Rituals that welcome a new bride

Wedding rituals continue to engage the family members in fun and merrymaking even after the wedding is over. Post-wedding, it is time to welcome the new bride to her family. It is most pious as the new bride is about to begin her newly married life now. To make her feel a part of the family and rather the most important one is the aim. Wedding Affair presents some rituals that make the bride feel welcome in her new home!

Vadhu Greh Pravesh

Amidst much merriment, the bride steps into her new life amidst much merriment. This ceremony instils the mainstays of a happy married life, namely tolerance, patience, love, selflessness, empathy and responsibility. The bride, an embodiment of Goddess Lakshmi, is said to carry news rays of positivity, love and affection along in her stride. The Rajasthanis welcome the newlyweds with an aarti and playful games figurative of eternal togetherness. According to Punjabi customs, a Kalash (pot) brimming with rice gets a place at the scaffolding of the entrance door.  According to the Vedas, the Kalash symbolises prosperity and wealth. The bride then kicks this Kalash, representing the emergence of wealth and steps forth into the house with her right foot along with her groom.

Sargunthi Shringar

Post the welcome, a Marwari bride is made to sit down surrounded by married women. The nanad (husband’s sister), then combs the bride’s hair (Sarghunthi) with much love with moli (sacred red thread). By applying sindoor (vermillion) among other shringar (ornamentation), she gets the bride ready thereby strengthening the sisterly bond between the two important women to a man. Pooja to seek holy blessings from the almighty for the new member in the family also takes place. The bride gets blessings with several gifts and money amongst various religions during this ritual. In Rajasthan, Sargunthi is followed by Suhaag Thali, wherein the bride is served with auspicious preparations of rice, moong dal (whole lentils), sweets and ghee.

Mooh Dikhai

The term Mooh Dikhai literally converts to ‘unveiling the face’. Once all the holy customs of acknowledging the bride’s status as a new family member have been observes. The bride gets ornaments of solah shringar by either the groom’s sister or other women. And she covers herself in a veil. Those who wish to bless the bride arrive in turns. In a room filled with laughter and joy, they lift the veil, only to smile at the new member and bestow her with love, gifts, jewellery and clothes. This ritual is popular across India with varied names and is indeed one of the most happiest ceremonies that mark the end of the wedding period. In some religions, the bride prepares a dessert the next morning to score her new beginnings as a wife, a daughter-in-law and a sister-in-law.

Wedding Games

Several wedding games, surrounded by traditional songs and laughter act as ice-breakers for the new couple. Rajasthani bride and groom need to collect plates filled with papdi (semolina fritters) from the floor and assemble into a pile without the papdi cracking. Successful completion of this ritual with no cracked-papdi is a comical depiction of her calm nature and a blissful married life. One of the most popular wedding games also across India is the Kangna or Jua. It is the same Kangna or holy thread with evil-warding charms that come with seven knots around the wrist of the bride and groom each during the pre-wedding rituals. To perform this ritual, a ring is hidden in a paraant (large shallow plate) or a matka (round earthen pot). They also fill it with raw milk, betel nuts, grass, flower petals and much more making the solution opaque

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