Why are Indian weddings more Entertaining Than Western?
You Will Be Diving Into a World of Excitement and Colours If You Are attending an Indian Wedding
Every culture has a hand in different hallmarks when it comes to weddings. Getting clued up about distinct wedding customs from everywhere is an easy way to get the hang of the lifestyles of other civilizations and even extrapolate your own. Indian weddings have many sui generis rituals, therefore, if you are planning on applying yourself to one or throwing your own, it’s a great intention to get your mitts on a good understanding of what to expect.
This article has been written by Abbie Ella, who works for a cargo company that sends cargo from the UK to India. In her line of work, she has visited India several times and has fallen in love with Indian culture.
Start off with a life-long commitment, Marriage is the beginning, the beginning of the family. Indian Weddings is a potpourri of exciting activities you really don’t want to miss out on; colourful attires, prevalent customs and the finger-licking cuisines which arouse your curiosity, super fascinating, just right in the block hole.
Below, we will be taking a squint at the traditional Indian wedding customs that make this big day so special.
Mangni, Misri or Sagaai Ceremony
One of the chief highlights of the Indian wedding, Sagaai is the Pre-wedding ceremony where the couple give and take rings and gifts in front of their families and elders. It’s a deluxe episode that’s like the wedding ceremony.
Misri means celebrations, dance, music and a lot of fun, bang. This pomp is a mutual agreement between both families to get married. Typically, the groom’s parents present the bride with a punnet of gifts and Misri (rock sugar), reflecting a saccharine relation in the future.
The Mehndi (Henna) Ceremony
Indian Wedding tradition yells out for this ceremony to be held one night before the wedding day just to wish the bride and groom milk and honey and good trim as they are making their way to new life ahead.
Tradition gives voice that the darker the colour of the bride’s mehndi, the beefier the bond between groom and bride will be. There’s a red-orange stain on the palms, arms and feet of the bride. Everything looks phenomenal at the ceremony of Mehndi. Mehndi or Henna ceremony means lots of colours, music, dance, and celebrations all over.
Haldi Ceremony
The Haldi ceremony is held on the morn of the wedding day. Also known as the pithi ceremony, the Haldi ceremony is basically a ritual holy bath and it’s among the pre-wedding ceremonies in India.
On the morning of the wedding day, the bride and groom are given a massage with the paste of Haldi (Turmeric), water and oil. It’s just because it is believed to have specific characteristics that are put together for glowing and fresh skin. Added to this, Haldi is regarded as a lucky charm and also indicates protection in some Indian communities.
Mainly the purpose of applying Haldi to both bride and groom is to wish them good luck for their new life ahead. It’s believed that the colour of Haldi will bring fortunateness and prosperity into the couple’s life. Haldi is called by different names in several regions, like Ubtan, Mandha and Tel Baan.
Wedding Dress
Do you know what’s the beauty of Indian wedding dress? Yeah, its vibrant colours which present a hypnotizing scene all the way around. Different colours are considered unpropitious for the ceremony of wedding in India.
But what’s more fascinating here is the colours which are disallowed are not fixed across the country. For example, white colour is associated with mourning in North India, but if you head to Kerala, a white saree is the prominent bride dress. So, if you are free from doubt about the customs of the region where you are attending the wedding, you can opt for going all-white. And contrary to this, avoid it.
White and black colours are in the same boat when it comes to the Indian traditional wedding as black colour is also chewed over as very ill-fated in an Indian context. Even though black is the basic colour that towing majority of women go for due to its aesthetic appeal, still it’s recommended to stay away from it during shopping for the wedding.
Mandap Ceremony
Now this is the most important part of the wedding ceremony just because of the fact that all the weighty rituals are brought off during the mandap ceremony.
Indian weddings vary with the age-old customs and the traditions of different regions. The mandap ceremony is pretty much important and is taken as a one-time affair. Therefore, parents of both parties do not leave any stone unturned in putting in the order a memorable wedding for their children.
There are four pillars of the mandap which indicate the parent on both sides. That’s because the parents work their fingers to the bone in order to bring their kids up. All the atmosphere is usually set at the bride’s house or otherwise at the wedding venue. During the mandap ceremony, all the rituals are pulled off in front of the best fire and paeans recited by the priest. The main rituals associated with the mandap ceremony are Saat Phere, Maang baharai and kanyadan.
Colours
And here comes the most captivating scene of the Indian traditional wedding, the colours all around throughout the celebration. Red, gold, orange and yellow fill the room from the dresses to the decoration and flowers, absolutely amazing, Vola.
Food in Indian Wedding
Food is the name of the excitement game during a traditional Indian wedding. Indian wedding is considered incomplete without plating up some delicious food to the prestigious guests. Wedding in India is not only the holy fusion of two souls but also a kick at the cat for celebrations and enjoyment. And how a celebration could be polished off without including resplendent food? Yeah, of course not. And believe me or not, that’s a sight to behold and an experience to dig into.
An Indian marriage feast boasts a thumping great variety of food which is offered according to the traditions of different regions of India. And you know what does it mean? It means everything is just right there, bang on.
Oodles of guests, a great deal of music and dance, colourful lighting and pyrotechnics, imperious attires, lavish jewellery and before of all, delicious food more than you can shake a stick at; that’s what an Indian wedding is at a glance.
