Indian weddings are popular for their beautiful traditions, cultural rituals and the grandeur with which they are celebrated. Each Indian culture has varied wedding traditions. If you want a magnificent cultural wedding, then the first thing to do is to have sound knowledge about the customs and traditions of the different cultures. You have an endless list of traditions to choose from. Each tradition tells a story about its significance which makes the wedding ceremony more resplendent.
It is your big day, and you get to decide as to how you want to make it special and an affair that will be remembered lifelong. Most of the wedding rituals have a similar basic backbone of traditions.
We have put together a compilation of the wedding traditions that are followed by the various communities in India. Following is an ultimate guide to Indian wedding traditions:
- Roka / Tilak / is the first formal wedding meet carried out by the bride and groom’s families. The groom’s family visits the bride’s family to finalize the wedding. This ritual marks the beginning of all the other rituals. This custom is a part of almost all the communities.
- Engagement / Magni is a formal marriage announcement. This signifies that the girl and the boy are engaged to each other by exchanging rings. The engagement is spaced for a few months from the wedding date so that the couple gets to know each other well.
- The Sangeet ceremony is celebrated by almost all the Indian communities because of its much fanfare and entertainment. It is a night of dance and fun with the family.
- Haldi is a pre-wedding ritual in which the bride and the groom are smeared with turmeric to give their skin a divine glow on the wedding day.
- Mehendi is another fun part of Indian weddings in which the palms of the bride and groom are decorated with Henna.
- Var Mala is the exchange of garlands between the bride and the groom and is the very first ritual in Hindu weddings.
- Mandap rituals consist of the seven ‘phera’ that signifies an important wedding vow. The groom puts vermilion in the bride’s hair and puts the mangal sutra around her neck which ties them together for life.
- Bidai is the custom of bidding farewell to the bride after the wedding as she moves to her new home. It marks the beginning of the bride’s new life and is an extremely emotional moment.
- Reception ceremony is sometimes held on the same day as the wedding or after a few days. It is a ceremony to celebrate the new couple and bless them.
- Pagphera is a post-wedding ritual in which the bride visits her maiden home for a few days after the wedding day to spend some quality time with her parents and siblings. This ritual takes place on the immediate next day
These are the main celebrated rituals of the wedding celebrations in India. This will help you to get a good idea as to what a big fat Indian wedding constitutes of.