In India, a wedding is a big and fun filled event that continues for several days. In Indian culture, marriages not only bring the bride and groom closer it also brings two families together. Indian weddings, all across the globe, are replete with various rituals and ceremonies. The rituals and ceremonies may be different depending on the religion to which the bride and the groom belong. However, their significance remains unchanged. Indian weddings can be observed under three basic rituals:
1. Pre-wedding rituals
2. Wedding day
3. Post wedding rituals.
The Pre-Wedding Rituals: In Hindu religion, weddings are considered as a sacred affair which commence with pre-wedding rituals such as the engagement, tilak, haldi, sangeet and mehndi. In the engagement ceremony, both the prospective bride and groom exchange rings and take blessings of their family and friends to start a new chapter of their life. The next ritual is the Tilak. Here, the prospective bride’s elder brother goes to the prospective groom’s house and applies tilak on the groom’s forehead and offer boxes of sweets. Next is the Haldi ceremony, which is performed in the morning, wherein the prospective groom is applied haldi on his face, arms and legs first by the groom’s mother followed by all the other ladies present for the ceremony. This same Haldi is now taken to the prospective bride’s house by the groom’s mother and will be applied to bride’s face, arms and legs. In the evening, the sangeet and mehndi ceremony is performed. Here, the bride is applied mehandi on her hands, palms and legs in an artistic way, and women and girls sing and dance to wedding songs to enjoy the special moments.
Wedding Day: This is a special and very important day for both the prospective bride and groom and their respective families. From today, two separate individuals will become soul mates. The ceremony begins with Jaimala wherein both the bride and the groom exchange flower garlands. Once they exchange garlands, their family and friends shower flower petals on them to bless the new couple. After this, the couple is taken to the mandap where the Kanyadaan ceremony is performed. This ritual is very important and performed by the bride’s parents where they give their daughter’s hand to the groom. And the groom makes three promises :- (dharma) to follow his duties towards the family, (artha) earn for and support the family, and (kama) love his wife. After this, the priest starts wedding mantras and asks both the bride and groom to take seven vows around the holy fire. In these vows, the couple makes a promise to support and understand each other through all thick and thin. The priest asks the groom to tie a mangalsutra around the bride’s neck and then apply sindoor in the bride’s hair parting.
After completion of all the wedding day rituals, post wedding rituals commence. In the post-wedding rituals, the bride leaves her parents home to join the grooms family with a promise to spread happiness in a new family. The bride is welcomed with an aarti and flowers in the groom’s house. Once all the rituals are complete, a grand reception is thrown by the groom’s family to introduce the bride to their society.