Wedding is an auspicious day for everyone. A day that changes the life of two individuals completely. An Indian wedding is the union of two souls. It starts a new bond between two families and their culture.  There are many ceremonies that start prior to the wedding. Several ceremonies make up a wedding. There are many rituals and customs to be performed. They hold a significant place in the wedding.

Rituals & Customs

India being a diversified country shows a blend of many colors in its lifestyle, culture and the thoughts of the people. The same blend of colors reflects in the Indian wedding rituals as well. Indian wedding ceremonies are full of rich details. There are many rituals that are performed as a part of the Indian wedding. Rituals differ in each wedding. They also differ from place to place and religion to religion depending on where the couple comes from. Indian wedding rituals does not end in few hours but lasts for many joyful and colorful days that fill are hearts with unforgettable memories which lasts for lifetime. The wedding ceremony can be divided into three major stages: the pre wedding ceremony, the wedding day and the post wedding ceremony.

The celebration of the wedding begins with the pre marriage ceremonies. These ceremonies first begin at the brides place. The first to come is the engagement ceremony. This is then followed by Sagan, Mehandi, Haldi and Sangeet which are done some days before the marriage. The main wedding day also has many rituals to follow which may include the varmala ceremony and the ones that are carried out in the mandap. The post wedding ceremonies includes the vidaai and the reception. There are some more ceremonies that are carried out at the groom’s house after the arrival of the bride. All these ceremonies are not mere rituals. They are done to bless the newly wedded couple a happy and prosperous married life. Apart from that they add color to the entire celebration.

Nowadays western culture has its influence in every field. It has influenced Indian traditional weddings as well. Today weddings are a mix of traditional and western culture.  Since we have people of many religions residing in India the customs and traditions of each of them differ from the other in some or the other way. Still there are lots of similarities in the rituals that are carried out in most religions.

There are slight differences in the way ceremonies are performed today. However, this doesn’t change the significance of rituals and customs in weddings. A detailed description of the ceremonies is described in the later pages.