| Muhurtam
: |
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This
involves determining the auspicious part of the day for
the marriage. The period that is considered auspicious
starts from 7.00 p.m. and goes on till the next day until
about 11 am. Weddings don't usually take place in the
months of Aashad, Bhadrapad and Shunya. |
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| Pendlikoothuru
: |
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This
ceremony involves anointing the bride and the groom with
oil and turmeric. This is followed by a bath. The couple
don new clothes following the bath. The bride-to-be wears
flowers in her hair. She adorns her forehead with a bindi
or vermillion dot and wears bangles on her wrists. |
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| Snathakam
: |
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This
ritual is performed at the bridegroom's house before the
muhurtam. It is a sort of thread ceremony that involves
making him wear a silver thread on his body. |
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| Kashi
Yatra : |
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After
the recitation of Vedic verses, the groom pretends to
leave for Kashi, a pilgrimage centre to devote himself to
God and a life of prayer. He carries a walking stick and
other spartan essentials with him and implies that he is
not interested in becoming a householder anymore. He
relents and agrees to the marriage only after he is
stopped and persuaded by the bride's brother to fulfill
his responsibilities as a householder. |
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| Mangala
Snaanam : |
|
The
bride and groom must take a Mangala Snaanam or an
auspicious bath on the day of the wedding. The bath is
believed to cleanse and purify them and make them ready
for the sacred rites that are to follow. |
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| Aarti
: |
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After
the bath, the bride and groom are anointed with oil at
their respective homes. Their families perform aarti - a
ceremony that involves placing a lit oil lamp or diya on a
plate and circling the plate around a person in a
clockwise direction. The clockwise movement is followed to
imitate the earth's movement round the sun. The ceremony
is significant as it carries with it the family's prayer
that the mind of the bride/groom be illuminated by wisdom. |
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| Gauri
Pooja : |
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The
bride worships the Goddess Gauri by performing Gauri Pooja.
The Goddess Gauri is highly revered as it is believed that
she is a manifestation of Shakti, the mother of the
universe and the power and energy by which God creates,
preserves and destroys the world. She symbolises
motherhood, fertility and the victory of good over evil. |
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| Ganesh
Pooja : |
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The
bridegroom performs Ganesh Pooja in the mandapam or
wedding hall just before the marriage ceremony.
Worshipping Ganesha, the elephant-headed God is an
important part of most Hindu rituals as he is revered as
the remover of all obstacles. |
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