Rebirth of India: Superior

As mentioned before, getting married in India is an extremely troublesome thing. I believe that everyone can imagine how complicated the wedding ceremony is just by looking at Shakru's engagement ceremony. ∈♦

The first thing to do is the yellow letter ceremony, which is actually the engagement date. This date must be set by the woman, because in India, the woman is the one who pays the dowry, so it is in line with the principle that whoever pays has the final say. Although Shakru is not short of the money for Amisha's dowry, this custom must still be followed.

According to the process, the woman, that is, the Patera family, set the wedding date of September 9, 1999, and then sent it to Shakru in the form of a letter, and painted turmeric or gold on the outside of the envelope, because in India gold symbolizes auspiciousness and the joy of spring. Of course, this is also the origin of the yellow letter ceremony. Letters painted with gold are referred to as yellow letters.

Normally, this special yellow letter is sent to the man's home by the woman's bribery or by a postman. For an old family like Patera, a postman is directly sent to Shakru as soon as the yellow letter is ready.

According to custom, the man should organize people to sing and dance to celebrate after receiving the letter, and then the priest will open the envelope and read the wedding date on the letter. Shakru has naturally prepared a large number of professional singers and dancers, and the work of opening the letter is personally done by the Shakri priest. In fact, the wedding date can be negotiated. If the man does not agree with the date proposed by the woman, he can set another one and then notify the woman, but Shakru will naturally not do such a thing.

After the yellow letter ceremony, there is the rope tying ceremony. This ceremony is held fifteen days before the wedding. The priests choose an auspicious day to worship Lord Ganesha. This is to ask Lord Ganesha for the smooth completion of the marriage. During this prayer ceremony, the priests will tie a rope on the groom's wrist (this is also the origin of the name of the ceremony). From this day to the wedding day, the groom must worship Lord Ganesha every day. This ceremony is naturally presided over by the Shaktism priest, and it is held on the third day after the yellow letter ceremony.

After the rope-tying ceremony, the turmeric rubbing ceremony is held. This ceremony is held seven days before the wedding. Every day, the bride and groom who are about to get married mustard oil are wiped (the origin of the name of the ceremony). The rubbing is mostly singers, mothers, sisters-in-law or other married women. Mukesh's wife is responsible for wiping Shakru, and Amisha's sister-in-law is responsible for it.

This ceremony requires the bride and groom to wipe their hands, feet, legs, chests, etc., especially on the morning of the wedding day. It is said that this is done to make the body beautiful and to increase the body's virginity. However, Shakru obviously does not think so. Instead, he feels that there is no virginity after wiping...

During the wiping process, the bride and groom must hold a knife in their hands. It is said that such iron objects can help drive away the devil. Obviously, this is a tradition from the time when iron objects were not popular. At the same time, both men and women must tie a bracelet on their hands, which is strung with small shells, betel nuts, iron rings and turmeric to symbolize the auspiciousness of marriage and to drive away ghosts and evil spirits.

For these procedures, Shakru is fine, but there is one thing that he really can't stand, that is, from the day of the turmeric wiping ceremony, single men and women who are about to get married are not allowed to go out alone, so as not to encounter ghosts and evil spirits and suffer misfortune. This really made him feel suffocated, but Mukesh watched him personally, so he couldn't go out, so he had to stay at home to handle work.

Compared with Shakru, the rituals in Amisa are more complicated and cumbersome, with many more rituals that the man does not have. The first is the Pad ceremony, which is actually a ceremony to help with the fun. On the day of this ceremony, the uncles and mothers-in-law will come to their niece's house with gifts. The gifts they bring include clothes and shoes for the niece who is about to get married, clothes and headscarves for the niece's parents, uncles, and uncles, and some will also bring some rice, candy, jewelry and cash.

In addition, some bright saris, bracelets, anklets and other accessories are specially given to the niece who is about to get married. Through this ceremony, the uncles help with the wedding on the one hand, and help maintain harmonious relations on the other hand.

Originally, this ritual to help with the fun is dispensable, but for a large family like Patera, this good opportunity to deepen the relationship between relatives will naturally not be missed, especially since Amisa is married to a young talent like Shakru who has both wealth and status, so these relatives will naturally not miss this opportunity to please.

Then there is the Mehendi ceremony on the night before the wedding. On this night, married women from the bride's relatives and friends will gather at the bride's home and use green powder ground from plant leaves to draw various patterns on the bride's hands and feet. This pattern is called Mehendi. Sometimes naughty bride companions will turn the bride's hand painting into a game, hiding the groom's name in the bride's hand-painted patterns. Only when the groom finds his own name in these patterns can he start his sweet wedding night.

After the Mehendi ceremony, there is the Women's Music Night ceremony, which is actually a relaxing music party held by these women after drawing the perfect Mehendi, a bit like our pre-wedding singles night here. However, this kind of music night is only popular in northern India, and there is no such ceremony in the south.

The man will hold a banquet ceremony the day before the wedding. On this day, the man will invite all relatives and friends to have a big meal and have a lively time. This ceremony has two functions. One is to inform everyone that xxx is going to get married; the other is to invite everyone to gather together and get everyone's blessings to make the wedding safe and smooth. At the banquet, the groom will thank the guests and accept their congratulations.

After the banquet, there is a ceremony to worship the potter's turntable. This ceremony must be held by both men and women, but the time of holding is different. The man's is the day before the wedding party departs, and the woman's is before the man's wedding party arrives.

During the ceremony, the women among the relatives and friends of the new couple will go to the potter's house to worship the turntable of his family's pottery, and put some rice, flour, candy and other items on the turntable.

At this time, the potter will give them some new pottery in exchange. It is said that through this ceremony, the newlyweds can be united and harmonious in the future and their feelings will be as solid as a rock!