Indian wedding
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Indian weddings are very bright events filled with ritual and celebration. It is not a small affair, often with 400-1000 people attending (many of whom are unknown to the bride and groom).
The traditions vary across religion, caste, ethnicity, language, region, etc.
Modern marriages are moving from arranged marriages to love marriages.
Traditional Indian Weddings are generally structured into Pre-wedding ceremonies, in wedding day ceremonies (consisting of the Baraat, the Varmala and the Phere) and the Vidaai.
An example of the complexity of an Indian wedding can be seen from the various phases of a wedding in the North. Following events take place in a typical Eastern Uttar-Pradesh marriage.
Bariksha (Var-iksha probably) is when the bride's parent have informally shown intention that they want a particular groom and the groom and his family have agreed. Retracting at the end of this stage is frowned upon but is acceptable.
Tilak is when the bride's parents travel to the groom's place to formalize the relationship. A large feast is organized by the groom's family to celebrate this occasion. Presence from the bride's family at this occasion is nominal (usually very close relatives, often in ten's of numbers are present. Usually, female relatives from the bride's family are not present) After this stage, the retration of the marriage propsal is very rare.
Varmala/Jaimala is the next phase of the marriage ceremony. In older times, varmala was a part of the main marriage ceremony. Practical considerations have forced weddings to take this new approach. Eastern/North Indian weddings usually take place late in the night, often starting at about midnight and lasting until the early hours of morning. The main wedding event usually is accompanied by the groom arriving with his family/friends in a procession called a Barat (baa-raat.) Owing to the fact that the wedding ceremony is usually accompanied with a reception and a feast, the main marriage ceremony has been split into two parts. Varmala+Reception and then the more ritualistic part involving a priest.
Immediately after the groom has arrived with the Barat, the groom and bride meet and exchange garlands in the Jaimala ceremony. Once this ceremony has finished, the well wishers congratulate the groom and the bride and present gifts to them. Food is served during this ceremony and pretty much everyone except closest relatives leave once the ceremony has finished.
The main part of the wedding starts after the Jaimala ceremony has finished. The groom and the bride sit beside the fire and the priest chants shlokas (hymns) and the groom and the bride exchange vows in front of many gods and godesses. Towards the end of the marriage ceremony, a ritual called Phere (pronounced: Fair-ey, meaning "revolutions") is performed. In the Phere ritual, a part of the groom's attire and the bride's attire are tied together (symbolizing that they are now united) as they go around the ceremonial fire seven times. Each round about the fire symbolizes a part of life. The groom leads in first three rounds symbolizing that the earlier part of marriage is led by the groom. The bride leads in the last four rounds symbolizing that the latter part of life will be led by her. Sometime during the ceremony, the groom puts a little sindoor (red powder) in the parting of the bride's hair and puts a mangalsutra (necklace) around her neck. These tasks symbolize that she is now a married woman as all married Hindu women are supposed to wear sindoor in the parting of their hair for the rest of their lives.
In the morning folliwing the Varmala/Phere, the groom has a final breakfast at the bride's place and the bride leaves her parents house escorted by the groom. Traditionally, this phase is accompanied by the bride's family shedding many tears as she parts from the home where she grew up to start a new phase of her life. This part of the marriage ceremony is called Vidai (separation.)
Indian wedding images
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