The Giving Of A Daughter At A Traditional Indian Wedding Ceremony

According to Hindu tradition, marriage is a sanskar or sacrament marking the start of a new family unit and, because it is viewed as important, there is a lot of formality surrounding its celebration.

The bride's dress will be a white sari with gold and red stitching given to her by her maternal uncles, which is said to symbolise purity and then she will change into a red one given by the family of her groom symbolising her future fertility.

The groom will wear a white or ivory traditional Nehru jacket and trousers.

There are up to eight types of Hindu marriage preamble.

From Brahma, where the bride's father invites a well-respected man to marry his daughter in return for a large quantity of jewels and other valuable gifts or Arsha where the swap is for a cow and a bull, through various unpleasant Rites involving unwilling or medically unfit brides! The most socially acceptable one for modern UK culture would have to be Prajapataya, where the bride's father blesses the prospective bride and groom with a speech that encourages them to perform their responsibilities in life together before giving her hand in marriage.

Having said that, the thing that is common to all of these is that the bride's father gives her away to the groom - and this always occurs during the ceremony of a Hindu Indian Wedding. The marital event itself incorporates so many symbolic sections that it can keep going for several days.

Although for some weddings there can be a lot of processions and preliminary celebrations at the properties of the respective couple's families; the main marriage ceremony goes on underneath a temporary covered wooden platform incorporating chairs for the bridal couple and their parents plus a special place for the sacred fire. This sacred tent is known as a Mandap.

Bearing in mind the intricacies of the various rituals in such a confined space, it is imperative that the person charged with taking pictures of their nuptials for posterity is in the right position.

This crucial part of the marriage ceremony is made up of thirteen symbolic rituals starting with the welcome of the groom's family by the bride's relatives and the receipt of a gifts.

The couple go around the fire four times, sometimes touching a stone in each revolution to represent overcoming any obstacles and responsibilities in their daily lives - to signify health, prosperity, being good parents and salvation.

Sapta Padi is the most important part of the ceremony when, facing towards the north, the couple take seven steps together, requesting God to bless the them with food, strength, prosperity, wisdom, children, health and eternal friendship.

The groom shows that he welcomes his bride into his life by making a mark on her forehead with red powder. He also gives her a necklace of black beads - a mangalsutra as a symbol of the eternal bond that binds them

The bride and groom then feed sweets to each other symbols of their promise of eternal love and fidelity.

The couple are then blessed by the Brahmin, parents and family. The wedding party and their guests move on to a feast and games.

Inevitably the celebrations have to draw to a close and the bride says goodbye to her parents and family and is escorted by her brother, her husband and several other people to her new home, where she will be received by her new husband's mother and sisters and given a piece of jewellery to welcome her to her new home.

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