WHILE it might be true that every wedding is unique in its own culture, the events centered around a Hindu wedding are deeply-rooted in ancient customs and beliefs.
A Hindu wedding demands at least two weeks of preparation and involves sacred vows being recited to the man and his wife.
Sunday Chronicle, guided by Mrs. Lynette Mangar, takes a look at the traditional Hindu wedding ceremony and the significance of colours. Mangar, a well-known supplier of Indian wedding apparel, is an expert on the topic.
Preparation
Leading up to the Hindu wedding, usually held on a Sunday, a series of religious functions are executed to prepare the bride and groom.
The body is rubbed down with a mixture of tumeric and coconut or olive oil on Friday night.
This night is known as “Matticore” or ”Dig Dutty Night” and a paste is applied to purify the body for married life and to pray to the earth for blessing in marriage.
At the Tillack (exchanging of gifts) ceremony, the bride’s family presents the groom’s family with gifts of money, jewellery, house, car and land. The groom, in turn, gives the bride’s family gifts of clothing.
At the Mahendai (Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning) ceremony, the women would rub down their skins with a dark-red dye, known as “laki”. The deeper the colour, the stronger the love for the bride. This is also when the bride and her friends will have a “girls night out” and hands are painted.
Since Hindu weddings do not encourage divorce, they usually match the astrological signs of the partners to ensure that they are compatible.
All these ceremonies are done to ensure that the bride and groom are richly blessed and that evil is washed away.
Meals
On the special day, a variety of vegetarian dishes is served. The ceremony is sacred, therefore, no alcoholic beverage is allowed.
Some typical meals are puri, rice, dholl, pholourie, a combination of vegetables such as pumpkin and calaloo, channa with potato and “kheer” - a type of rice pudding.
A reception is not necessary, but recently, families have been adopting the modern way of having one afterwards, where mutton and chicken and other foods would be served.
The Wedding
Hindu weddings are normally done on Sunday mornings. However, it is becoming quite a norm to have evening weddings on Saturdays.
Some sacred vows of the newly-wed are that the groom must promise his bride that the only other women in his life would either be his mother, sister or family member. He must also vow to always provide protection and security for her.
The bride, on the other hand, must promise never to embarrass him in public, and must always be faithful to her future husband.
At the ceremony, the bride and groom - “Dulhan and Dulha” (king and queen) or in Hindu terms, “Maharaja” and “Maharani” - for the day usually sit on little benches for “puja” (prayers).
Bridal Wear
At weddings, the bride usually dresses in a saris, gharara, salawar kameez or lahenga.
The richly decorated fabrics are beautiful, but very expensive - from as high as $US25,000 - and heavy, weighing as many as 25 pounds.
Mangar, who operates the ‘Lynette Mangar Collection’ from Bel Air Springs, says most brides choose red dresses because the colour is very auspicious, signifying joy, passion, marital happiness and love.
Green symbolises growth and productivity - the fertility of the bride; yellow is very religious and has an aesthetic significance at a wedding and white signifies purity.
Most dresses carry shawls or “dupatta” and lots of “zardozi” - a type of heavy gold embroidery done over cord.
Every outfit has matching necklace - “gallihars”, “earrings“ - tarki-jumkha”, “sirbindi” - something that drops from the head to the forehead, “churia” - bracelets, and panjas - gloves attached from the finger.
A red dot in the centre of the forehead signifies that the woman is married.
Invitees usually choose bright colours such as orange, pink, and green to signify that it is a very happy occasion.
When persons are widowed, however, they wear outfits of pure gold to show this.
Groom’s Outfit
Grooms usually don’t come as expensive and elaborate as brides.
The men are simply dressed in “Jhod Puri” - a heavy decorated gown with narrow, angled pajamas made of silk or brocade.
His headdress is called a “phagri” (bridegroom turban).
The groom’s outfit matches the bride’s and is sold from as low as low as $15,000.