Important rituals of South Indian wedding

DHARE – THE BOND OF MARRIAGE
KANYADANA

• This is an important south Indian wedding ritual in Hindu marriages highlighting the emotional bonding between the parents and their daughter.
• The father of the bride entrusts his daughter to the groom in this ritual.
• The groom and the bride stand opposite each other placing their palms one over the other.
• The father of the bride places her right palm over the groom’s right palm.
• A coconut is placed on the palms and Lakshminarayana vigraha is placed on it.
• The parents of the bride stand beside the couple and pour sacred water on the vigraha.
• This is called ‘Dhare Yeryodu’ and is a very touching moment for one and all.The event symbolizes the giving away of daughter to the groom

• ‘Dharmecha, Arthecha, Kaamecha Naathi charaami’, these are the promises made by the groom.
• The purohith also chants the associated mantras.
• Sometimes other elderly couples from the bride’s side also pour the sacred water to the vigraha.

KANAKADHARANE

• Tieing of the kankana thread is a symbolic ritual for the couple. The bride and the groom are supposed to represent Lakshmi Narayana in this south Indian wedding ritual.
• The bride, grrom and their parents are seated with 5 elderly couples sitting around them.
• The purohith then gives the kankana thread to be wound around all of them.

• Without tangling the holy thread, the kankana is made ready.
• Gifts are showered to the 5 couples.
• The kanakana thread is tied by the bride and groom to each other on their right hand.
• This kankana is retained till end of the marriage rituals and the bride and groom are not supposed to fall at anyone’s feet or shake hands because they are supposed to symbolize Lakshmi and Narayana.

AKSHATAROPANAM AND MALADHARANAM

• The bride and groom are made to exchange garlands amidst loud cheering from friends and relatives in this south Indian wedding ritual.
• Often on a lighter note, the bride and groom are lifted to dodge them from garlanding.

• These moments are aptly captured by photographers and video personnel.
• The Dhare akki (rice) is specifically prepared for this event. Rice is washed, dried and mixed with a paste of turmeric.

• Nowadays to make the event colourful and special, colour akshathe is prepared.
• The bride and groom shower this coloured akshathe along with pearls,thermocol balls on each other.
• This is an enjoyable moment for everyone and the camera and video people capture this moment in a professional way to recreate the sweet memories later.

MANGALYA DHARANE

• This is significant ritual of south Indian wedding which is of great importance.
• The tieing of the ‘Mangalasutra’ by the groom to the bride is an auspicious event done at a prefixed ‘ Muhurtha’ time normally fixed by astrologers.
• In some schools of thought the ‘Jeerige Bella’ shastra is also considered the Muhurtha time. This varies according to customs.
• The sacred thread is smeared with turmeric and the Thali or Mangalya along with Karimani beads are inserted in the thread.
• This Managalasutra is normally kept on a jiggery piece in a plate along with flowers.

• Puja is done to this Mangalya as it is considered that Goddess Lakshmi resides in this.
• This Mangalasutra is generally taken around to the elderly people present so that they can give their blessings.
• The groom applies Haldi kumkum to the bride and then ties the mangalsutra around the neck of the bride, in the background of ‘Gatti mela’ of the
• The groom ties three knots which are again significant and applies Haldi to it.

• The mother of the bride and other elderly ladies apply arashina to this holy knot and bless the couple for happiness and longevity.
• All the relatives and friends present come forward and give blessings to the couple by showering akshathe on them.
• This is another event beautifully captured on the camera.
• This is a memorable stirring event which is etched in the memories of the couple and their parents for a long time.
• As a symbolic gesture, haldi kumkum, flowers are given to the ladies present in the function.

SAPTAPADI – THE SEVEN VOWS OF MARRIAGE
LAAJA HOMA

• The bride and the groom are made to sit in front of the holy fire and purohit conducts the homa in this south Indian wedding ritual.
• The brother of the bride gives ‘Aralu’ or puffed rice to the bride and the groom and bride together offer this rice to the fire.
• The groom places his hand beneath the bride’s hand and the bride’s brother pours this rice on their hands so that it gets consigned to the flames.
• The purohit adds summith (wooden sticks) and ghee to the fire.
• This involvement of the bride’s brother indicates that even after the marriage, the bonding of the two families continues.
• The couple then goes around the fire three times and at each instant pour the aralu into the fire.
• The offerings to Agni, the Lord of fire ensures a happy, long and prosperous married life to the

SAPTAPADI

• In this ritual,the bride is made to walk seven steps along with the groom by her
• Normally a decorative mat is laid out which has the imprint of the right foot depicted. This is further accentuated with flower decoration.
• The bride is made to tread on each foot on the mat, where the groom holds the right toe of the bride and places it on each step.
• Each of the steps is associated with a mantra which the purohith recites.indicating the seven vows of marriage.
• At the end of the seven steps, the groom slips on a silver toe ring onto the bride’s second toe of each foot.
• This event is also beautifully captured by the photographers.
• The couple are then made to sit and perform an associated homa conducted by the purohith.

These are the important rituals that are performed during south Indian wedding. To know more about other details of south Indian wedding visit our blogs section.

DISCLAIMER

We tried to capture all the rituals of a Smartha/Madhwa Brahmin marriage in a simple way. The customs and rituals vary from custom to custom. All the information on this website is published in good faith and for general information purpose only. www.sambhramaa.com does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information.

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