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South Indian Weddings in Andra Pradesh (Naidu Weddings)
Posted on 12, October 2022 05:41:25 PM
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Muhurtham is a ceremony wherein an auspicious period of the day is chosen for the marriage. It is mostly the period evening hours i.e.7-11 pm. The Telugu marriage rites are Hindu.
Pendlikoothuru
Pendlikoothuru takes place a day or two before the marriage. In this ceremony, the boy and the girl are smeared with oil and turmeric. They take bath and each wears new clothes. The girl wears a saree and the boy would wear a dhoti. Also, the girl is asked to wear flowers on her hair and bangles. All the assembled married women are presented with betel leaves, sweets, flowers, and bangles. This gifting is done to ensure the married ladies bless the to-be married girl and wishes her to become a part of their group.
Snathakam
Snathakam is an important ritual that takes place a few hours before the actual Muhurtham. It involves only the bridegroom as he has to wear a silver thread on his body.
Kashi Yatra
Kashi Yatra is a unique ceremony which has the boy saying at the end of the thread ceremony that he has discarded worldly pleasures and going to Kashi. This strange but very relevant ceremony is called "KashiYatra" or the journey to Kashi. To stop him from the symbolic departure to Kashi, the girl's brother requests him to stay on. For this, he also offers his sister in marriage.
Mangala Snaanam
Mangala Snaanam or the auspicious bath takes place on the wedding day, at dawn. This bath is taken by both the bride and the groom individually. Such a bath implies the purification of one's physical self before proceeding with the marriage rituals.
Aarti
The Aarti ceremony is peculiar to Indian marriages. It features in almost all marriages, and maybe in a different form everywhere. It has the family members applying the groom and the girl with oil and doing aarti around them. It is done for several reasons, one could be to safeguard the couple from bad planetary influences, bad omens, and other evils.
Gauri Pooja
After having the bath, the bride worships the goddess Gauri. Gauri is the Mother Durga who symbolizes divine power, energy, woman power, and fertility.
Ganesh Pooja
When the bride is performing the Gauri Puja, the groom at the same time performs the Ganesha puja. Ganesha puja is considered auspicious for any important occasion as it ensures the success of the work at hand.
Marriage Rituals
Kanyadaanam
The Telugu marriage ceremony is striking as well as fabulous. It has the girl's mama or the maternal uncle carrying the bride in a bamboo basket to the mandap (wedding place). The bride is usually dressed in a bright-colored saree and precious jewelry. As per custom, the girl would carry some betel leaves, betel nuts, a coconut, a sandalwood stick, and a red pumpkin. The marriage is held in such a manner that a curtain is placed between the bride and groom so that they do not see each other till the wedding is completed.
At the end of the marriage, the father and mother of the bride clean the boy's feet with water. In a way, it also means that the parents are blessing the daughter with a husband who is as good as God.
Madhuparkam
Madhuparkam would have the boy and the girl wearing a white dhoti and sari respectively, with a red border. The garments are of cotton.
Mangalasutra
The Mangalasutra is generally a golden chain with alternate black beads and chains. It is worn by married women in several communities in India. In the Telugu community, the groom ties the Mangalasutra around the neck of the bride with three knots.
Kanya Daan Akshata
At the end of the Mangalasutra ceremony, the couple put garlands around each other's necks. And all those assembled shower flower petals and rice. This is called Akshata, the offering of uncooked, turmeric-colored rice.
Sapthapadi: Seven Steps (Sapthapadi)
After the marriage, the ends of the garments of the bride and groom are tied together by the priest. The couple encircles the altar in seven steps as they take the seven marriage vows.
After the completion of the seven steps ceremony, they take their seats. The wife now takes her rightful place on the left side of her husband as the marriage is now religiously solemnized in its entirety. The husband garlands the wife and she, in turn, garlands her husband. After this, gruhapravesh, the bride going to the groom's house takes place.