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| Bengali Bride And Groom Picture Source : Google Image |
"May all the divine powers together with the waters join our two hearts into one. May the messenger, the creator, holy obedience unite us." - Rig Veda x, 85, 47
I am starting a new blog post series called “A Simple Bong ( aka Bengali) Wedding” from today. I would write about customs and traditions of Bengali marriage. All of you already know that I am getting married on 1 August 2013 so, I am learning about all the rituals from my mother and other married people. Most of the rituals are interesting as well as fun and some of them are really weird.
Bengali weddings are not just one-day affair. It
takes minimum 3 days to solemnize a Bengali marriage.
In this first post, I am writing about “Invitation Cards”. We received our invitation cards to invite our guests
/ relatives yesterday. Before giving this card to anyone,
we now need to dip turmeric and vermilion into mustard oil or any other oil
and then we have to paste them separately in the top left corner of the
invitation card. Like in the picture below:
I did not know why we do this so, I asked my mom and she said, “In Hindu religion turmeric is a sign of purity. Moreover,Hindu Marriage and vermilion is inseparable as Indian married women mark their forehead with vermilion aka sindoor." Every married Indian women put vermilion on their forehead after taking bath everyday and pray for the long life of their husband. Vermilion is also kind of informing society that this woman is taken.
I did not know why we do this so, I asked my mom and she said, “In Hindu religion turmeric is a sign of purity. Moreover,Hindu Marriage and vermilion is inseparable as Indian married women mark their forehead with vermilion aka sindoor." Every married Indian women put vermilion on their forehead after taking bath everyday and pray for the long life of their husband. Vermilion is also kind of informing society that this woman is taken.
After putting vermilion and turmeric dots on card we then offer first invitation
card to all our Hindu Gods and request them to come and bless the bride and
groom. Then the parents of the Bride and Groom visit the houses of their relatives , friends and acquaintances to Invite them for the D- Day personally with the invitation card.
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| My Wedding Card |
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| Details of Bride , Groom And Their Parents |
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| Turmeric and Vermilion at the top left corner on the Envelop |
Just like my wedding I would keep this post short and simple. I would come back soon with another interesting post on Bengali marriage rituals.
Read more about "Bengalis" (Here).
I should firstly qualify that I'm not a `wedding person', but after several months in Mumbai - & seeing a number of weddings - I was quite struck by the extravagance of the events, & by inference the expenditure of same.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if any of these were `Bengali' weddings,but they were certainly not `short & simple'.
I wish you & your future husband all the very best.
Cheers, ic
haha I can only promise you short posts in my blog not a short Bengali marriage :-D
DeleteThanks for your good wishes ! :)
Love,
Shainee
apieceofshe.blogspot.com
So lovely and informative post , your wedding card is just fab :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much , Madam Aunty ! :)
DeleteLove,
Shainee
apieceofshe.blogspot.com
I see quite a lot of Bengali weddings in my area and it always amazes me just how long the whole wedding lasts, how much they must cost and the amount of people that attend. The whole street comes alive as they put up a canape of lights around their front doors and everyone looks so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI also received an invitation to a wedding, and it was the most beautiful invitation I had ever seen. It was made abroad and even had a wonderful perfume smell. I've kept that invite as it's just to good to throw away.
Yeah true thats how Bengali weddings are and their invitation card sounds fab ! Thanks for reading my post :)
DeleteLove,
Shainee
apieceofshe.blogspot.com
If you're going to get married, sounds like the right way to do it. With lots of joy, conviviality and pomp and circumstance.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your support :)
DeleteLove,
Shainee
apieceofshe.blogspot.com
Thank you , Nikki! Even I didnt know about turmeric and vermilion. So happy to see you back ! :)
ReplyDeleteLove,
Shainee
apieceofshe.blogspot.com
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! I love learning about different cultures, and can't wait to read about your wedding plans.
ReplyDeleteI also nominated you for a Liebster Award
http://imnotlookingback.blogspot.com/2013/05/liebster-award.html
thank you so much Jenny for the award and for reading my post :)
DeleteLove,
Shainee
apieceofshe.blogspot.com
New follower here.I look forward to your future posts and I Hope i can see you back at either one of my blogs.
ReplyDeleteLibertad
twinjabookreviews.blogspot.com
yamulticulturaljunkie.wordpress.com
Thanks for stopping by !
DeleteLove,
Shainee
apieceofshe.blogspot.com
I love Indian weddings, I have quite a few Indian friends so I was lucky enough to see a couple close up :)
ReplyDeleteAhhh! Please come and join us too :) Thanks for reading my post :)
DeleteLove,
Shainee
apieceofshe.blogspot.com
Lovely! Congrats for the up coming wedding and have fun with all the rituals.
ReplyDeleteThank you , Yun Yi ! :)
DeleteNice post to start with, we look forward to have some more :-)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteNice post with beautiful wedding cards. your post is really very interesting to read.very informative post.I am having the best way to make wedding meeting or conference meeting with various best hotels option. you can check it out here. Weedings in india
ReplyDelete