Tamil Marriages - A Simple and Beautiful Affair

Tamils believe in simple living and high thinking and their marriages are also a simple affair. Tamil weddings are usually attended by near and dear ones. Hence their weddings are not necessarily extravagant affairs. Tamils consider matrimony very auspicious, so, they are very cautious at every step. Tamil marriages involve many rituals and customs like all other Indian marriages and matrimonials. The date for the wedding is usually fixed after consulting the Hindu calendar. According to the Tamil calendar, the months of Aashad (July 15th to August 15th), Bhadrapad (September 15th to October 15th) and Shunya (December 15th to January 15th) are considered inauspicious for weddings and hence, Tamilian weddings are not held in these months.

Before the wedding celebrations:

Panda Kaal Muhurtham

To ensure that the wedding preparations and wedding pass off successfully, it is customary to invoke the blessings of the family deity. The family of the bride and the groom pray to the deity who is personified by a bamboo pole. More often than not, this ritual is performed a day before the wedding.

Receiving the Groom

When the groom and his family visit the wedding hall a day before the marriage, they are welcomed with a tray containing offerings of flowers, paan supari, fruits and mishri. Rose water is sprinkled on the groom. A senior female member of the Tamil bride's family performs aarti and welcomes them. To ward off evil spirits, it is customary to break a coconut to the ground.

Pallikai Thellichal

This ceremony is also performed a day before the wedding. In this, clay pots are filled with grains. Married women from the bride’s and groom’s side sprinkle water on the pots filled with nine different varieties of grain. On the wedding day when the grains sprout, these pots are immersed in a pond so that the fish in the pond may feed on the grains and give their blessings the newly-weds.

Naandi

During this ceremony, some Brahmins are invited to represent the souls of the ancestors of the bride and the groom. They are presented some sweets and gifts and the families seek their blessings before beginning the marriage proceedings.

Jaanavaasam

These days, people hardly practise this custom. The groom is escorted to the wedding venue by a large and joyous procession of family and friends. Professional musicians are invited to accompany the procession and to play traditional wedding music. At times there are also fireworks to celebrate the occasion. Then the groom is welcomed in the wedding hall after the girl's brother garlands and receives him.

Nicchiyadharatham

In the presence of the officiating priest, the bride's parents perform Ganesh Pooja. The bride is also present during the ceremony. She is gifted with a new sari by her would be in laws. A garland of flowers is tied around her waist and aarti is also performed for her.

Reading of Lagna Pathirigai

The priest formally reads out the wedding invitation. Details on three generations of the boy and the girl and other information on the muhurtam is announced. This is followed by an elaborate dinner.

Wedding rituals and ceremonies:

Mangala Snaanam

The mangala snaanam is the auspicious bath that the bride and groom must have in their respective homes on the dawn of their wedding day. Before the bath they are anointed with some oil and a tilak of haldi-kumkum.

Kashi Yatra

It is a very dramatic ritual and adds humor to the occasion. After the mangala snaanam, the groom pretends to leave for Kashi to devote himself to God and a life of prayer. He enacts as if he is not interested in becoming a householder. Then the girl's father intervenes and requests him to accept his daughter as his Jeevansathi (life partner).The groom changes his mind and returns to the pandal where he is received by the bride.

Exchange of Garlands

This ceremony is full of excitement. The bride and the groom exchange garlands thrice and are teased by their relatives. For instance, they pull the girl away when the boy reaches forward to be garlanded by her, and vice versa. The bride and the groom's uncles have to lift them.

Kanyadaanam

The groom is welcomed by bride’s father to the mandapam (place where the wedding rituals are carried out). The bride's mother applies kajal in the groom's eyes and father washes his feet. Through this gesture the father conveys that that the boy is a personification of Lord Vishnu and believes that he will take care of his daughter. The father and bride offer the coconut to the groom while the bride's mother pours water over the coconut which symbolises the 'giving away of their daughter.' Then the groom's parents gift the bride a nine-yard sari and a blouse to be worn for next moment, the auspicious occasion of tying the mangasultra

Muhurtum

The priest and relatives bless the mangalsutra or sacred thread and then the groom ties it around the neck of his bride with two knots. His sister ties the third knot much to the jubilation of everyone accompanied by the drums of the melam. These three knots symbolise the marriage of the mind, spirit and body.

Saptapadi

The groom takes the right hand of the bride in his left hand and leads her around the sacred fire seven times. Each round is begun by the bride only after touching the grinding stone. This signifies her hope of a steadfast and forever union.

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Marriage Wedding" article category.

People interested in the above article "Tamil Marriages - A Simple and Beautiful Affair" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

Things To Read For A Bridal Couple

One of the most wonderful things in the world is to fall in love and then to take it forward. Getting married is like adding wings as you feel atop the world and in mid-air. Marriage preparations too have scaled new heights over the years giving the bridal couple and their families the best in the world. Read this article and find out the various things that a bride needs to know.

Winter Wedding Receptions in Michigan

Winter wedding receptions in Michigan are some of the most gorgeous times to plan your big day. There are many reasons why you might consider planning your wedding reception in during this season over the other ones. One of the main concerns with planning a wedding during these months is the frigid cold. To overcome the cold, all you have to do is think of all the warmth your wedding day will bring.

Four Winter Wedding Themes

During the cold days of winter, many beautiful wedding themes are all around us. If you are planning to get married during the winter time, there are a number of different options available to you. Choosing the right winter wedding theme is actually quite easy once you think about what you want your wedding to be like. Winter offers a host of wedding ideas, and this article will give you several of them to make a wonderful winter wedding a reality.

Finding a Great Wedding Photographer

A picture is worth a thousand words... Surely you have heard this expression before and it is never more true than at a wedding. The pictures are the permanent record of the celebration that is your wedding day. You simply must have a great photographer that knows what they are doing. You need someone that knows how to specifically shoot a wedding as well. This is necessary because of the large number of different shots that need to be taken, and the changes in lighting and so forth depending on the location, such as wedding party reception table.

Telugu Marriage

Telugu marriage is a very sophisticated affair and it includes various ceremonies and rituals which take place a few days before marriage. Wedding for Andhrites means lots of customs, traditions, rituals and long hours of enjoyments for both family and relatives.

Countdown to an Indian Marriage

Just 10 days left now and you have so many things on hand like shopping, purchasing gifts, final selection of clothes, preparing a list of guests, organizing the mehendi ceremony and so on! The list seems never ending. But question arises where to start, what to start... here comes the answer to all your questions and how you can efficiently apply your management skills so that all tasks are happily accomplished.

Common Mistakes To Avoid With Your Wedding Speech

Time to make that Most Important speech. A wedding speech is often very personal and its content has to be appropriate to the person being acknowledged. When it is on a day that a number of people will remember for the rest of their lives- it takes on a new significance. There is plenty of advice and suggestions in books and on the Internet about how a speech should be written and delivered. There are also a couple of things, which you should consider avoiding.