Maharashtrian weddings involve many ceremonies and traditions, passed down from Father to Son. Each ceremony performed has an important reason, which is believed to bond the bride and groom together for life.

The process begins by matching the bride and groom’s horoscopes. If their horoscopes match perfectly, then a suitable date is fixed for the wedding and other ceremonies. PavitraVivah.com, a marathi matrimony site that offers free online horoscope matching service.

Few rituals followed in Maharashtrian weddinga are similar to South Indian wedding traditions like Saptapadhi and Kanyadaan:

Ganpati Puja, Devdevak and Gurihar Puja

The wedding day commences with the worship of Vighnaharta. Lord Ganpati’s puja is performed for the bright future of the couple. In the wedding mandap, the family deity is invited by the Devdevak. In Gurihar Puja, the bride wears her dress to pray to Goddess Parvati for a happy married life. The uncle of the bride gives her some rice, which is then offered to the Goddess.

Punyavachan and Seemant Pujan

In the ritual of Punyavachan, the bride’s parents take the bride to the wedding venue and ask everyone to bless their daughter. The ritual of Seemant Pujan is performed when the groom and his family enter the wedding venue. The bride’s mother washes his feet and family exchange the gifts after applying Teelak on their foreheads.

Antarpat

When a groom sits in the Mandap, the Antarpat (curtain) is hanged in front of the groom to prevent him from seeing the bride sitting opposite him.

Sankalp

The bride enters the Mandap and priest chants Mangalashtaka (sacred vows). During this ritual, the Antarpat (shawl or curtain) is removed and finally, the bride and groom see each other. The couple exchanges the Var mala (garlands), and all guests showers them with Akshata (whole rice).

Kanyadan

The most important ritual and emotional moment of the wedding is ‘Kanayadan’. The father of the bride gives away his daughter to the bridegroom with his blessings. After tying a Mangalsutra and putting sindoor on the bride’s forehead, the bride applies Chandanacha teeka on the groom’s forehead.

Lajahoma

The fire in the mandap is lit and the bride feeds a few grains of rice, to the fire every few minutes, while the Panditji chants mantras continuously. The same recited by the groom also. The fourth mantra is silently spoken only by the bride. The Maharashtrian couple is worshiped as the avatar of Vishnu and Laxmi, and then a turmeric thread is tied on each of their hands.

Saptapadhi

According to the tradition, couples have to take seven rounds around the holy fire in the mandap. After the completion of each round, the bride touches the seven suparis (areca nuts). The newly wed couple vow to support each other at every step of their life.

Karmasampati Ritual

In this Maharashtrian ritual, the wedding couple performs Laxmi Pujan. The groom gives the bride a new name. The brother of bride teasingly twists the ear of groom’s to remind him about his duties towards his sister. In the end, the couple takes the blessings of all present there.

Every community has different wedding rituals. PavitraVivah.com, one of Mumbai’s best Marathi Matrimonial site, decided to give you a sneak peak into Maharashtrian wedding rituals. Visit our next blog to know the rituals followed post a wedding.