During one such journey, I had the chance to attend a Jain wedding. One thing that I learned about Jain wedding is that marriage is considered a worldly affair that increases human connection.
I have listed down some pre-wedding, wedding and post wedding rituals for you, so that you can too enhance your knowledge for the Jain wedding rituals.
Pre-Wedding Rituals of Jain Community
Wedding rituals of Jain community begins the day the alliance is fixed. Some of the pre-wedding rituals of this community include:
Khol Barana and Tikka
Once the marriage is fixed, the groom’s family and the bride’s family visit each other. The groom’s family carry a silver plated coconut and some cash to mark the beginning of a new relationship. This is called Khol Barana.The bride’s family also carries some gifts and cash to mark this beginning called as tikka.
Laghana Lekhan
This is a small puja that happens at the bride’s place to decide the date and time of the wedding ceremony or Laghana. This ceremony is termed as Laghana Lekhan.
Lagna Patrika Vachan
A formal letter is drafted conveying the date of marriage. This letter is sent from bride’s place to groom’s. The groom performs the Vinayakyantra Puja and the letter from the bride’s side is opened. The Pandit reads out aloud the date of marriage and congratulates everyone present in the room.
Sagai
Like almost every Hindu community, Jain community has a formal engagement ceremony where the bride and groom exchange wedding rings to mark their beginning.
Mehendi
A day or two before the wedding day, the bride’s hands and feet are adorned with elaborate and intricate designs with henna paste. This ceremony is also followed by Wedding Day Rituals
Wedding day in the Jain community begins with a lot of enthusiasm. Before the actual wedding takes place, there are a number of rituals that happens. They are:
Bana Betai: It is the ritualistic bath before the wedding. The bride and groom are rubbed with besan by the married women of their respective families. This is usually followed by a bath and the discarded clothes are given away.
Mada Mandap: A puja is performed by the Pandit, sanctifying the mandap or the spot where the wedding is to take place.
Thamba Prathistai and Kankanam Katusthathu: a vessel is placed before God and a puja is conducted by the priest where he prepares special sacred thread called Kankanam that is tied to the hands of the bride and the groom. After this, they can’t see each other till the wedding time.
Wedding Rituals
After all these rituals, the wedding day rituals begin. I was already mesmerized with so many rituals and was constantly looking forward to the wedding day. And it began with ghudhadi. In this ceremony the groom rides a horse with all the relative dancing and singing joyously. I was told that this is the baarat and will go to the bride’s place after seeking almighty’s blessings from a nearby temple.
We observe ghudchadi in a lot of Hindu communities.
Next is the Aarti, which happens when the groom and the baarat reaches the venue decided for the wedding. The groom is formally welcomed by the bride’s mother and other married female relatives who perform an Aarti and sing traditional wedding folk songs known as Mangal Geet.
Kanyavaran: The bride is welcomed to the mandap. The parents of the bride put one rupee and twenty five paisa along with some rice on the bride’s right palm. The hand of the bride is given to the groom and the father of the bride makes a public proclamation of his daughter being married to the groom.
After this, a few married women from the family tie the knot and make the couple ready for pheras. They are performed at an auspicious time decided by the priest in advance. The couple then circles around the holy fire to take the seven vows.
After the competition of pheras, the couple seeks blessings from elders and the bride then departs from her parental home. This ceremony is called Bidaai.Post-Wedding Rituals
Post Bidaai, the bride is welcomed to the groom’s place with some post wedding rituals. This ceremony is termed as Sva graha aagamana.Jina grahe dhan arpana
This ceremony is unique for Jain communities. In this ceremony, the couple visits a Jain temple along with their families and serve the poor there. It signifies as a way of expressing gratitude for successful completion of wedding rituals.Wedding Reception
Many Jain families arrange a reception for the couples so that they can seek blessings from the near and dear ones. This function also helps the bride to know groom’s family more closely.
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