Hindu weddings

Your guide to the Hindu wedding ceremony and traditions

The Hindu marriage ceremony

• The ceremony begins with the Hasta Melaap when the bride’s right hand is placed into the groom’s right hand and the priest chants the holy verses.
• The bride and groom are joined together by a piece of white cloth -- one end tied to the corner of the bride’s sari, the other to the groom’s scarf
• A fire is lit in the centre of the Mandap to invite the fire god to witness the union and the right hands of the couple are tied together with blessed thread, their palms filled with rice, oats and leaves to signify wealth, health, happiness and prosperity. These are then offered to the fire.
• The couple then perform the Lawan Phere, a ritual in which they walk around the fire four times. Each time round, the stop to touch a stone in their path that symbolises obstacles in life that they will overcome together.
• This symbolises the four human goals in Hinduism -- in the context of a wedding, these are: faith, financial stability, procreation and liberation of the soul.
• The ceremony itself follows a very strict pattern. It contains no readings, but does involve music, chosen by the bride and groom. This music is usually a mixture of the latest Bollywood film songs, and some older soundtracks, the lyrics of which are all very romantic.
• The most important part of the marriage ceremony is the Saptapadi. Facing north, the bride and groom take seven steps together. Each step calls upon God to bless the couple for strength, food, progeny, family, prosperity, happiness and life-long friendship.The bride comes to the groom’s left, which symbolically leaves his right side free to take on the world.
• Then follows Saubhagya Chinya when the groom places sindoor (holy red powder) on the bride’s forehead to welcome her into his life as his partner. He also gives her a necklace of black beads -- a mangalsutra -- as a symbol of his love, integrity and devotion towards her.
• The bride and groom then feed each other sweetmeats as a promise of fidelity and to love and cherish each other forever. This is known as Anna-Prashana.
• The service ends with the Ashirwaad -- blessings from the priest, parents and close relatives. They are followed by friends who wish to add their congratulations. after the ceremony
• After the ceremony, the bridal party sits down to a lavish dinner, after which, the bride and groom play a number of games. During the ceremony, they will have had threads with knots tied to their wrists. They must attempt to untie these knots, which represent the importance of having patience with one another. Another game involves a large bowl filled with red-coloured milk, in which a number of items have been placed, including a coin. The bride and groom attempt to find the coin and the finder is said to be the person who will be dominant in the marriage.
• After dinner, the bride says goodbye to her family and friends. This is a very emotional time, particularly if the bride is emigrating or moving far away from her childhood home. The groom leads the bride to the car, and once in the car, the bride’s brother or a male relative covers her with a shawl and wishes her well. The couple stop off at a temple to offer their prayers and seek blessings, before heading off to the groom’s home.

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