symbols and traditions of hindu wedding

Symbols and Traditions- Hindu Wedding

In the hindu culture, the marriage doesn’t just symbolize the love of a happy couple, but also of the coming together of two families. In some cases, as this unique marriage bond between the families is only really available at one opportunity, the parents and the rest of the close family of the bride and groom would choose and decide for the family. In the past this was extremely common, and sometimes the bride and groom got no real chances to say anything, and would only really meet each other at the main ceremonies, or even on the wedding day. However, nowadays young adults are usually able to have a much better say in choosing their partner.

As a wedding is a massive change in life, Hindus make a good time of it; there is not only one wedding ceremony, but sometimes quite a few other different ceremonies as well. After all, it is the joining up of two families and a happy couple.Each wedding varies, as there are many different cultures in one religion, and a wedding would have many cultural traditions in it as well as religious.

There are quite a few pre-wedding ceremonies. For example, Haldi. haldi is a holy bath ritual for both the bride and the groom. Married women would attend this ceremony only, and apply turmeric, water and oil to the bath, in which the bride and groom would each take a turn bathing in. This would be done as a tradition to gain beauty for the wedding. During the ceremony, kangana or sacred thread, is tied on the right wrists of the bride and groom. The kangana is a red thread strung through an iron knife (protection), turmeric sticks, supari (commonly known as betel nut) and kaudis (shells). These are all symbols of good luck, to protect the bride and the groom from the evil eye, so that the wedding happens without any obstacles.

Another pre-wedding ceremony is the Mehendi ceremony (or the Henna ceremony). It is a ceremony of which many friends and relatives are invited to take turns in getting henna applied for the wedding. It is a very joyful ceremony in which the families from both the bride and groom’s side can have a good chance to spend time together and make the ‘2-family’ bond even stronger.

After all of the pre wedding ceremonies comes the big day, the wedding. The wedding involves a lot of traditional things that are done, that symbolize certain beliefs. For example, in the very first part of the wedding, the groom would be at the wedding hall with a garland waiting for the bride and her family. they would exchange garlands to show a step towards the start of their true relationship. It is also said that the one who puts the garland on the other first will have the upper hand of the relationship.

Both the bride and the groom would be wearing beautifully decorated attire. red is the most common colour for the bride, as it symbolizes prosperity, prosperity, fertility and saubhagya (marital bliss). The bride would usually wear a veil over her head to show that she is still a ‘stranger’ to the groom, until he has tied a tali around her neck, when she will be able to remove the veil.

The Tali is probably the most important part of the wedding. It is a golden necklace of a specific shape to show that the lady is a married woman, and to be respected. Che groom would tie the Tali with three knots to symbolize 3 great gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. After this, the bride and groom would walk together around a holy fire, called agni seven times.The Seven Vows are the seven promises that the bride and the groom make to each other in front of the sacred fire. They are bound together by these promises for the rest of their lives.

Another part of the weddin is the Bichhiya, or toe rings. They are never made of gold as gold is the metal of the Gods and should not be worn below the waist. they are usually made of silver. Toe rings also symbolize a woman's dual status as a sister and a wife. She wears two sets of toe rings on each foot; one for her brother and one for her husband. When either the husband or brother dies, one set is removed. The symbolism is that if her husband were to die then her brother would offer her protection.

The last part of the wedding is the saying of goodbye as the bride and groom leave together for their new home and life together. The bride’s father would sit the bride on his lap and say bye, as this is traditional.This is quite emotional for the family, as this is a big change for everyone.

Arranged Marriage

“Arranged marriages are cruel and old fashioned! All people should marry for love.”

People have many different views on this. And they also might only change their views if someone close has a good marriage of the opposite type of marriage to the one that is believed best. In some communities, arranged marriages are common, while in others they would not happen a lot.

Arranged marriages can be quite cruel. For example, in some places arranged marriage is considered to be a mean of suppressing women, marrying them when they are at quite a young age and not able to be independant. However, there is a great difference between arranged marriage and forced marriage. Arranged marriage lets the people have a say for himself, and let them make the key decisions. To put it simply, the parents are just making it easier, helping the person to find a partner. This can be very useful if the person feels that they have passed the age for a love marriage, but still want a partner in life.

Arranged marriages can also be seen as old-fashioned as more people used them in the past rather than the present. Even royals in the past had an arranged marriage, whereas nowadays they are given a chance to look for love themselves. For example, Prince William found Kate by love and are a perfect couple. However, arranged marriages are not old fashioned, but more or less quite new. From the past they went from forced marriages but are now developing into arranged marriages, with fair thoughts from both the girl and the boy.

Many people dislike the idea of arranged marriages simply because there will always be family interference from both families in your marriage and that will not give you room to think well of what you can do to make your marriage blissful. Every good thing you may want to think of will be affected by the families’ decision. The thought of them coming into your marriage affair is a discouragement for your future thinking. But, there is one main advantage with arranged marriage; Arranged marriages guarantee you are going to marry with no stress of courtship, dating, and relationship and testing for compatibility which will take months and even years before you settle down.

My main conclusion is going to be that I feel that arranged marriages are great if done in the right way; this would mean ways to let the boy and girl show her feelings towards each other and not just for the advantage of the parents. Love marriages are good, but have a high divorce rate. Maybe if you let love blossom between the couple before the marriage it will be fair.