcome the groom and his people by washing the feet of the boy, his parents and the women of his family. Now the groom is gifted with ring, watch, gold chain and silverwares like plates, glasses, bowls etc. On the wedding morning a sumptuous breakfast called Rukhvat is served to the groom, his siblings, friends etc while the bride performs a Pooja/prayer, Gouri-Har Pooja, where she worships the goddess Gouri.
At the end of the Gouri-Har Pooja the bride is escorted by her maternal uncle (Mama) to the Antarpaat (Curtain) ceremony. She is beautifully attired in her traditional bridal costume, a nine- yard green sari draped in the typical Marathi style. The most popular wedding sari is the Paithani variety, an expensive one made more attractive by embellishments. Matching to the sari she wears tinkling green glass bangles on her hands. The bride wears the Tanmani, a typical Marathi necklace, having three or four strings of pearls with a central pendant, or seven or eight strings of pearls attached to a central green bead. She might wear silver toe rings and typical Maharashtrian earrings known as Jhumka with seven pearl studs on each ear. The nose ring, nath, studded with pearl and bead is seen on the left nostril. She decorates her forehead with a bindi, but sindoor is not a must. To add more charm, she wears a crown-like embellishment, sehra having flower strings falling loosely on the forehead not covering the face fully. The groom wears traditional kurta-dhoti along with uparna, a piece of cloth draped over his shoulders.
Among the marriage rituals Antarpaat is an important ceremony wherein the groom is brought to the centerstage and there an antarpaat or shawl of silk is put up between the boy and the girl to separate them until the actual time of marriage. The boy and the girl hold a garland throughout the ceremony. The antarpaat consists of eight sets of mantras and stutis with invocations to various gods. When the eighth utterance is chanted the screen is removed and the boy and the girl see each other and exchange garlands.
Havan, another integral part of Marathi marriage, has the bride and the groom and their parents sit around the holy fire. A traditional Marathi wedding involves some important steps, the most important being the Mangalasutrabandhana, the tying of the mangalasutra, the sacred necklace around the bride’s neck by the groom. The wedding rituals end up with the Karmasamapti, the concluding ceremony.
The post wedding ritual, Mangala Akshata Muhurat, involves singing of marriage hymns and chanting of mantras by the priests. Akshata, rice grains mixed with a little kumkum is sprinkled on the newly weds along with some specific mantras and they garland each other. The groom’s sisters and the bride stand behind them and water is sprinkled over them using mango leaves. And with the performance of an arti of the couple the wedding ceremony comes to an end.

Bengal, an Eastern state of India, is famous for its sweets, especially the mouth-watering ‘ROSOGOLLAS’. The various ceremonies and rituals followed by the Bengalis during a traditional wedding are as interesting and as coulerful as their sweets.
In a Bengali wedding ceremony known as Adan Pradan (give and take) it is confirmed that the wedding is not between close relatives or persons with the same gotra or lineage. This is followed by ‘Paka Dekha’; a ceremony involves the finalization of the date of wedding. Two days before the wedding the confirmation of the marriage alliance known as ‘Ashirwad’ or ‘Patri Patra’ ceremony takes place.
Pre-Bengali wedding rituals include bringing piris , the seats for the bride and the groom during the wedding, Vridhi ceremony, attended by all family members offering puja/prayer to all the ancestors of the bride and the groom, Dodhi Mangal, ten married women accompany the groom to a nearby pond and bring back a pitcher pond water to bathe the bride and the groom separately, Gae Halud Tattva and Adhibas Tattva , gifts coming from the groom’s and bride’s houses respectively to the bride and the groom and Kub Patta, on the wedding day, to revere Saint Kuber
After bath the bride and groom will put on new set of clothes gifted to them by their in-laws. The bride follows their tradition of wearing Sankha Pola or Conch shell, red and white bangles dipped in turmeric water. It is the ritual for the bride to wear a new sari along with the Sankha Pola after a bath. Now the bride begins to decorate herself in all the fine fabulous bridal costumes, surrounded by her sisters and close friends. The traditional wear for a Bengali bride is a bright red costly Banarasi silk sari, heavily embroidered with golden or silver threads and a matching blouse/jacket that clings to the body. In addition to the usual ornaments she wears Jhumka- a bell-shaped earring made of solid gold having a row of tiny beads along its edge, a favorite among the Bengali women. To support the weight of the earring a string of pearl is attached to it and the other end is hooked to the hair behind the earlobe. The bride’s hair is tied into a bun and is covered with a veil. A beautiful crown known as Mukut is placed on her head and kept in its place by pinning it to the veil.
Mandap, the wedding altar, is decorated with flowers and bulbs and two banana trees are planted at the mandap along with a large alpana/rangoli, a type of design/pattern, made with rice paste on the floor.
At the bride’s house the groom and the relatives are given a ceremonious welcome by ringing bells, blowing conch shells and ululation. An elder female relative of the bride touches the forehead of the groom with the baran dala/plate and then the ground and back again his forehead, as a gesture of part blessing and part reverence.The groom is offered sweets and cool drinks and water is sprinkled on the doorsteps as the groom enters the house to mark the auspicious moment.
In the midst of much revelry, conch blowing and clapping, the bride’s uncles carry her on their shoulders to the mandap/altar.The bride and groom exchange garlands when the purohit/priest who conducts the wedding chants mantras. The Bengalis follow a custom called Sampradhan where maternal or paternal uncle hands over the bride to the groom in marriage.
Post wedding rituals include asar Ghar, welcoming the couple inside the bride’s house, Bashi Biye, looking into a mirror groom decorates the bride’s forehead with vermillion and Bidaai, the couple leaving the bride’s place for the groom’s house.

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.

Indian weddings/Hindu weddings are very bright colorful events, full of rituals and celebrations that last for several days. These weddings are not small affairs, often attended by 400-1000 people most of whom are not known to the couples even. The actual Indian wedding is about two families socially getting wedded with much less emphasis on the individuals involved. Most of the marriages are arranged and conducted with the blessings of elders though there is a growing tendency to have love marriages, especially in urban areas.
India is a vast land of different states; each has its own traditions and cultures as evident in the various rituals followed in the wedding ceremony. The different cultures have borrowed each others practices of rituals, but retain certain unique practices strictly to themselves.
Rich costumes and jewelry play a very significant role in Indian weddings. Brides wear different types of clothes, jewelry and embellishments in different parts of India. Usually the bride wears attires typical of that area. While a Rajasthani bride is seen in an expensive bright lehenga, a Punjabi bride wears a fabulous salwar-kameez and a Maharashtrian bride is attired in a long embellished nine-yard sari, But the latest trend is to wear a traditional six-yard beautiful sari, usually in shades of red, pink or mustard, as the bride’s costume. Like the costume, bride’s jewelry also varies according to the tradition of each region. A bride is decorated with as much traditional jewelry as her family can muster because on the wedding day she is considered as the incarnate of Goddess Lakshmi, the harbinger of wealth to her new house. The common ornaments worn by a bride are necklaces, bangles, earrings, a nose-ring, anklets, rings and toe-rings usually made out of gold and studded with beautiful stones and pearls. Ornaments such as armlets, tikas, hathaphula and waistbands, though traditionally important, have become optional now and not worn in all parts. Traditionally, the bride was decorated with natural beauty aids, such as henna, to give red color to palms and feet, kajal to line the eyes and scented water to sprinkle on her. But today most brides in urban and even in rural areas have turned to branded cosmetics and perfumes. For South Indian brides flowers are still an important adornment while the North Indian counterparts have now re-started to wear this pretty custom.
Though the wedding rituals vary traditionally in different parts certain rituals are followed by all. These include kanyadan, a ceremony in which the bride’s parents hand over their daughter to the groom and his family, tying mangalsutra around the bride’s neck by the groom, Saptapadi, the seven steps taken by the couple together soon after tying the mangalsutra and Vidai- the traditional send-off of the couple after the wedding, an emotional moment for the bride’s side.
Weddings in any part of India are marked with a lot of revelry, fun and fanfare. The wedding arena assumes a festive look with illumination, decorations and entertainments like music, dance etc all through the ceremony. To top all, the grand wedding feast is served with the traditional, local and other favorite Indian cuisines.