Gujarati Matrimony

Marriage has always been given the status of festivals in India. Marriages in India are considered as the most important ceremonies in the family. This is one occasion, in which all the members of the family, come together and celebrate the happiest moment, in the lives of the bride and groom. Everyone has a very positive approach towards matrimony process in India, as it binds two souls for lifetime. The respect, which the Indians and Indian families have towards the marriage culture, is also immense and they make it a point, that the marriage ceremony happening in their family is in accordance to the rituals and norms of their ancestors and that their values are properly transferred. Therefore, elders are considered to be the most important source of transmission of values from one generation to other. They hold the responsibility of seeing that the marriage ceremonies are performed with all the cultures and rituals.

India is a country, blessed with number of religions and cultures, due to which one can see huge ways in which the marriage ceremonies are performed. Matrimonies in India, are performed according to the rituals and ceremonies of the respective religion or community to which the bride and groom belongs. The marriages of different cultures and communities and can be identified from the food, rituals, ceremonies, the make up and the dresses worn by the bride and groom. One community, which is most popular for its food and their ethnicity, is Gujarati. The people of Gujarat are known to be highly cautious about their cultures and rituals.

Gujarati matrimonies are full of pop and show, as the state holds the pride of being the richest part of the country. Colourful people, with warmth and love in their behaviour, and great perfection in every task they perform, are few of the attributes, which remarks the personality of Gujaratis. The Gujarati matrimonies are therefore highly colourful with full of ritual dance forms and food items. The marriages in Gujarat as in other parts of India are full of ritual ceremonies and lots of prayers and idol worship. Praying to god for the happiness of the bride and groom’s married life is the first thing, which can be observed in any of the Indian marriages. Most of the Gujarati matrimonies can be seen happening within the same community. They prefer marrying their son or daughter in a Gujarati family only.

The very first ritual in Gujarati matrimony is the worship of the Lord Ganesha. This is to seek the blessings of the God and wish for the life long happiness of the bride and the groom. The Gujarati bride is usually dressed in a red saree, and the Gujarati groom is traditionally supposed to wear a dhoti- kurta. Following the puja of lord Ganesha, the engagement, mehandi, sangeet ceremonies and a lot other rituals are performed, after which the final day of marriage arrives. Marriage day is the most special day in the life of every bride and groom. This is one day, for which every boy and girl waits for his life. It is supposed to be the most memorable day in life of every human being.

In case of Gujarati matrimonies also, the day is very precious for all, the bride, groom, and their families. Varmala, kanyadan, and few other ceremonies are performed, after which Gujarati bride and groom takes four mangal pheras, the scared circles around the goddess of fire, post which the bride and groom gets tied in the lifelong relation of marriage. After tying the wedding knot, the bride moves towards her new life with the Gujarati groom in his house. Thereafter, they are handled with the responsibilities of taking care of each other for the rest of their lives.