Indian Wedding Rituals Explained
Here the bride and the groom invoke the blessing of
their family deity and also the forefathers of seven generation. The girl's
side does the ritual separately and the boy's side does it separately. This is
to denote their entry into the stage of Grihastha-the married family man. Their
hands are purified with the tying of a twine that is smeared with turmeric.
This usually takes place early in the morning.
The ‘mapillai Azapu’ or ‘ Janvasam” is a ritual
followed by the bride's family to welcome the groom from his home to the
marriage hall.
Kasi yatra refers to an age-old
Brahmin ritual where the groom "decides" to take up 'sanyaasa' (i.e.
asceticism, monkhood) for spiritual pursuit. He would ultimately be 'convinced'
by the bride's father to return and take up "Grihastha"-the married
family man life and that the bride will assist in his subsequent spiritual
pursuit. For the Kaasi Yatra, the bride's father would have to buy an Umbrella,
Hand fan, Bhagwad Gita book, footwear.
Kasi Yatra came into
practice when it was believed that there are four stages in the life of man
namely Brahmacharya-the celibate student, Grihastha-the married family man,
Vanaprastha-the hermit in retreat, Sannyasa-the wandering recluse.
The groom will then agree and garlands will be
exchanged by the bride and groom (maalai maatral). The process of maalai
maatral is extremely entertaining whereby the groom's side carries the groom
and the bride’s side carries the bride and each side making it difficult for
the other side to correctly place the garland.
They would then head to a swing (oonjal) in the
mandapam. Respected womenfolk of the household will then perform short rituals
with classical singing to ward off "evil eyes" as the bride and groom
are seated on the oonjal (swing).
They the bride and the groom proceed to the podium
in the mandapam where rites of the marriage - muhurtham - are performed. The
most beautiful aspect of the wedding is when the bride is seated on her dad's
lap as her dad does-Kanyadhaanam and offers his daughter to be
taken care of by the groom.
Thaali
As the priest then chants mantras, the groom ties a
"thaali" or "thirumaangalyam" as a necklace
around the bride's neck. The groom puts one knot and the other two knots by the
groom’s sister or cousin sister as all the guests shower their blessings (symbolized
by rice grains that are distributed to all guests to shower onto the bride and
groom).
Sapthapathi & Panigrahanam
This symbolizes the actual wedding and the
newly-weds take their marriage vows in seven steps (sapthapathi) as they
walk three rounds hand-in-hand around the holy fire (agni).
