Indian Wedding

Tamilnadu, a south Indian state in India, consists of several communities of which Mudaliar is an advanced, educated and socially well-aware community. Even then their weddings are conducted in traditional and religious manner with a priest officiating the wedding rituals.

In the Tamil Mudaliar community, the alliance is confirmed through a memorandum wherein the fathers of the boy and the girl sign the contract. In this engagement ceremony the groom’s family give gifts such as a sari, some jewelry and 21 platters of fruits and dried fruits and the date of the wedding is also fixed.

All the wedding rituals begin with a ‘Ganesha puja. ‘Pandakal’ is a ceremony in which nine ‘sumangalis’, married women smear an odd number of eyes with ‘haldi’/turmeric’ and ‘kumkum/vermilion on a bamboo pillar that is erected for a four-legged ‘pandal’/shed.

In the beautification of the bride ceremony, known as ‘Nalangu’, the bride sits on a wooden plank on the dais. Under this plank a banana leaf is placed with a handful of uncooked rice spread on it. Three stools, one with ‘kumkum’/vermilion, sandalwood paste and rose water, the second one with betel leaves, betel nuts and flowers and the third with a plate containing ‘aarthi’(a red water due to the presence of lime and turmeric) are placed in front of the bride.

Sumangalis(married women, not widows), one by one, apply sandalwood paste on the bride’s hands, put vermilion on her forehead and sprinkle rose water on her. The beautification ceremony is completed with performing an ‘aarti’.

The bride’s brother or uncle goes to the groom’s house with gifts for him and invites him to marry the bride. After performing ‘Nalangu’ for the groom, he is taken to the wedding venue in a beautifully decorated car. The ladies from the bride’s family receive him by performing an ‘aarti’ on him. The bride is also brought to the venue and a ‘Nalangu’ is performed for her too.

On the wedding morning, the ‘pandal’/shed is erected with the help of the four legs or pillars and decorated with banana tree stalks on the four corners, tender coconuts, mango leaves and flowers.

‘Arsan Kal’ is a ritual in which a bamboo stick is erected in front of the wedding altar. ‘Arsan’ in Tamil language means ruler or king and ‘Kal’ means standard. Years back the king was invited to the wedding that set a high standard for such ceremonies. This custom is represented by five ‘sumangalis’, married women, erecting another bamboo stick and conducting the honors such as bathing the bamboo stick with milk, sandalwood paste and vermilion and also tying a silk scarf on it and lastly performing an ‘aarti’ for it.

The groom washes his parents’ feet known as ‘padapuja’ and they bless him after which a ‘Ganesha puja’ is held and in the ‘upanayanam’ a sacred white thread is put around the groom’s chest. When the groom makes a mock attempt to leave on a pilgrimage to become an ascetic, the bride’s brother stops him by washing his feet and requesting to accept his sister in marriage.

Now, it is the turn of the bride to offer a ‘puja’/prayer to Mahalaxmi, the Goddess of wealth and then she performs ‘Padapuja’ /washing of feet for her parents to bless her. The groom’s people appear with wedding dresses for the bride and groom and also the garlands and wearing these wedding clothes the bride and groom walk towards the ‘pandal’/shed.

The bride looks fascinating in a gorgeous Kanjeepuram silk sari, usually red in color, but all the bright colors are very popular. The sari has a thick ‘zari’ border and the body is embellished with beautiful golden embroidery work. She wears a matching tight-fitting blouse that makes her more attractive. A Mudaliar bride, like all other south Indian brides, is adorned with heavy gold jewelry, gifted by her and groom’s parents. She wears a piece of gold jewelry known as ‘Netti chutti’ along the parting of her hair and dazzling earrings. The long and short necklaces around her neck are beautifully inlaid with semi-precious stones or pearls. She wears numerous gold bangles on her both wrists and the anklets and toe rings are made of silver. The groom’s outfit consists of a white or off-white dhoti and a shirt.

‘Manai Pongal’ is a ritual in which the groom’s parents cook rice in a clay pot while the couple gets dressed. When they appear in their wedding costume the eldest ‘sumangali’, the married woman, welcomes them with garlands and offering prayers to all deities they enter the ‘pandal’. The officiating priest lights the sacred fire or ‘omam’ as the main witness to the marriage and ties a sacred yellow thread or ‘Kanganam’ around the wrists of the couple.

In the ritual ‘Kannikadanam’, the bride keeps a coconut in her palms and her parents, taking her hands, place them in the groom’s hands, symbolically handing over the responsibility to her husband.

The ‘Mangalyam’ or the ‘mangalasutra’ is a gold pendant in the shape of a tiger tooth. The belief is that, several years back, the groom, after killing a tiger, took a tooth out and tied it around his bride’s neck, thus showing his valor. This pendant is strung on strings of thread strung 108 times and dipped in ‘haldi’/turmeric paste. At the auspicious moment the groom ties the ‘mangalyam’ thread around the bride’s neck with three knots while the wind instrument ‘nadaswaram’ playing in the background. Haldi/turmeric paste is kept on the knot and the groom seals it by pressing his ring on it. The friends and relatives, assembled, bless the couple by showering ‘akshatha’ (rice dipped in turmeric) and flowers on them. Now the couple exchanges garlands three times.

Yet in another ritual the mothers, sisters or aunts tie a piece of gold on the groom’s forehead to demonstrate his authority and relationship. This ritual is repeated for the bride too.

The bride and groom pay homage to the sacred fire-‘Omam’- by circling it three times and the bride’s brother places puffed rice on their hands which they offer into the holy fire together. The officiating priest shows them the star ‘Arundhati’ in the sky and asks them to be as faithful to each other as the mythological goddess ‘Arundhati’, very famous for her chastity.

The ritual ‘sesha’ has a white bed sheet opened and spread in front of the couple in the ‘pandal’ and uncooked rice is kept on it while elderly family members bless them by taking handfuls of rice and dropping them in front of them.

To pay homage, the couple walks around the “Arasanikkal’ and the ‘pandal’ three times while unmarried girls from the bride’s family follow them. When they come back to the wedding ‘pandal’ the ‘kanganam’ tied around their wrists is removed. The bride and the groom then change into a white sari and white dhoti respectively and sprinkle ‘haldi’ water on each other, this primarily meant for ‘breaking the ice’.

WEDDING OF TAMIL BRAHMINSTAMIL CHETTIAR COMMUNITY-WEDDINGS