Wedding Customs Around the World -India
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In India a great deal of importance is paid to the rituals and customs associated with the event of marriage. There is a great diversity in marriage traditions in different parts of India due to religious, geographical, cultural and linguistic differences. However, they are all carried out in an elaborate manner.
Indian weddings usually involve many people, with many relatives of the bride and groom family invited, and wedding celebrations can continue for several days. India follows the practice of presenting gifts during a marriage, and in many parts of the country, people present cash gifts to the couple on their wedding.
The evening before the wedding there is a ceremony for adorning the bride's hand and feet with henna (called mehendi). Beautiful intricate paisley or medallion patterns are used.
In different parts of India, brides wear different kinds of clothes, ornaments, and adornments. Most brides wear saris, usually in shades of red, pink or sometimes mustard, but never white as white symbolizes widowhood in Indian culture. A lot of jewellery is worn by the bride to attract prosperity. Jewellery differs according to local tradition, but necklaces, earrings, bangles, rings, anklets, toe-rings and a nose-ring are worn by most brides. In some areas armlets and waistbands are traditionally important.
The bride is given to the groom by her father, or in his absence by her grandfather, brother or other male relative. The bride's father first symbolically gives her to God, in a ceremony called Kanya Dan, to the accompaniment of chanting of sacred mantras. The bride's guardian takes her hands and places them in the groom's, transferring his responsibility for her to the groom.
The groom ties his scarf around the brides neck or to her dress and the couple take seven steps together, facing the north.This is a very important phase of the marriage ceremony as the steps represent nourishment, strength, prosperity, happiness, progeny, long life and harmony and understanding, respectively.
A ceremonial sacred fire is their witness as they exchange wedding vows, and the marriage is now final and legally binding. The bride is then sprinkled with holy water to cleanse her and purify her from any previous sins, ready for her new life ahead.