Punjabi Wedding Rituals And Traditions

Punjabi Wedding Rituals

With music and dance that leaves you wanting more and more. The young and the old both taking part in the song and dance side by side. The women all dolled up in the most beautiful Lehanga cholis and the most expensive and heavily embroidered sarees, and the men looking very important in sherwaanis and designer suits. You can only find all these in the land of the Punjabi’s. Matchfinder a matrimony site ensures more of this celebrations.

 

The Punjabi are known as fun loving people but that is because they appreciate and have stuck to their culture that is both so colorful and full of love. They are warm and friendly in their demeanor and there isn’t a place this is shown better than at their weddings.

This article aims to take your hand and walk with you through the different stages that make up a Punjabi wedding.

Pre-wedding ceremonies

The long journey that will culminate into the wedding starts on two low key events. The bride’s family visits the family of the groom with lots of gifts. The bride is usually not in attendance during this visit that is otherwise known as the Roka or Rokna.

The groom’s family will then pay a visit to the bride’s family in a return visit that is known as Thaka. And just like the bride’s family did they will also carry gifts to the home of the bride.in this particular ceremony both the bride and the groom will be made to sit together and they are showered with gifts known as Shagun or Sagan at the same time they are fed laddu.

 The gifts taken usually range from dried fruits, jewelries, money, sweets and savories and this is where the journey of their marriage is consecrated.

Chunni ceremony

This is the official engagement ceremony. What happens is that the groom’s family pays a visit to the bride’s family with gifts and the bride is gifted with a red coloured outfit like a Lehanga-choli and an headscarf known as Chunni.

Jewelries, traditional sweets and henna are some of the gifts that the mother of the groom gives her daughter in law to be on this day. The bride is then covered in a Dupatta and her hands are dyed with the henna and the bangles slipped on them.

The groom’s father puts Meva into a Jholi which is the bride’s bag and the bride at this point is also given date fruits to eat.

There is then the saga ceremony where the bride and the groom exchange rings in the presence of their close friends.

Other ceremonies before the wedding

There is the Mehendi ceremony where intricate designs are applied on the hands and the feet of the bride. On the same evening there is the ladies’ sangeet where the brides close friends sing and dance together.

On the morning of the wedding the first ceremony that is performed is the Kangna Bandhana. This is a ceremony where a sacred thread called the Mouli is tied on the hands of the bride and the groom. After the Kangna Bandhana there is the Chooda Chadhana where the elderly male relatives sit around a sacred fire. The maternal uncle of the bride and his wife gift the bride with 21 bangles in different colours.

The sisters and the friends of the bride then tie red coloured umbrella shaped figures called Kalide to the Chooda of the bride. This is followed by the Haldi ceremony where the bride is sat down facing four lamps. After this comes the Ghara Ghandoli where she is accompanied by her siblings and close friends where a pitcher full of holy water is poured on her.

The groom then stands in front of the family deities and the priest performs a small ceremony called the puja.

Wedding rituals

The wedding starts off with the arrival of the groom in a ceremony called the Agwaani and Milni. The bride is then welcomed by the mother of the bride. Then comes the time that the groom walks to an elevated stand and the bride walks in. this particular ceremony is called Varmala and is filled with a lot of fun.

After the exchange of the garlands the bride and the groom sit down around a sacred fire the bride then gives the groom water in a small bowl, who then sprinkles this water on his feet, his body and then drinks the rest. This ceremony is called the Madhuperk.

The most symbolic and touching ceremony is the Kanyadaan where the father of the bride hands over the bride to the groom and requests him to take very good care of her.

 There are many other ceremonies that take place during and after the wedding including; the Lajahom, Sindoor Daan, Joota Chupai, Vidaai, Pani Bharna, Mooh Dikhai Ki Rasm and the grand reception party.

Match finder a matrimony site happens to be one of the best places to start the journey into this very interesting wedding ceremony.