Thursday 12 March 2015

#15 Christian Wedding Dresses.

Pic by Zaitara.com

Christians have a culture especially related with religion. It was St. Thomas the Apostle who came centuries ago and converted the Hindus to Christians. In Christian view every marriages are the unity with Jesus Christ and marriage is a holy sacrament. Christianity encourages and supports marriages and it’s inevitable for generations to come. As Christian marriages takes much importance in all Christian communities , these marriages are colorful and attractive. The attire of bride and groom would be different from one to another, because there are so many denominations in Christianity and each community prefers the marriage dresses as per the typical interest of their own dress concept. In Kerala, a majority of every Christians prefers wearing Dhoti and full sleeve shirt for grooms and bride prefer to wear Saree. The preferred color is white and there is a common belief that the color white is the best for every Christian ceremonies.  Anyway, the Christians other than India prefer to wear suit and coat for marriage occasions and bride’s favorite attire is white gown. The suit and coat is perhaps the reflection of Anglican culture, but in India these practices are follows in many Christian communities. It has to special mention about Anglo Indians that they always prefer to wear suit and coat for groom and bride’s attire would have white gown. The Anglo Indians are very special with adopting the Anglican culture in every aspect especially for marriages. The Christians in England, America and Europe have certain additional attractions like accompanying children with bride at marriages and in this auspicious occasion the children also have to wear special marriage dresses. For this sweet visual treat they also prefer to wear coat and suit, besides holds flowers and bouquets. While revealing about Kerala Christians marriage function, nowadays Jubah and veshti, shervani etc are also seems as groom’s  wear clothing. Perhaps, the dress code restriction have seen only in Christians. The Christian wedding dress and the colorful festivities of marriage functions are very special and attractive in every aspect. It has everything, and the Christian marriages are complete only with the attire and dress code for wedding and the Christian bride and groom are keen to select suitable marriage clothings.

#14 Gowda Saraswatha Brahmin wedding


The Konkannis or Goda Saraswatha Brahmins are a very special community with their own traditional activities. They are also a higher caste and they follows a very ancient traditional heritage. They speaks Konkanni. It has no basic strength as a language and Konkanni can only speak , but not with writing as it has no basic linguistic format (lipi). Gowda Saraswatha Brahmins are believed to be come from Goa and they’re very orthodox in every aspect. They have stringent restrictions in religious activities. They have their particular residential areas like the ‘agraharas’ of Brahmins. The Gowda  Saraswatha Brahmins are god fearing and the majority keeps the ethics and manners. In the Gowda Saraswatha Community, marriage will not allow within the same Gothra and it’s to avoid impure matrimony. The Gothras in Gowda Saraswatha Brahmins are Naik, Kini, Prabhu, Pai, Kammath,Shenoy,Hegde, Mallya,Kilkar etc. The marriages in the same gothra would not be acceptable. In Gowda Saraswatha Brahmins, they believe wedding is the beginning of house hold duties. The maternal uncle of the bride has certain responsibilities. The bride is ceremoniously led by him to the marriage hall. The marriage rituals are in traditional way and they have stringent marriage related activities to follow. The bride and something with mill stone is part of Gowda Saraswatha Brahmin wedding. The marriage rituals of Gowda Saraswatha Brahmin has believed to be the ancestry over 5000 years. Panigrahan and Saptapadi are very important traditional wedding rite of Gowda Saraswatha Brahmin. The wedding reception is not so common  and marriage receptions are the latest trend in Gowda Saraswatha Brahmin weddings. There are so many traditional rituals and are to follow in Gowda Saraswatha Brahmin marriages. They have deep rooted orthodox wedding rituals. Tying the wedding knot is very important and it has a history of long ago, perhaps to BC 3000. The seven steps of Gowda Saraswatha Brahmin marriages are to follow compulsory. Now, the Gowda saraswatha Brahmins are spreading all over the world. But wherever they may be their wedding customs are the same and there is no change in marriage rituals and customs. The US based Gowda Saraswatha Brahmins are also follows the traditional wedding rituals, there is no change in their orthodox and ancestral tradition of wedding methods. The Gowda Saraswatha Brahmin weddings are happening in united nations, but the tradition continues even beyond seven seas.

#13 Hindu wedding : Vivaha



In the marriage concept, the Hindu marriage takes a relevant part as Hindu the most ancient cultural heritage of the world. Yes, Hindu marriage is really very special. It has very colorful activities and also there are so many festivities. There are 8 (eight) types of marriage in Hindu. The common are Brahma and Daiva concept of marriages. The sacred fire (fire deity) plays an important role in real Hindu marriages. It has everything that you would prefer from a colorful marriage. In Hindu marriages, there would be pre wedding and post wedding rituals. But, as per the change of Hindu castes and sub castes, the rituals and celebrations also vary. Some Hindu marriages only need a day, but some other Hindu marriages take multi day events. Engagement is the pre wedding ceremony. It involves vagdana (promise) or betrothal or lagna- pathra(written declaration) and arrival of the groom’s party at the brides residence. Often, there will be held dancing and music with Hindu marriages. A Hindu wedding is regionally called Vivaha. Sacred fire or fire deity is the primary witness of Hindu marriage. Some Vedic yajna rituals are also in use for Hindu marriages. The Hindu marriages depend on traditional rites. The Sanskrit mantra plays an important role in Hindu marriages. There are very special Sanskrit mantras especially for Hindu marriages. Hinduism encourages marriages. It proclaims every male/ female, who’re able should marry and it’s very essential for generations to come. Marriage is a sacrament in Hinduism and it has very relevance in every aspect. There are so many very interesting activities with Hindu marriages. The bride and groom will be in neat dress, most probably in traditional dress code like bride in saree and groom in veshty and shirt. Brahma and daiva, are the most happening Hindu marriage concept of India. The Hindu marriages are within the control of a priest and he is the ultimate authority to fulfill the dream wedding. All Hindu marriages are the live symbols of Indian tradition and heritage. It ensures a lot of joy and rejoices to all participants. In every aspect, the Hindu marriage and the diversities are really special with rituals and ceremonial activities.

Monday 9 March 2015

Nikah -Muslim marriage #12


 
 The Muslim wedding has another identity as “Nikah” and it’s an Urdu word. The common word Nikah for Muslim wedding is well known all over the world. The ceremonies and rituals are not in same everywhere, because the regions, sects, customs of the people are different. The people involved in the particular Muslim wedding shows their own wedding rituals. There are so many rituals and activities related with Muslim marriages and such as pre wedding and wedding and post wedding rituals. The pre wedding ritual is Istikhara and it takes much importance in Muslim wedding. It’s a request and prays to lord Allah. The combination of Muslim wedding priests jointly requests and prays to Allah for permission to marriage. The wedding ceremony begins after Istikhara. The wedding ritual starts only after getting the consent and blessings from Allah. The Maulvi or main priest is the authorized person for every marriage. Without the sanctioning of Maulvi, there would be no Muslim marriage happens. The Nikah is very valuable and it takes much prominence with the ultimate power to become men and women as couples. After performing the Nikah ceremony, the men and women gets approval to live together as husband and wife. The mangni is the engagement before Muslim wedding. But it’s not licensed for living together as husband and wife. Only after Nikah, the wedding ceremony the bride and groom gets the eligibility to lead a life as husband and wife. The dowry system is not permissible in Islam. The demanding and accepting dowry is an offense in every aspect. The Dowry system is un-Islamic. There would be pre wedding rituals, wedding rituals and post wedding rituals. Mehendi ceremony is the first among Muslim wedding. It’ll be held at the home of the bride. The mehendi ceremony usually held in the evening of the wedding ceremony or a couple of days before wedding ceremony. It’s the right of the female relative of the bride to paste mehendi. The hands and feet of the bride would have pasted with mehendi. The mehendi ceremony spreads a festive feel everywhere in the bride’s home. Until the marriage, the bride is not permitted to go out of the home and she’ll be kept inside home till the wedding ceremony.
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