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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).
