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Sikh Wedding Traditions

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For the next few months, we will be presenting different cultures for which we frequently design wedding ceremonies and receptions. Because Exquisite Events started as mainly an Indian and Pakistani wedding planning company (and now does many luxury weddings of all cultures), we have had the pleasure of learning all of the wedding customs, from the mehndis, to the prayers, to the food, to the stealing of the shoes post ceremony!

In this month’s Journey to India blog, we will be focusing on the Sikh wedding traditions.

The night before the wedding, the female family members and friends of the bride throw her a colorful and musical party, called the Mehndi, where she is adorned in the fingers-to-toes henna that she will be wearing on her wedding day.

mehndi by exquisite events

Many Sikh weddings begin with a reading of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (the religious text of the Sikh) at the groom’s home. Family and friends of the groom are invited to join in the walk, drive, or sometimes even horse or elephant ride to the bride’s family home. 

This processional is called a baraat and usually includes drums and lots of dancing as the groom makes his way to be greeted by the bride’s family.

 

When the groom and his family arrive, they are met by the bride’s family. Then, ragis perform kirtan, a chant and response from the religious text to bless the joining of the two families. The male relatives from either side exchange garlands and hugs as a symbol of the families coming together. This is called Milni.

Following the milni, the groom is escorted to the Gudwara – or the ceremony space. In Sikh weddings, both women and men must cover their hair and take off their shoes before entering the ceremony. The men and women are generally seated on separated sides of the room and sit on pillows or sheets on the floor. This is to give reverence to the holy book.

The Ceremony:

The groom and his parents enter the Gurdwara and the groom presents a cash offering as well as a rumala, a new silk covering for Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The groom sits before Sri Guru Granth Sahib and listens to kirtan as he awaits the bride’s arrival. The bride and her family enter the Gurdwara and she sits on the left hand side of the groom facing the priest and the holy book.

From sikhs.org:

The ceremony officially begins with the officiate after having ascertained that both the bride and groom are Sikh asking the couple to stand up as well as their parents for Ardas. This family Ardas indicated the public consent of the parties involved to this marriage taking place. Every time the bride and groom arise or sit down during the ceremony they will bow down to Sri Guru Granth Sahib out of respect by touching their foreheads to the ground. After Ardas the couple sit down and the officiate then lectures the couple in the significance of marriage, their duties and obligations to each others as equal partners. The couple indicates their agreement to these guidelines and principles by bowing down before Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The father of the bride then places one end of a scarf or sash worn by the groom over his shoulders in his daughters hand signifying that she is now leaving his care to join her husbands. The officiate now reads the Lavan hymn of Guru Ram Das which is composed of four stanzas. The four stanza of the hymn describes the progression of love between a husband and wife which is analogous to that between the soul (bride) and God (the husband). After the conclusion of the recitation of each stanza the groom followed by the bride holding the end of the scarf go around Sri Guru Granth Sahib in a clockwise direction while the ragis sing out the recited Lavan stanza. After each round the couple sit down and listen while the officiate reads the next stanza. The ragis then sing it while the couple completes another walk around Sri Guru Granth Sahib. This process is repeated four times in total for each stanza of the Lavan after which the couple sit down. During their walk around Sri Guru Granth Sahib often there will be members of the girls family who help her complete her rounds with her husband. This is to signify their support for her as she leaves one family for another.

After the wedding ceremony, family members will barrage the couple with hugs and kisses blessing them with a lifetime of success and happiness.

 

We hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about Sikh wedding customs. Be sure to come back next month to learn about Hindu wedding traditions!

The post Sikh Wedding Traditions appeared first on Journey to India.


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