{"id":6788,"date":"2021-11-30T07:47:12","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T07:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/a-hindu-wedding"},"modified":"2021-11-30T08:34:22","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T08:34:22","slug":"a-hindu-wedding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/a-hindu-wedding","title":{"rendered":"A Hindu Wedding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span>The band strikes up a tune. A crowd of several hundred people, gathered in front of a gaily-decorated house, jostles forward. From inside the house rises the melody of a chorus sung by women.<\/p>\n

A few minutes later emerges a young man, attired in a traditional manner. He wears tightly-fitting breeches and a buttoned-up flowing coat. For headgear he has a saffron-coloured turban, and in the right hand he carries a sword.<\/p>\n

His face is protected by a veil of gold lace. He is the bridegroom. And a Hindu marriage party is getting under way. For 300 million Hindus in India and abroad, a wedding is an event of great spiritual significance.<\/p>\n

Manu, the famous Hindu law-giver, decreed that \u201cmarried life is as essential for human beings as air is for all living things. \u201d The Hindu holy scriptures, the Vedas, describe marriage as the \u201cfulfilment of the will of Providence.<\/p>\n

\u201d Says one verse: \u201cO Human beings, as all rivers and rivulets attain stability and permanent shape after flowing into the ocean, so do we mortals become stable after entering into wedlock.<\/p>\n

\u201d Hindus believe that all marriages are made in Heaven and no one on earth can alter this predestined arrangement.<\/p>\n

About a week before the wedding, the bridgegroom\u2019s house is a carnival of merriment and gaiety. The womenfolk sing ceremonial songs to the beating of a small two-faced drum.<\/p>\n

On the wedding evening, the bridegroom is made to look more handsome. His brother\u2019s wife puts black antimony powder on his eyelids, while a sister makes up his eyebrows and eyelashes with kohl.<\/p>\n

Then there is the ceremony of tying a veil over his face \u2014 considered necessary to protect the groom from the \u201cevil eye\u201d. Shortly afterwards the marriage procession begins, in which the bridegroom rides a golden-caparisoned horse \u2014 always a mare because it represents the power of procreation.<\/p>\n

The mare must never be black, and a white one is preferred as this colour represents purity. As the groom begins to leave the house, his sisters pretend to hold back the mare by the reins until he has distributed presents to them.<\/p>\n

Beside the bridegroom a small boy, usually a nephew or a younger brother, rides on the horse as a symbolic bodyguard. Leading the marriage procession is a band, or a flute troupe, playing romantic tunes. The procession winds its way through streets and bazaars to the bride\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

In front of the house the marriage party is received with \u201crespect and humility\u201d by the bride\u2019s father and male relatives, while the priests hold aloft a tray of lighted candles and chant hymns, invoking God\u2019s blessings.<\/p>\n

This reception is the biggest event of the marriage celebrations. Trumpets blare and firecrackers raise a deafening din, while the bride\u2019s people shower flower petals and rosewater on the marriage party.<\/p>\n

Sometimes loudspeakers carry love songs and ceremonial music. As a good omen, the bride is shown this reception from a window so that \u201cher husband should live till she is old.<\/p>\n

\u201d Before his arrival, she has been adorned with jewels and silks and asked to keep to her room. There she sits surrounded by her friends in a merry mood. Her wedding presents are displayed in adjoining rooms.<\/p>\n

The older men of the bride\u2019s family offer money and presents to their opposite numbers in the groom\u2019s family. Then the groom is taken into the house. At the entrance, the bride greets him with a garland, and he gives her one in return.<\/p>\n

At the appointed hour before or after dinner the wedding rites begin, and they last from two to four hours. Around the holy fire sit the priest, the bride and bridegroom, and members of their families.<\/p>\n

The priest chants hymns and psalms and feeds the fire with ghee (purified butter) and rice. Occasionally the bride and bridegroom join him in these offerings.<\/p>\n

Four benedictional verses are recited while the bride and the bridegroom walk, separately, round the fire, in all seven times. Then both of them walk together seven steps round the fire.<\/p>\n

On the seventh step the marriage is legally complete. And the bridegroom ties the sacred thread in three knots round the bride\u2019s neck. They take a vow to \u201clive together in complete unison, as water from two different containers becomes united after mingling.<\/p>\n

\u201d The groom declares the bride to be the \u201cowner of my heart\u201d and undertakes to regard all other women as \u201cmy mothers, sisters or daughters\u201d.<\/p>\n

The bride in turn pledges to serve her husband and his family in \u201cweal and woe, glory and disaster. \u201d The next major event is \u201cdoli\u201d when the bride is taken to the groom\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

There his mother, accompanied by other women, receives the couple at the gate with a \u201cgarwi\u201d, a small round bronze utensil containing water, in her hand.<\/p>\n

She swings it seven times round their heads and then drinks some of the water. The other ladies sing songs of joy and welcome. Wedding customs vary somewhat in different parts of India.<\/p>\n

In several states, the bridal pair must play games \u2014 a ring or a golden bangle is thrown into a bucket full of milk-water and they each try to retrieve it first.<\/p>\n

In South India, the groom, after reaching the bride\u2019s house, puts on wooden sandals and an ascetic robe and pretends to go to Varanasi, a sacred Hindu city, in search of learning.<\/p>\n

He is met by the bride\u2019s brother who entreats him to given up this idea, as \u201cI will offer my sister as a present. \u201d After some assumed hesitation, the offer is accepted.<\/p>\n

Wedding songs are known for their feeling and joyfulness. Before the wedding, the womenfolk pray that the bride be full of beauty and virtue. Welcoming the bride, the groom\u2019s sisters raise their own songs, such as this one:<\/p>\n

\u201cDelicate is our sister-in-law and frolicsome our brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike legendary lovers do they look; what a wonderful couple they are!\u201d Until about a decade ago, marriage among Hindus was arranged by the parents. But now the Western idea of courtship is spreading among the educated classes. Hindu society is changing and so are the wedding customs.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. The band strikes up a tune. A crowd of several hundred people, gathered in front of a gaily-decorated house, jostles forward. From inside the house rises the melody of a chorus sung by women. A few minutes later emerges a young man, attired in a traditional manner. He wears tightly-fitting breeches and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":6787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,9,16],"tags":[233,245,241,538],"class_list":["post-6788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-mauritius","tag-people"],"yoast_head":"\nA Hindu Wedding - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The band strikes up a tune. 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