Hey Top Cats, before you indulge in the pictures this week, here are a bunch of things you must know about the famous Hindu Wedding & Ghari Pooja.

1. A Hindu Wedding is not just a simple exchange of vows and rings, it comes with a whole lot of shebang!

2. A Hindu Wedding includes a plethora of religious rites before, during and after the nuptials.

   

3. The aforementioned is performed in the presence of all the family members, (family) deities and the (family) priest.

4. All these religious ceremonies represent (and strengthen) the importance of a bond between a husband and wife.

5. A Hindu marriage is incomplete without the blessings of a divine element.

6. Ghari Pooja is the final and most important (religious) custom performed on the day of the wedding.

   

7. The family priest performs the prayers using rice, coconut, wheat grains, oil, betel nuts, turmeric and a bunch of other spices. Each of these represent a meaning in a person’s life.

8. While performing the pooja (religious practice), the priest explains the significance of each and every step and what value it is going to hold in our life. (Pretty interesting if you ask me!)

9. In this blog post, you will find pictures of married ladies (our aunties and cousins along with the bride) grinding wheat on a small, old fashioned grinder. This symbolizes that the home of the (to be wed) couple will always be prosperous (with food, love and divine grace).

   

10. The bride and the groom (in their respective homes, and in our case, ballrooms) offer a handful of grains as part of the religious practice indicating that even though their lifestyle is changing, they won’t shy away from the responsibilities towards their family and the society.

    

11. As a (major) part of Ghari Pooja, the mothers of both bride & groom dress up beautifully, carry a pot of water on their heads and walk around the house (in our case, ballroom). The son-in-law of the respective families (also called ainyarr) later cuts the water (as a part of the ritual) with a knife to ward off any evil spirits.

    

12. The parents of the (to be wed) couples are then adorned with garlands of flowers by their friends and family.

13. The bride is asked to wear a really old pair of dress which after the Ghari Pooja is either donated or washed away in a holy river.

14. The groom is asked to wear old clothes too that are torn off by his friends and family amidst merriment illustrating the end of his old { boring 😉 } life!

    

15. (FYI) The rituals for both bride and groom happens separately and is concluded with lots of dancing.

    

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    BRIDE’S GHARI POOJA

    

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    GROOM’S GHARI POOJA: If you feel the bride’s Ghari Pooja was fun, you must check out what happened at the groom’s side; even the photographers couldn’t completely capture the madness…

    (…a part of me was wishing to be there for the non-stop laughing, leg-pulling, singing, dancing and SO MUCH MORE…)

    

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    The most special bond…♥

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    ♥happiness unlimited♥

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    ♣Groom’s sister trying to annoy the ‘ainyarr’♣

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    And now some quick snippets before the pooja actually began…

    

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    ♠ #AakanshaKaRaj ♠

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    ♣♣♣ don’t forget to comment and tell me your favorite picture below! ♣♣♣

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