Hindu Marriages are
performed according to Vedic rites described in the Sam Veda and the
Yadur Veda. This page is being developed to assist in planning Hindu
Marriages. In general Vedic marriage requires the wedding to be
conducted in front of a fire (Agni). Agni is considered the main
Priest in Vedic rites as the first sloka of the Rig Veda is
dedicated to Agni: Agneya mile Purohitam or Agni is the Priest.
Couples go around the fire seven times together to confirm their
vows and by putting something in the fire such as Khai or pop corn
to ignite the flames. See Wedding Ceremony below.
When a couple marry
according to Vedic rights and with mutual consnet, it is called
Prajapati
Vivah.
This is the most complete
wedding ceremony with all the frills and it requires the consent of
parents or guardians because the protection of the bride or daughter
is handed over by the father to the bridegroom during the Panigrahan
ceremony or the acceptance of the bride's hands. The actual weddding
ceremony takes place after Panigrahan.
However when a man and a
woman marry with each others consent but may not have the consent of
their family or are unable to involve them due to geographical
reasons, then this wedding is called
Gandharva
Vivah.
Here we describe
the procedures for Prajapati
Vivahonly.
The role of dharma and culture in our life is
the same as the role of the foundation in a building. The higher the
building the deeper must be the foundation. But instead of building
higher and higher buildings of bricks and mortar which block the Sun
and hinder the path of migrating birds, we should try and build a
higher level of spirituality and life style by developing a deeper
understanding of our dharma and our culture.
A message for all newly weds.
As a first step we are starting a page called Swayamvar for people to meet who are
interested in the Hindu pratha and wish to continue in that
tradition by finding appropriate life partners of similar interst.
Also the table below gives you the correct time to plan your wedding
or lagna. After that we describe the wedding ceremony of Ram and
Sita from the Ramcharitmanas.
The ruler of weddings is the planet
Vrihaspati
The table shows for each day when the planet
Vrihispati (Guru) is ruling. The hours shown in the table are hours
after sunrise. Which means on Ravi Var (Sunday) if the sun rise in
New York City is at 6 AM EST, then the first available hour is the
6th hour after sun rise - or to be precise between 11 AM to 12 AM.
The next lagna is on the 13 th hour and the last lagna
on Ravi var is on 20 th hour after sun rise. To
clarify further, if the sun rise is at 6 AM then the
1 st hour is between 6 AM and 7 AM, the 2
nd hour is between 7 to 8 AM and so
on.
Other auspicous times are
Godhuli (the time of the cow dust when Krishna came back with the
cows) or at dusk. For the correct time for all days consult the
table. Basically one should take care to see that the main ceremony
when marriage vows are taken is completed within the selected lagna.
Generally the tithi of Purnima or the day there is a full moon is
considered auspicous for all activities.
Wedding
Ceremony
The Ramcarimanas written by
Tulsidas describes the wedding of Rama and Sita after their
Swayamvar which was conducted according to the local rites of
Janakapur which is now in Bihar but was part of ancient Mithila.
After Sita had made her
selection, Raja Janak invited King Dasratha to come to the wedding
festivals. King Dasratha went to Janakpur with his two other sons
and a lot of people, horses and elephants etc. They were put up in a
guest house arranged by Raja Janak. Customarily the bridegrooms
mother did not attend his wedding and there is not mention of the
three Queens of Dasratha in this journey.
A barat or a wedding party is
organized which travels with great fan fare to the home of the
bride. There the brides mother and her friends receive the
Bridegroom by performing an Arati or showing lamps to his face.
After this the first ceremony
is Ashirvad which is the blessing of the bridegroom as well as the
bride in separate rooms by well wishers and elders.
The next ceremony is Panigrahan
or Kanya dan when the bride and bridegroom sit with their hands tied
together and the bridegroom receives the bride from the bride's
father as the priest recites wedding mantras.
In the case of Ram and Sita's
wedding the ceremony included the wedding of all four brothers Ram,
Lakchamn, Bharart and Strughan to the daughters of the King of
Janakpur. But in normal wedding this is done as make believe and the
bridegroom is accompanied by a boy similarly and the bride is also
accompanied similarly with a small girl dressed like the bride. The
are called secondary bridegroom and secondary bride
respectively.
After this the ceremony of
Sindur dan and phera are conducted. As the priest recites the
wedding vows the bridegroom applies vermilion to the forehead of the
bride. After this they perform their turns of seven times clockwise
around a fire and throw some fluffed corn into the fire together as
witness of their wedding.
The bride and bridegroom spend
the night with the friends of the bride together and a lot of
stories are told or songs are sung. This part of the ceremony may
take place the same night or next day when the bridegroom tries to
take home the bride. At this stage the brides friends make fun of
the bridegroom and his background telling ribald jokes. The
bridegroom and his party make replies.
After this the bride takes
leave of her childhood friends and relatives as she plans to move to
her husband's home. This is a sad occasion and the Ram Charit Manas
describes how Sita says goodbye to her mother's pet Parrot who calls
her name every morning saying: Where is Sita, Where is Sita. (Note:
This phrase will be repaeated by Ramchandra when Sita is abducted by
Ravana from the forest.)
After this the husband and wife
go back to their home with all the nice gifts that were given to the
bride. Ramchandra's mother receives Sita at home and a few other
ceremonies are held there.
One of the ceremony involves
the sharing of food between the bride and bridegroom when they feed
each other which signifies taking care of each other.
Finally a great feast is held
at the husbands home to culminate the wedding. On this night the
bride and bridegroom retire for their first night alone together and
it is called Suhag rat. In Bengal it is called Phulsajja or the bed
of flowers. In all cases the bed is decorated with flower where the
bride and bridegroom go to sleep alone.
There are some other
ceremonies after this sometimes of going to a temple and performing
Puja.
