Maharashtrian Wedding Series-Wedding-Day Rituals
This is where we continue our Maharashtrian Wedding Series. You all saw how simple and beautiful the pre-wedding rituals were. Now, let’s decode the rituals that take place on the wedding day.
Ganpati Puja, Gurihar Puja And Devdevak
Like many other auspicious Maharashtrian occasions, the wedding day commences with the worship of Lord Ganesha so that all the wedding ceremonies accomplish without any hurdle or obstacle and evoking his blessings to ensure a happy married life for the bride and groom.
As a part of Gurihar puja, the brides get ready for the wedding in a yellow saree mostly, which is gifted by her maternal uncle. She is all decked up with these (insert link for accessories that make us fall in love with marathi bride) accessories. Then she performs a ritual where she worships Parvati’s silver idol, kept on the pile of rice. She takes some rice in her hand and puts that on the idol and seeks blessings of Goddess Annapurna for happy and prosperous life ahead.
For Devdevak, also known as “kuldevta sthapna” the family god is invoked and prayed to shower blessings on the wedding couple.
Punyavachan And Simantpujan
When the bride’s parent takes her to the venue, all the close family members bless the bride, right before the wedding ceremonies begin. This is the Punyavachan ceremony.
In Simantpujan, on the groom’s arrival, the bride’s mother receives him with Aarti and sweets. She washes the groom’s feet and applies Tilak on his forehead. “Simant” means boundary, specifically this in earlier days meant that the groom and his close family members came to the boundary of the bride’s home in her village and were welcomed in the same manner.
Antarpat
An Antarpat is like a curtain that is kept in between the bride and groom while the priest starts chanting the mantras. This is not a ritual but this curtain helps in following the ritual of not seeing each other until the garland ceremony. This restricts the groom’s vision looking out for the bride who’d be sitting opposite to him.
Sankalp
Once the priest is finished chanting the mangalashtaka’s or sacred vows, the antarpat is removed, and the couple exchange jaimala or garlands. That’s when everyone showers them with Akshata or whole rice and flowers.
Kanyadaan
This is the most important ritual in the wedding not only in Maharashtrians but also in other cultures of Hindu weddings. In this, the bride’s father places her hand in the hand of the groom, seeking a promise that his daughter will be taken care of, respected and loved. It is a very emotional and heart-touching rituals out of all the other.
Lajahoma
A sacred fire is ignited after which the bride offers grains to the fire chanting three mantras repeated by the groom. The groom also repeats the mantra after her. However, the fourth mantra is recited by the bride alone, almost silently. After that, the bride’s parents worship the couple as avatars of Vishnu and Laxmi and the couple then tie a turmeric thread on each other’s hands, followed by groom tying a mangalsutra around the bride’s neck and sindoor on her forehead.
Saptapadhi
This ritual again seen in all other cultures, Saptapadhi or Saath Pheras is the couple encircling the holy fire seven times signifying the successful completion of the wedding ceremony.
Karmasamapti
The couple then performs the Laxmi Puja until the fire puts out. The groom then gives a new name to the bride, this particularly was a traditional and old ritual for changing the bride’s name and giving her a new name after wedding. Later, the brother of the bride teasingly twists the groom’s ear to remind him of his marital duties and the couple takes everyone’s blessings in the end.
These are the wedding day rituals that take place in a maharashtrian weddings. Ending the Maharashtrian Wedding Series with the last bog about the interesting post-wedding rituals. Stay tuned!