Indian Wedding

Weddings in Tamil Nadu, a Southern Indian State, are simple, not extravagant and usually well-attended by a large number of relatives and friends. The rituals followed by the Tamil Brahmins are somewhat different from other communities.

An arranged marriage starts with exchange of the horoscopes of the girl and boy and if the horoscopes match well, on mutual consent, a date is fixed for the engagement ceremony to be performed in the groom’s house. On that day priests from both sides meet in the groom’s house and conduct the marriage agreement by exchanging plates containing bananas, coconuts, betel leaves, betel nuts and flowers between the two families. The groom’s mother gives a silk sari to the bride and the groom gets clothes or cash from the bride’s parents.
Palikai Talikkal is a unique ceremony performed by the bride’s family two days prior to the wedding. Five or seven married women from both families put nine types of grain into special clay pots and water them. On the next day after wedding the newly weds throw them into a river or pond/ There is a belief that the fish in the water will eat the sprouted grains and bless the couple.
A small ritual “Panda Kaal”, invoking the blessings of the family deity and “Vratham”, invoking the blessings of the ancestors are performed before the wedding day.
When the groom’s party arrives at the wedding hall one day prior to the wedding the bride’s brother applies a “bindi” of sandal paste and vermilion to his forehead and garlands him. In the age old “Janavaasam” ceremony, the groom is seated in a decorated car and is taken to the wedding hall followed by a large number of relatives and friends with the musicians playing the traditional wedding songs. At the entrance he is welcomed by the bride’s brother with garlands followed by “Nicchayathamboolam” in which the groom’s family offers a costly beautiful silk sari and jewels to the bride. When she comes wearing this sari the groom’s sister applies sandal paste and kumkum/veimilion on her forehead. The “Sastrigal”/priest reads the wedding invitation containing the wedding date and time/’Muhurtham’ and the venue etc.
On the wedding morning the bride and groom have an auspicious holy bath/”Mangala Snanam” in their respective homes. Wearing the ‘Veshti’ in the traditional custom known as “Pancchakaccham” and an “Angavastram” draped over his shoulders the groom prepares for “Kasi Yatra”/Pilgrimage to Kasi, a holy place in North India, renouncing all worldly pleasures. He wears ordinary slippers and holds an umbrella, a walking stick, a shoulder bag and a hand fan made of palm leaf. The girl’s father intercepts him offering his daughter in marriage.
The bride and groom exchange garlands amidst fun and frolic and are seated side by side on an “Oonjal”/ swing. Married women perform certain traditional rituals with singing in the background,
In the “Kanyadaanam” the bride sits on her father’s lap holding a coconut in her hands and the mother pours water over the coconut that symbolizes the giving away of their daughter. The bride and her father hand over the coconut to the groom with the chanting of Vedic mantras/hymns by the priest.
Now the bride changes her sari and comes back in the nine yards “Madissar Pudavai”/sari given by the groom’s family. She wears this sari in the traditional style with the help of the groom’s sister. The sari has thick zari border and the auspicious color could be deep red or reddish yellow. The bride is adorned from head to toe with traditional as well as modern jewelry. The head pieces include “Netti chutti” along the parting of the hair, ”Suryaprabha” and “Chandraprabha” on either side of the parting, a “Rakkudi” and “Thirukkuppu” on the back of the head while the hair is fully covered with jasmine and other scented flowers. Her ears have “Jhimki” with supporting “Mattal” or “Vairakkammal”/diamond earrings with “Mattal” She wears “Nath”/nose rings on the nose and pillakku from the parting of the nostrils. Various types of necklaces adorn her neck and both her hands dazzle with plain and stone or pearl- studded bangles. The waist band is known as “Oddiyanam” embellished with stones or pearls. All these ornaments are made up of gold except the silver “Golussu”/anklets. The bride gets her silver “Metti”/toerings only after the ‘mangalasutra’ ceremony when the groom puts them onto her toes.
For the most important part of the wedding, the bride sits on her father’s lap and the groom ties the “Mangalasutra”/”Taali”, the sacred yellow thread around her neck with one knot while his sister ties two, the three knots denoting the union of mind, spirit and body. Musical instruments, “Nadaswaram and “Melam”/”Thavil” play in the background and the gathering bless the couple with showering flowers and “Akshathai”/rice, dipped in turmeric, on them.
Holding the bride’s right big toe, the groom makes her take seven steps and places her right foot on an “ammi’, a grind stone, indication of a strong and everlasting bond between them.
Exchange of clothes and gifts between the two families and offering of “Nel Pori” to the sacred fire by the bride’s brother are some other rituals.

The final ritual sees the bride bidding farewell to her house and entering her husband’s house with her right foot first after the traditional “AARTI.”

TAMIL CHETTIAR COMMUNITY-WEDDINGSWEDDINGS OF THE TAMIL MUDALIARSWeddings in the Maithil Brahmin Community