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The
Hindu Wedding or Sanskara of Vivaha
Rituals
to begin the life of a Grahasthasrama
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Sri
Meenakshi Kalyanam symbolises
the Celestial Marriage of Sri Siva as Sri Sundareswarã
and Sri Sakthi as Sri Meenakshi. Sri Vishnu as the brother
of Sakthi comes to "give away the bride" and Sri Brahmã
performs the Smãrtha form of Vedic Marriage rituals.
This is a representation of the unity of the four popular forms of
Hindu faith, Saivam, Vaishnavam, Sãktham and the Vedic
Smãrtha Sampradhãya. The same principle is seen
in all stories in Hindu Purãnas to show that the several forms
of practice of Hindu faith, though externally look different from
each other in their philosophy, are united together and related to
each other.
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Click
here to
see the
differences in the beliefs and
practice of
Saivam,
Vaishnavam, Sãktham and Smãrtha Sampradhãya.
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Hindu
wedding celebrations have a combination of traditional religious rituals
and social customs and celebrations. The morning of wedding starts
with a ceremonial bath, 'Vrutham rituals' and naming ceremonies of
bride and the groom separately. The groom who has been a student goes
on a 'Kasya Yathra' [also called Kasi yathra] wearing decorations,
foot wears, a hand fan, umbrella and sandalwood paste 'for the first
time'. The bride's father stops him and offers the hand of his daughter
in marriage for the groom to settle in a family life [grahastha
ashramam]. The bride is brought to the front of the wedding hall
where they both exchange garlands. This symbolizes the ancient Gandharva
form [love marriage] of Hindu wedding. Then they sit on a swing or
'Oonjal'. This is followed by all the key religious events.
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First
the father of the bride washes the feet of the groom with milk, water
and sandalwood paste. Here the groom represents God Sri Vishnu and
the bride is Sri Lakshmi who will be united to perform the work of
creation and preservation for the Creator. Then the bride sits on
the lap of her father and her hand is held by the groom. The father
of the bride offers the hand of the bride as his gift to the groom
and his family in the main ceremony called Kanyaka Dhanam.
At the exact specified auspicious time, the groom ties the 'Mangalya
suthra' around the neck of the bride. This is the most auspicious
moment in the celebrations with loud music and every one singing traditional
songs. After this the bride and the groom together perform various
important rituals which include Panigrahanam or holding of
hands. Sapthapadhi or walking around the fire, taking the seven
steps with wedding vows is the most important Vedic ritual of a marriage.
Then the bride steps on a stone when the groom holds her toes. Then
they will be asked to see the 'Arundhathi and Dhruva stars'
each with recitation of manthras. The wedding concludes with the couple
getting the blessing of the elders.
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Hindu
Heritage Study Program
An
Educational Program for the Adults and Youth
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