Indian Wedding

In Kerala, the Southern most state of India, most Hindus except the malayali Brahmins follow the same basic traditional customs with slight variations depending upon the caste and community in conducting their weddings. They are very simple with few rites and rituals.

Pre wedding rituals start with the comparison of the horoscopes of the boy and girl by their family astrologers and if they found matching an auspicious date for the engagement ceremony known as “Jathakam Kodukkal” is fixed, In the engagement ceremony, held at he bride’s residence, the official announcement of the wedding takes place before a gathering of close relatives and friends and the wedding date is also finalized. The presence of the groom and bride are not required.
Traditionally the weddings were conducted in the bride’s house, but now they are mostly held in temples (places of worship) or wedding halls, The wedding altar, “Kathirmandapam” is completely decorated with flowers and two tall “Nila Vilakku”, a lamp lighted by oil and thread, a tray of jasmine or rose flowers, and a “Kindi” a type of vessel with a spout having water in it, are placed at the entrance. “Para, a cylindrical wooden vessel used for measuring purposes, with full of paddy and a bunch of coconut flowers inserted in the midst of it, is also kept in the “mandapam”.
On the day prior to the wedding the “Mangalasutra”/”Alilathali” (a yellow thread intertwined with a strong gold thread having a tiny pendant in the shape of a banyan leaf) is kept before the deity of the Goddess in a temple and the priest offers ‘pooja’/prayer three times. On the wedding morning when the bride and a close relative like aunt, sister etc go to the temple the priest hands over the “thali” to the relative.
Before the wedding ceremony the bride’s brother gives a warm reception to the groom by washing his feet, sprinkling ‘panineer’/rose water and applying sandal paste to the forehead of the groom. He also gives the groom a lemon, garland and bouquet and escorts him to the ‘kathir mandapam’. At the entrance the groom is welcomed by 5, 7, or 9 girls showing “Ashtamangalyam”, a tray containing flowers, betel nuts, vermilion powder, an Indian coin and a small lighted lamp. The groom wears a white/off white “Mundu”,/Veshti/Dhoti and “Jubba”, a full-sleeved, close-neck top longer than a shirt with side slits.
The bride also receives the same kind of welcome when she arrives at the mandapam. Both the bride and groom offer flowers to the “Nila vilakku three times. The traditional wear of a bride is a two piece white/off white sari called “Set Mundu” with a thick zari border. But present brides wear very expensive Kancheepuam silk saris with thick zari border and the body embroidered with golden threads. The matching blouse/choli clings to the body making the bride more enchanting. The color of the sari could be either bright like red, maroon, magenta, deep green, navy blue, deep yellow etc or any pleasing light ones except white or black. She is adorned with traditional jewelry such as “Netti Chutti”, worn along the parting of the hair, golden “Jhimki and the supporting “Maattal” on the ears, stone studded “Tirukkuppu” on the hair at the back of the head and gold necklaces like “Nagapada thali”, “Palakka mala, “Laxmi thali and “Kasu mala”. The modern brides prefer “Palakka mala” designed in a different way, light-weight fashionable necklaces and “Pavan mala” of gold. She also wears plain and stone-studded bangles on both hands, gold “Padaswarams”/anklets and a gold hip chain/waist band embellished with stones and pearls.
The bride and groom are seated in the wedding altar, the bride on the left side of the groom, and the groom just places the ‘mangalasutra around her neck while the ritual is completed by the groom’s sister who ties the knots followed by the exchange of rings with the names of the bride and groom on them. Now occurs the most important ritual of the wedding, “Pudava Kodukkal” in which the groom offers a very expensive “Pudava” along with an equally dazzling sari to the bride and adorns her neck with a costly beautiful necklace. The couple exchanges garlands and in the “Kanyadaan, placing a betel leaf on the right hand of the groom the bride’s father keeps her right hand over it. The couple makes three “pheras”/circles around the ‘mandapam’ altogether. Before leaving the venue the groom’s mother gives a small box of vermilion powder to the groom and he applies a vermilion ‘sindoor’/’bindi’ to the bride’s forehead below the parting of the hair.

In the last ritual “Grahapravesh”, the couple proceeds to the groom’s house where the bride is received with an “Aarti” by her mother-in-law and she steps into the house with her right foot first.

A MALAYALI BRAHMIN/NAMBOOTHIRI WEDDINGWEDDING OF KASHMIRI HINDU BRAHMINSIndian Weddings