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Marriage in every culture is the most important ritual that is practised by the families following that religion. Marriages bind two souls into one; it is the beginning of the couple towards a new journey of life, which is to be spent together and happily forever. The marriages signifies the purity of the relation shared between the couple and it is a ritual performed in every culture, religion or community irrespective of the person being rich or poor, Hindu or Muslim, he has to get married and lead his life with his partner. Bengal is a state which is famous for its literate people, Bengal tigers, sunderbans, etc. It is the largest delta in the world, with a high number of populations with rich cultural heritage. The marriages in Bengal like all other are done in a very traditional and extravagant style. Bengali matrimonies or any other festival in Bengalis begins with the voice of the conch shell, which is blown by the Bengali women, gathered in the function. Bengali marriages are also divided into three stages: pre, during and post marriage ceremonies. Pre- wedding rituals: Ashirbaad: It is the ceremony where elders from bride and the groom’s side go to each other’s houses and bless the bride and groom, with their acceptance on the marriage. The bride and the groom are blessed with gifts, gold ornaments and are sprinkled with husked rice and trefoil on their heads. Holud Kota: like the haldi or heena ceremony in Hindu’s marriage, turmeric paste mixed with mortar and pestle are applied on the face, hands and feet of the bride by the elder women of the family. This is also to make the bride’s skin glow and give a natural Indian colour to the bride. Dodhi Mongal: in this ceremony, the bride is made to wear a set of red and white bangles called shakha and paula, the traditional bangles worn by every bride at the time of her marriage. The Bengali bride is also fed with curd and rice, as a shagun, at the dawn on the day of the marriage. Marriage Rituals: Bor Jatri: It is the journey of the groom, his relatives and friends from his house to the bride’s house or to the venue of the marriage. Bor Boron: It is the welcome ceremony done by the bride mother and her family members, when the Bor Jatri reaches their house. The Bengali mother of the bride performs the traditional arti to and then the groom is treated with sweets. Potto Bastra: the groom is gifted with new clothes by a member from the bride’s family who is supposed to do the sampradaan, during this ceremony, the groom sits on the chadnatolla, the wedding canopy and altar. Saat paak: in the bride is made to sit on pidi, a wooden stool, and the brothers of the bride carry her and taken seven circles, which signify their togetherness for seven lives. Mala Badal: As a part of this ceremony, the bride and the groom exchanges garlands with each other, three times, as a token of their acceptance towards the relation. Subho Drishti: After exchanging the garlands, the Bengali bride and the groom are required to face the audience, thereby announcing the society about their relaation in a formal manner. Sampradan: The bride is made to sit on the chadnatolla, where an elder male member from the bride family handover her to the groom and then their hands are bound by a sacred thread, along which the priest recites the spiritual prayers. Yagna: The Bengali bride and the groom are made to sit on their respective positions in front of the sacred fire called agni, the priest also takes his position to recite the prayers along. Saat Paak: In this the bride and the groom takes seven circles around the fire, thereby, promising each others togetherness for the seven lives. Anjali: It is a offering made to the god of fire, agni, in this, the brother of the bride along with the groom offers puffed rice to the fire. Sindoor Daan and Ghomta: The Bengali groom applies sindoor on the forehead parting of the bride, after which the bride covers her head with a new sareer, gifted by the groom side to her. Post- Wedding rituals: Bidayi: This is the moment, when the girl leaves her maternal house and heads towards a new life to her husband’s house. After reaching the groom’s home there are few ceremonies like Kaal ratri, Bou Bhaat & Bodhu Boron, which are performed, post which the Bengali bride and groom are allowed to live a happily married life. Author Bio Gurleen Kaur writes on behalf of Jeevansathi.com, which is India’s fastest growing matrimonial website, provides online Indian matrimonial classified services. Jeevansathi.com enables users to create an Bengali matrimony profile on the website and allow prospective grooms and brides to contact each other. Users can search for profiles through advanced search options on the website. Users can avail free registration and make initial contact with each other through services available on Jeevansathi.com via Chat, SMS, and e-mail.
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