Sacred Rituals Of A Bengali Wedding

A Bengali wedding is an elaborate and long affair. With its kaleidoscopic and harmonious array of rituals entailing exchange of gifts, detailed adornments, extravagant culinary delights and blessing showered on the bride and groom by the elders, each of the Bengali wedding customs bear a significance of its own. The ceremony is a potpourri of rituals held amidst the symphony of ululation and conch shells blown by the womenfolk and elaborate arrangement of gourmet food and sweets. Here is a glimpse of some of the principal rituals of a Bengali wedding.

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Pre-Wedding Rituals

• Ashirbaad- One of the first customs extolling a Bengali wedding is the Ashirbaad ceremony whereby the bride’s family visit the house of the groom to bless him with trefoil and husked rice as well as gold ornaments. The same custom is performed by the groom’s family.
• Vridhi Puja- As a mark of showing respect to the ancestors, the Vridhi Puja is performed by the paternal uncles of the groom and the bride on respective sides, a day before the wedding.
• Aai Buro Bhat- An extensive array of food with special emphasis on fish, which is considered auspicious and sweets are served to the bride and the groom as a mark of celebrating their last day of being single.
• Dodhi Mangal- At the break of dawn on the day of the marriage, married women visit the sacred river Ganga or any pond nearby to get water to bathe the bride and groom. It is followed by feeding the bride and groom with curd and churiya or rice, which is to be their only meal till they are wedded.
• Gaaye Holud- The married women apply turmeric paste on the groom before bathing him. It is then taken by his relatives for the bride along with tatva or gifts for her and her family members.

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Wedding Rituals

• Bor Boron- As the groom reaches the bride’s house with his relatives, he is welcomed by the mother of the bride who blesses and greets him with a Baran Dala comprising trefoil, husked rice and sweets.
• Saat Paak, Shubho Drishti, Mala Badal- The bride sits on a piri covering her face with beetel leaf and lifted up by her uncles and brothers who then take her around her would-be husband seven times. The ritual culminates in Shubho Drishti and Mala Badal where the couple for the first time see each other and exchange garlands thrice.
• Saat Paak and Sampradaan- The bride and the groom then gets seated at the Chhadnatola where a male member on the bride’s side places her hand on her husband’s at the backdrop of Vedic chants. The hands are bound and placed on a pot made of brass and containing coconut and mango leaves. This is followed by going round the holy fire seven times.
• Sindoor Daan- The final ritual, which completes the marriage, is when the groom puts vermillion or sindoor on the bride’s hair parting.

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Post- Wedding Rituals

The post-wedding rituals entail the Bidaai or Farewell, Kaal Ratri when the couple is separated from each other, Bou Bhat where the bride cooks for the family members of her husband and finally Phool Sajja whereby the newly-weds’ bed is bedecked with flowers as a symbol of conjugal bliss.