Maharashtrian Wedding Customs: Celebrating Love and Tradition

Maharashtrian Marriage Customs

Maharashtrian Wedding Pre-wedding Customs

Maharashtrian Wedding Customs begins with a series of captivating pre-wedding customs that pave the way for the grand wedding ceremony. These customs included:

1. Roka – The Sacred Alliance
   The Roka ceremony marks the official announcement of the marriage alliance. Families of the bride and groom come together to exchange blessings and gifts, symbolizing their approval of the union. This joyous occasion is characterized by the exchange of rings, symbolizing the everlasting bond between the couple.
2. Sakhar Puda – A Token of Sweetness
   In the Sakhar Puda ceremony, the groom’s family gifts the bride with a saree and a packet of sugar as a symbol of their acceptance and love. The sweetness of the sugar symbolizes the beginning of a joyful and harmonious relationship between the families.
3. Haldi – The Golden Glow
   The Haldi ceremony is a joyous occasion where turmeric paste is applied to the bride and groom’s skin. Turmeric is believed to bring a natural glowing and cleanse the body, preparing the couple for their big day.
4. Kelvan – Seeking Blessings
   The Kelvan ceremony includes a special puja where the couple seeks blessings from the family deity. It is an intimate gathering of close relations who offer their prayers for the couple’s happiness and prosperity.
5. Mehndi – Artistry of Love
   The Mehndi ceremony is a vibrant and artistic celebration where intriguing henna designs are applied to the bride’s hands and feet. It symbolizes love, beauty, and the couple’s everlasting bond.
6. Sangeet – A Night of Melodies
   The Sangeet ceremony is an evening filled with music, dancing, and celebration. Family and friends come together to perform traditional and modern dances, expressing their joy and enthusiasm for the upcoming wedding. The Maharashtrian wedding ceremony is a grand affair filled with age-old traditions and rituals that tie the couple in holy matrimony. Let’s dive into the enchanting customs that make a Maharashtrian wedding truly special:
7. Seemanpujan – Welcoming the Groom
   The Seemanpujan ceremony takes place at the entrance of the wedding venue, where the bride’s mother welcomes the groom by performing an aarti and applying a tilak on his forehead. This ritual symbolizes the groom’s formal acceptance into the bride’s family.
8. Antarpat – Veiling the Groom
   During the Antrapat ceremony, a silk cloth is held between the bride and groom, separating them from each other’s sight. As Vedic mantras are chanted, the cloth is lowered, and the couple finally lays eyes on each other, ready to embark on their journey together.
9. Saptapadi – Seven Steps to Togetherness
   The Saptapadi ceremony is the most significant ritual of a Maharashtrian wedding. The couple takes seven symbolic steps around the sacred fire, each step signifying a vow they make to maintain love, trust, and mutual respect in their married life.
10. Karmasampati – Seeking Ancestors’ Blessings
    In the Karsampati ritual, the couple seeks blessings from their ancestors and asks for their guidance and support in their married life.
11. Mangalsutra and Sindhur – The Sacred Symbols
    The groom adorns the bride with a Mangalsutra, a holy necklace symbolizing their marital bond. Additionally, he applies a red vermilion (Sindhur) to the bride’s hair parting, signifying her marital status.
12. Vidaai
    The Vidaai ceremony is a tearful goodbye where the bride leaves her parental home to start a new life with her husband. It is an emotional moment for both the families.

Post Wedding Customs

After the wedding ceremony, Maharashtrian weddings continue with several pleasant post-wedding customs that strengthen familial bonds and add joy to the couple’s new journey:

1. Grihapravesh – Stepping into a New Home
   The Griha Pravesh ritual involves welcoming the groom formally into her new home. She is welcomed with a traditional aarti and is expected to kick a vessel of rice before entering the house. This ritual is believed to bring abundance and prosperity to the household.
2. Mooh Dikhai – Uniting the Families
   Mooh Dikhai is an enduring tradition where the bride reveals her face to her in-laws and seeks their blessings. She is given presents and showered with love, symbolizing her acceptance into the new family.
3. Reception – Celebrating Love
   The wedding reception is a grand celebration where extended family and friends join in the celebrations. It is an occasion to introduce the newlyweds to the extended community and shower them with love and blessings.
4. Aeki Beki – Fun and Games
   Aeki Beki is a light-hearted post-wedding game that adds a touch of fun and laughter to the festivities. The pair competes in a game where they try to find a ring hidden in a bowl of colored water and milk. The winner is considered to be the dominant partner in the marriage.

Things You Will See In A Marathi Wedding

Whereas all Indian weddings share common cultural and ritualistic nuances, there are certain aspects that set Marathi weddings apart. Here are few things you will only see at a Marathi wedding:

1. The Wedding Invitation
   In a Marathi marriage, the first invitation is always offered to Lord Ganesha for his blessings. It is an integral part of the Marathi marriage traditions. And only after this is done, the other invite cards are sent out.
2. Deep-rooted Cultural Practices
   One thing that’s synonymous with all Maharashtrian weddings is the significance of specific rituals and traditions that have been passed down from one generation to another. And even if the weddings are luxurious and exuberantly decorated, Marathi weddings are rooted in simple customs, marked by sweet, soulful interactions amongst close friends and family.
3. The Groom’s Outfit
   The traditional apparel for a Maharashtrian groom is an off-white, cream or beige kurta paired with a white kanche or dhoti with a thin border. Every groom also doesns a red or gold-coloured stole around his shoulders which is paired with a Gandhi-style hat or a turban known as pheta.
4. The Bride’s Outfit
   The traditional Maharashtrian bride wears the most colorful silk sarees with exquisite gold boundaries. The saree is generally draped in a Marathi Dhoti style, with some popular color combinations including yellow, orange, violet and green. There are two types of sarees worn at a Marathi wedding- a six-yard Paithani or a nine-yard Navari. For jewelry, the bride wears green glass bangles which are generally paired with pearl or gold kangans, a Thusi which is a traditional necklace, Marathi armlets and a moon-shaped bindi, all complete with the Mangalsutra.
5. The Mundavalya
   The one element that truly sets a Marathi wedding apart is the Mundavalya. It is a traditional head ornament that is consisted of thin strings of flowers, beads or pearls that are worn across the forehead and down the sides of the face by the bride and the groom.

Conclusion:

Maharashtrian Wedding Customs offers a pleasant blend of tradition, love, and joy. Each ritual is steeped in cultural importance, making a Maharashtrian wedding a memorable and enriching experience for all involved.