It is extremely interesting to note the wedding rituals from around the world. Each of these eclectic rituals are unique to each country’s tradition and culture. Have a look at some of the interesting cultures from around the world:
In Jamaician villages, people stand outside on the streets to look at the bride. She has to look beautiful and decked in the most attractive manner or she will be scorned.
In Japan, the bride has to be painted white from top to toe to show her devotion to her husband’s family. The white color on her person shows that she will be a dutiful and obedient wife and daughter-in-law.
It would be interesting to note how the Germans perceive weddings. As soon as a girl is born, the family plants several trees in her name. By the time the girl matures, these trees are grown and sold. The proceeds of the sold trees are then used to finance her wedding.
The Indian wedding too is resplendent with rituals; however for the sake of brevity, many of them are condensed. Even so, many rituals cannot be cut out. They form the heart and soul of any Indian wedding. One of the most common things that are ostensibly visible at any Hindu wedding is the lighting of the Vedic fire. The couple holds hands and walk around the ceremonial fire.While the bride leads the groom 3 times, from the 4th onwards, it is the duty of the bride to follow the groom while he leads the way. These rounds symbolize food, strength, prosperity, wisdom, progeny, health and the last one for friendship. In certain regions, the bride and the groom does not have to walk the 7 rounds, instead the bride touches nuts with her right toe. Of course, the rituals and ceremonies vary from culture to culture and state to state, and of course, there are many similartities too.
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Indian Weddings according to different States
A look at the wedding ceremonies of a few Indian states.
In Bengal, the female relatives of the bride’s family rise early, do the necessary rituals consisting of aarti with sweets and incense and invite the River Ganges for the wedding. It is believed that if Mother Ganges blesses the couple, the Indian wedding would be auspicious.
The South Indian weddings showcase interesting games to test the couple’s perseverance in living together. An interesting ritual is where the groom takes the bride out in the night and shows her the “Arundhati” star. Interestingly, Arundhati is the chaste wife of Sage Vashishta and seeing her on her wedding night is very auspicious indeed.
There are some light games as well. The bride and groom are assigned a pot of colored water and a ring will be dropped into it. They have to the find the ring; this joint effort will be a great ice-breaker for the couple who are just getting to know each other.