 Hindu Wedding - a Noble Convention
Added: 10/15/2007 |
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In the Hindu tradition, the omnipotent influence of the religious texts like the Vedas, has been supreme down the centuries. Thus in each and every aspect the Hindu norms have been embedded in the religious instructions, not to speak of the marriage! Now as far as the Hindu rituals are concerned they have also been modified down the ages, to go in accordance with the changing times, but keeping the fundamental belief to the core.
Therefore, when we are talking about Hindu wedding we shall have to start keeping the religious instruction in concern. It should be remembered at the same time that a Hindu wedding is not a social contract, on the contrary, a spiritual bond between two souls. Now, how to start? There should be the initiation of preparations from the very beginning which has a lot of importance and has to start with the preliminaries, although everything has been decided by the family. The basic importance of the Hindu wedding lies in the fact that it is a significant function, announcing the date of marriage in public officially. Now if you ever become fortunate to witness a Hindu wedding, you will come across too many rituals! The Hindu rituals as when made centuries ago are observed with the same veneration even today! The prominent among the rituals are the sangeet, mehndi, haldi and tilak, having a lot of meaning and significance. Since you have never seen any of these before, but be wise to know that it is one of the sixteen sacraments (sanskars). Through the sanskars two people get married, unifying the bond of families together. How can you define this bond? It is nothing but the insignia of a strong alliance through the rest of the life. The wedding takes place at the bride's residence or at a mutually agreed common place. The marriage does take place at an open space under a decorated canopy usually called 'mandap'. However, the main event of the wedding involves different traditional Hindu rituals. The different rituals are not the same but above than that there exits a great disparity over the different norms and their implementations. What is the most important ritual of the Hindu wedding? The most important ritual of Hindu wedding is the seven steps or sapta padi taken together by the bride and the groom. The seven vows or promise by the couple, are dictated by a priest or Brahmin. They take the vows before God, symbolized by fire and light. These seven promises taken together by the bride and groom build the foundation of their relationship and marriage. It speaks of the loyalty, love, and commitment. The marriage is considered as a holy ceremony, conducted by the priest, blessed by the elders, witnessed by the whole community and the public in the neighborhood. But it will be utterly wrong if anyone assumes that the Hindu wedding is not just about serious rituals and customs. Indeed, a number of filled rituals and frothy moments are found that lightens the mood and happens to remain as cherishing moments in the coming years. Even there are several communities, where there are rituals that the hands of the couple should be covered with a sacred cloth to ward off ill omen and evil eye during the pheras. Again, in the Gujarati custom the groom's mother-in-law tries to catch his nose on arrival of the baraat, as a reminder of the fact that he is taking away their daughter and from now on is solely responsible for her happiness.
Though different Hindu weddings adhere to the same religious texts, due to the presence of different rituals in the sprawling landscape, there are vast differences. While in a Bengali tradition, it is customary to wear bangle, in many communities a special wedding gift is given to the bride, by means of necklace signifying her married status.
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