Marathi Matrimony - A Celebration Of Culture And Tradition

By Author: Ankush Singhal
Total Articles: 173
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The wedding celebrations of the Marathi people are simple, joined by relatives and close family friends in the weddings. Most of the population in Maharashtra is Hindus and falls under different caste following the Hindu Varna system. The Marathi Matrimony rituals differ among different community, yet there are some common rituals across all groups of Hindus in the state.

The bride and the groom match is an important ritual in the Hindu Marathi Matrimony. The rural part of the state has an interesting ceremony, Lagnaach Bedi. In this ritual, the elders organize a formal meeting between the boy and girl and it is left to them to select each other. If they like each other, the family elders match the horoscopes and other related things. In the Brahmin community of Maharashtra, they also believe in the concept of ‘Guna Milan’. It is believed that matching more than 16 gunas is auspicious for the couple’s married life. Elders of the family choose an auspicious date and time for the marriage ceremony in the ‘Baithak’.

The engagement ceremony in Marathi Matrimony ...
... is an important ritual before the actual day of wedding. Sakharpuda, as it is known in Marathi language, is generally organized a few days prior to the wedding. The bride receives gifts like saris from the groom’s parents, and it symbolizes welcoming the bride into new family. It is a tradition in the Marathi matrimony to wear green glass bangles by the bride. She also receives a pack of sugar candies, which symbolizes sweetness in married life.

Wedding is a special occasion for every household. The house of the bride and grooms are cleaned and painted. In Marathi Matrimony the traditional decoration of the house with marigold flowers and mango leaves on the main entrance and doors are necessary. The house is also decorated with fresh flowers of the season apart from colorful light bulbs.

Another pre-wedding ritual in Marathi Matrimony is the feast, Kelvan organized in bride and groom house separately. Both sides serve traditional Marathi cuisine and sweets.

Wedding Day Rituals in Marathi Matrimony:

Wedding generally happens in the evening. Worshipping the family deity before the wedding starts is an important part of the Marathi Hindu custom. All the families have their family deity that is worshipped by their ancestors. There is also a small puja for the ancestors, where clothes, flowers and sweets are offered.

In the ‘Haldi’ ceremony, the bride and groom are applied a paste of cream, sandalwood and turmeric on the face and body. This is a fun-filled ritual where women of the house take turns in applying the turmeric paste. A ceremonial bath follows the Haldi ceremony.

The ritual of Saptapadi or seven steps in Marathi Matrimony is a very meaningful one and is different from other culture weddings. In this ritual, rice heaps are arranged in small heaps with a betel nut on top, and the groom and bride puts feet on the rice and breaks the heaps. After completing the seven steps, they throw grains in the holy fire.

Some of the main wedding rituals in Marathi Matrimony are Seemant Puja, Vraprasthana, Rukhvat, Gowrihar Pooja, Mangalashtakas, Kanyadan, Lajahoma, Saptapadi and Lakshmi Poojan.

Post-Wedding Rituals in Marathi Matrimony:

The Grihapravesh is a post-wedding ritual in Marathi Matrimony. This happens once the bride reaches the groom’s house. In the evening a grand feast is organized in the groom’s house and bride’s side also attend this feast. The food is mostly Maharashtrian delicacies like puri baji, masala bhat, bhasundi, shrikhand and bhajiyas. There are many wedding functions where non-vegetarian food is served. Typical non-vegetarian items are mutton biryani or mutton-vade.

Shipra writes on behalf of Jeevansathi.com, which is India’s fastest growing matrimonial website. Jeevansathi.com helps the users to search corresponding matches from their respective community like Maratha matrimony, Hindu Matrimonial from their online matrimonial and matchmaking services.