A wedding is a ceremony or a ritual which unites two people in a bond of marriage. Wedding traditions and culture varies between different social cultural groups. It can be in a South Indian manner where rituals take place for three days or a simple Christian marriage which takes place in a church - an affair of just three to four hours.
India is a country where people of several cultures and religion live together in peace and harmony.
In generally the wedding in India process is said to begin with the rasam or the ritual of Roka also known as the Thoka. This process is usually conducted at the house of the bride where a small pooja is organized followed by exchanging the gifts between the two families.
Another ritual to follow after the Roka is mangani or engagement which is officially announcing the relation between the two families. This day is marked by the ring ceremony. The bride and the groom exchange rings. This ritual is generally celebrated at the groom's house or at a gurudwara. This day is also marked by giving shagun to the groom.
The rasam of mehandi and chunni is considered to be very important part of the Indian marriage. On this day the females from the groom's house visit the bride's house giving her the veil or chunni of the wedding planners and also apply the mehandi on the bride's hand. It is believed that the darker the color of the Hina on the hands of the bride symbolizes that her husband and her mother in law will be very loving and caring. On the night of mehandi the females of the house sing songs (sangeet ceremony).
On the next day of Hina, the rasam of haldi or ubtan is observed at both the homes i.e. of the groom and the bride. After the ubtan a red thread which is considered to save the couple from the evil eye is tied on the right wrist of the groom and on the left wrist of the bride. Also on the day the chuda rasam is done at the bride's house. The maternal uncle of the bride brings chuda (red colored plastic bangales worn by the Punjabi brides) and makes her wear them.
The maternal uncle also brings gifts for the other family members.
On the day of the marriage the at the grooms house a sehara ceremony is done where sehra is tied on his forehead by his sisters. Then the rasam of ghur charhi is done where the groom is supposed to climb up a mare. After this ritual the groom's family proceeds to the venue of marriage where the relatives of the bride welcome the groom and his family. Giving gifts to the guests and putting garlands around the necks of the guests.
As the auspicious time for the marriage comes near the priest starts chanting some sholaks. As the bride and groom sit together at the mandap the priests conducts another pooja involving the parents of the bride - groom. They exchange garlands. This is followed by the ceremony of Kanyadan where the bride's father or brother gives the hand of the bride to the groom. Next ritual to follow is that of pheras where the groom and bride stand up to take seven rounds of the fire. This concludes the marriage ceremony.
During the functions of marriage there are several other rituals going in like stealing the shoes of the groom. The sisters of the bride steal the shoes of the groom when he goes up to the mandap. In return of shoes the sisters ask for money or kilichadi.
There is ritual worth mentioning after the wedding planner process is over is of the ritual called vidai. The bride changes into the clothes brought to her by her in laws. While parting away from her parents she throws rice overhead. This process signifies seeking of blessings for prosperity from her parents.
The process of wedding planning which started with smiles on every ones phase ends with tears in eyes when parting from her parents, though every one is happy.
