Marriage rituals in maratha community an overview

The Maharashtrian Wedding Rituals follow the typical Hindu wedding rituals. Matchmaking in Maratha community is done within the community only. Once a girl or a boy becomes eligible for marriage, the parents start looking for the right choice among the people they know. The parents use marriage bureaus and matrimonial services to give advertisements for wide selection procedure. Horoscope plays a major role in deciding the match between the bride and groom. The stars should match in order to proceed further in the process.

Maharashtrian Weddings are performed in proper traditional way and all the rituals are performed by a priest. Each stage the wedding rituals are more of a homely affair than a stormy show.

Marathi bridal costume is very unique. The Maharashtrians believe that green is the auspicious color. So, the bride usually wear a green saree during the wedding ceremony. Also green glass bangles are worn by the bride.

As pre wedding rituals include Wang Nischay, Mahurat, Bangdi Bharan and Mehendi. Wang Nischay is the formal engagement ceremony. Bangdi Bharan is a unique ritual to maharastrian, where the bangle seller is called to the bride's home and he is offered edible leaves, a coconut and a coin. Though Mehendi is not a traditional maharastrian event it is becoming a part of the rituals now a days.

A day before the actual wedding, it is essential for the bride and groom to take sandal and turmeric bath individually at their houses.Turmeric is a very positive ingredient and it acts as a kind of beautifying and purifying process. In case, the muhurta is at the evening, then this will takes place in the morning of the actual wedding day.

When the wedding day approaches, the following rituals are performed viz., Ganesh Puja, Seeman Puja and Gowrihar Puja. Seeman Pooja is a very traditional practice in which the girl's parents welcoming the groom. As part of this even the bride's father and mother wash the feet of the groom. At this point, the bride's family may present the groom the gifts like the ring, watch, gold chain, etc.

Gouri-Har pooja is performed by the bride as the groom has his meal as a part of the Rukhvat ceremony. The bride worships the goddess Gauri.

Antarpaat ceremony is performed to separate the bride and groom until the actual moment of their marriage. The antarpaat served as a final curtain before they were revealed to each other.The bride and groom hold a garland, which they continue to hold throughout the ceremony. At the end of this ceremony the bride and groom exchange garlands. A traditional Marathi wedding involves the tying of the mangalasutra, the sacred necklace around the bride's neck by the groom. The wedding rituals end up with the Karmasamapti, the concluding ceremony. This is also followed by the akshata, where rice grains mixed with a little kumkum is sprinkled on the newly weds along with some specific mantras. The wedding is completed with an arathy.

Post wedding, a grand feast and reception takes place where the new couple serve sweets to the guests. Grihapravesh is a general hindu ritual in many communities which is followed by maratha community as welll. It involves to bring the newly wed to their new home where the mother of the groom welcomes them on the threshold of the house and washes their feet with water and milk followed by an Aarti.

The author is a Matrimony Research Analyst(MRA) in Arathy.com Matrimonials. http://www.arathy.com is one of the leading online matrimonial services provider in asia adding over 3000 profiles every month. It has brides and grooms from over 32 countries across the world. Register at www.arathy.com to view 1000s of brides and grooms.

This article was intitially published at http://arathymatrimony.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-marriages-happen-hindu-maratha.html