India Wedding Customs - A Guide for the Bride

By Saher Nasir

Indian Wedding customs include Hindu weddings, in which the bride and groom fulfill obligations to society and family (dharma), have children (prajana), and perform wedding rituals (shradh).

Misri - The Sugar Ceremony

The sugar ceremony is an engagement ceremony. People pray for the blessings of Lord Ganesha. Seven married women represent the seven forms of God. These women create the Ganesha symbol on a pot of sugar.

The bride and groom and their parents do a prayer called "puja" to complete the request for blessings.The bride's and groom's families exchange flower garlands, fruit, rings, and gifts. A ring goes on the bride's fourth finger of her left hand of the bride and on the groom's fourth finger of the right hand. The forth finger represents a direct link to the heart.

Sangeet -- Pre-Wedding Party

The bride and groom may have individual pre-wedding parties or one large celebration.

Nav Graha Puja

Days before the wedding, people pray to ask for blessings from the Gods that govern the planets.

Wedding Sagri

The groom's females relatives visit the bride and gring gifts.

Mehndi -- Henna Party

The bride and some of guests have their henna paste painted on their hands and feet. The patterns are thought to be lucky and they represent the love between the couple in the upcomming marriage.

Ghari Puja -- Pre-Wedding Ceremony

The Ghari Puja religious ceremony is performed the night before the wedding in the home of the bride and groom. It represents the journy the couple is taking in beginning a life together.

The Pithi -- a beautification ritual is performed in which the bride and groom are washed with a tumeric paste.

Wedding Bharaat

On the morning of the wedding, the groom traditionally rides from his home on a white horse with family and friends around him. When they arrive, the bride's family showers them with rose water and petals.

Wedding Swagatum

The bride's mother places a red dot (tikka) on the groom's forehead to welcome him. To close the ceremony, the groom steps on a pot of yogurt, honey, seeds and ghee.

The actual wedding ceremony takes place in a canopy (mandap) with a sacred fire burning inside. The wedding ceremony ends with a series of rituals to signify the couple's union.

Madhuparka

The bride's father washes the groom’s right foot.

The bride's parents chant holy mantras and pledge their blessings. It symbolizes the fact that they are givining their daughter away.

The bride enterers, usually led by a maternal uncle. The groom cannot see the bride until he expresses his acceptance of her to the pundit. The couple sits together with the groom on the left.

The bride's parents wash the couple's feet with milk and water. Then they wrap a length of raw cotton and threads around the couple. The pundit ties thes strings together to reinforce the couple's bond as husband and wife.

The bride puts her right hand into the grooms right hand.

A sacred fire is lit in a copper bowl

The bride puts her foot on a stone to correspond to the vows they take to be strong as a couple throughout married life.

Rice is thrown in the sacred fire while the bride prays for a long life and the prosperity and happness of her husband.

The couple circle the fire four times. The groom leads the bride three times to represent duty, karma, and wealth. The bride leads the round representing salvation.

The couple takes seven symbolic steps around the fire to remain life-long partners and friends. They take oaths to unite them as husband and wife.

The bride and groom circle the fire three more times with a another prayer.

The groom blesses the bride by putting vermilion powder on her forehead and giving her a wedding necklace.

The couple puts their hands over each others hearts while saying vows. The pundit blesses them..

The bride and groom feed each other four times to represent the development of their skin, muscle, bone, and soul.

At the end of the ceremony, guests throiw blessed flower petals and rice over the bride and groom. The bride's farewell to her family is a moving moment since she is leaving to build a new life with her husband and his family.

A coconut has been placed under a wheel of the wedding car so it can be broken as the couple drives off. This custom was originally done to ensure the couple's vehicle was roadworthy.

Post wedding ceremonies are held to welcome the bride into the family. Salt is part of the Datar ritual. Since salt can blend will the practically any food, it symbolizes how the birde is entering the groom's family.

Hindu brides customarily wear elaborately embroidered red and white saris. The red symbolizes fertility and the white symbolizes the bride's innocence and purity. It is common for the bride to change during the wedding from a modest sari from her family to a more heavy sari from the groom’s family. The groom usually wears white or cream traditional outfit, which may have gold thread. Some north Indian Hindu grooms wear a turban with strings of flowers hiding his face to protect him from the evil eye of on-lookers.

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