Telugu Wedding...

INTRODUCTION

Comprising the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, Hyderabad is the Capital of Andhra Pradesh. It is famous as the center of the fabulously wealthy Nizams of Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh is known as the Cyber State of India. Andhra Pradesh has a rich and varied cultural heritage.

The customs, rituals, traditions and conventions are unique to the state. It has hordes of treasures in the form of artistic dance forms, theatre performances, different local festivals etc. Andhrites are progressive minded hardworking people who have their roots entrenched deep in culture. The royal influence of the state lends a colorful aura to its people and their affairs. And, wedding is no exception. Andhra weddings are as zany and glitzy as the palace of Nizam and IT industry blooming in Hyderabad.

MARRIAGE THROUGH THE AGES

Telugu people interpret marriage in terms of one's sacred step in one's spiritual growth. It is not contractual as in many ways religious. The wife is considered to be ardhangini, a part of her husband, literally meaning 'half of the body'. No religious ritual can be performed by a man without his wife.

MATCH MAKING

Telugus marry within their community only. A Brahmin would marry off his daughter to a Brahmin only. Match between Brahmin and non-Brahmin is not generally made unless the girl or the boy is exceptional. Matches are tried to be made by word of mouth among known people. If it doesn't work only then, advertisement in the newspapers are given.

COSTUMES

Bridal Wear

The dress code for the bride is a saree - mostly a red one or any other similar bright color. She would gold and pearl jewellery. Pearl is exceptional as it is a Hyderabadi specialty. The bride would also wear flowers in hair.

Groom's Attire

The grooms of Andhra Pradesh wear the South Indian dhoti and a shirt in their style only. In case the groom is Brahmin, he would not wear the shirt during marriage

RITUALS

Rituals Before Marriage

Muhurtam

Muhurtam is a ceremony wherein an auspicious period of the day is chosen for the marriage. It is mostly the period of evening hours i.e.7-11 pm. The Telugu marriage rites are basically Hindu marriage rites only.

Pendlikoothuru

Pendlikoothuru takes place a day or two before the marriage. In this the boy and the girl are smeared with oil and turmeric. They take bath and each wears new clothes. The girl wears a saree and the boy would wear a dhoti. Also the girl is asked to wear flowers on her hair and bangles. All the assembled married women are presented with the betel leaves, sweets, flowers and bangles. This gifting is done to ensure the married ladies bless the to-be married girl and wishes her to become a part of their group.

Snathakam

Snathakam is an important ritual that takes place a few hours before the actual Muhurtam. It involves only the bridegroom as he has to wear a silver thread on his body.

Kashi Yatra

Kashi Yatra is an unique ceremony which has the boy saying at the end of the thread ceremony that he has discarded the worldly pleasures and going to Kashi. This strange but very relevant ceremony is called "KashiYatra" or the journey to Kashi.To stop him from the symbolic departure to Kashi, the girl's brother requests him to stay on. For this he also offers his sister in marriage.

Mangala Snaanam

Mangala Snaanam or the auspicious bath takes place on the wedding day, at dawn. This bath is taken by both the bride and the groom individually. Such a bath implies the purification of one's physical self before proceeding for the marriage rituals.

Aarti

The Aarti ceremony is peculiar to the Indian marriages. It features in almost all the marriages, may be in a different form everywhere. It has the family members applying the groom and the girl with oil and doing aarti around them. It is done for several reasons, one could be to safeguard the couple from bad planetary influences, bad omens and other evils.

Gauri Pooja

After having the bath, the bride worships the goddess Gauri. Gauri is the Mother Durga who symbolizes divine power, energy, woman power, fertility, etc.

Ganesh Pooja

When the bride is performing the Gauri Puja, the groom at the same time performs the Ganesha puja. Ganesha puja is considered auspicious for any important occasion as it ensures the success of the work at hand.

Marriage Rituals

Kanyadaan

The Telugu marriage ceremony is striking as well as fabulous. It has the girl's mama or the maternal uncle carrying the bride in a bamboo basket to the mandap (wedding place). The bride is well adorned in a bright coloured saree and precious jewellery. As per custom the girl would carry some betel leaves, betel nuts, a coconut, a sandalwood stick and a red pumpkin. The procedure of the marriage is such that a curtain is placed between the bride and groom, so that they do not see each other till the wedding is completed.

At the end of the marriage, the father and mother of the bride clean the boy's feet with water. It is more so done with the view that the groom is considered as a form of God. In most of the Hindu marriages, the groom is equalled to the god and the giving away of daughter in marriage to him is regarded as gifting the most loved thing of yours to Lord Vishnu himself. Also is associated with the ritual is the practice of gifting a virgin to the groom who is no less than Vishnu. In a way it also means that the parents are blessing the daughter with a husband who is as good as the God.

Madhuparkam

Madhuparkam would have the boy and the girl wearing a white dhoti and sari respectively, with a red border. The garments are of cotton.

Mangalsutra

The Mangalsutra is generally a golden chain with alternate black beads and chain. It is worn by the married women in a number of communities in India. In the Telugu community, the groom ties the Mangalsutra around the neck of the bride with three knots.

Kanya Daan Akshata

At the end of the Mangalsutra ceremony, the couple put garlands around each other's necks. And all those assembled shower flower petals and rice. This is called Akshata, the offering of uncooked, turmeric-coloured rice.

Saptapadi

Saptapadi is a ceremony that has the bride and the groom taking seven steps together around the fire. In each round they utter mantras which add to strengthen the marriage. As they take the pheras, the bride's saree and groom's dhoti ends are tied into a knot.

Rituals After Marriage

Griha Pravesh

Griha Pravesh is a very common marriage ritual, wherein the bride is made to enter the groom's house with all rites and fanfare.The two mangalsutras are united on a common thread 16 days after the wedding, with a few black or golden beads between the two plates, so that they do not clash with each other. This symbolizes harmony between the two families. The number 16 is considered a divine number in Hinduism and 16 days are symbolic of the time period that the bride has taken to know and understand her husband's family. As is common with most Hindu ceremonies, the bride takes a bath and wears a new sari. Any elder from the family, or the husband himself then unites the two mangalsutras on a common thread

CELEBRATIONS

Music & Dance

Music is considered to be divine in the South Indian states. Every state believes in having music being played in the background during auspicious occasions such as wedding, thread ceremony, etc. During the marriage especially, Carnatic music is being played in the entire period when the marriage is going on. And Nadaswaram is being specially played. Also, tunes of classical songs pertaining to the various rituals are played at the appropriate times.

Cuisine

The Telugus of Andhra would start off a feast with a special pachadi made of several ingredients like neem leaves, jaggery, bananas, sugar cane and tamarind. The cuisine of Andhra has two equally popular parallel cuisines - spicy non-vegetarian Mughlai dishes, and the primarily vegetarian Telugu Brahmin food - the dosas and its cousins! All with sambar.

SOME STRANGE CUSTOMS

• Jeelakarra-Bellamu

Jeelakarra-Bellamu is a rare ritual especially featuring in the Telugu marriage, wherein a paste of cumin seeds and jaggery is made. The bride and the groom apply this paste on each other's hands. The idea behind applying the cumin seeds and jaggery paste is that the two different objects coming together and united as one inseparably and forever