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 Pre
Marriage Ceremony
In a Marathi Marriage custom
the most important factor that is considered is as to
whether the stars (grahas) of the boy and the girl match
or not. Once the horoscope matches then it is given
to the respective Brahmins for "Gun- Milan" (matching
points). If sixteen points match, the knot can be tied
and the marriage process begins. "Baithak"
is a meeting of the elder relatives of both the families
who talk and decide on various issues regarding the
actual "Muhurat" (auspicious
time). The engagement ceremony is called "Sakharpuda".
It is held a day before the wedding or in the morning
of the wedding day. At this ceremony, the groom's parents
give a sari to the bride as a symbol of acceptance into
their family. Her hands are adorned with green bangles,
proving her engagement. She is also given a pack of
sugar, representing the spread of sweetness. A day before
the wedding, haldi paste is applied to the bride as
well as the groom by members of the family especially
ladies.
 Marriage
Ceremony
The wedding starts by dressing
up both the bride and groom in traditional dresses.
The bride wears a wedding sari called "Shalu". The bride
is brought by her maternal uncle into the pandal where
the groom is already waiting for the bride. Both are
made to stand apart, facing each other with garlands
in their hands and between them a plain white cloth
called the "Antarpath", with a swastika mark
made with kumkum is kept so that they don't see each
other. Both have Karawali (partners) standing next to
them as support, holding a vessel with water and a coconut.
The ceremony continues with the chanting of auspicious
shlokas and coloured rice is showered on the couple
to bless them. The bride garlands the groom first and
touches his feet to seek blessings. Then the groom garlands
his wife. Then five married ladies from both the families
come forward and take "aarti" of the newly wed. After
the garlanding ceremony the couple sit near the Brahmin
where the "Lajja Hom" is performed. Then the
groom presents his wife the "mangalsustra" and
later puts toe rings on her toes. Then he fills her
maang with sindoor. Next, they both have
to stand, offer Lhaya (dried rice) into the "Agni"
and go around the "hom" seven times. In the first two
rounds the groom leads and in the remaining the bride
leads the groom. After the "Lajja Hom", the couple performs
Laxmi Poojan, and then the groom gives a new name to
his wife, which he writes on the rice with a gold ring.
 Post
marriage Ceremony
After the marriage ceremony
the bride is given "Bidaai" and she leaves for her husband's
house. She is received at her new house by her mother-in-law
or sister-in-law by doing aarti. In the evening a reception
is kept.
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