Weddings in India vary according to the region, the religion, the community and the personal preferences of the bride and groom. They are festive occasions in India, and in most cases celebrated with extensive decorations, colour, dresses, music, dance, costumes and rituals that depend on the community, region and religion of the bride and the groom, as well as their preferences. [1] India celebrates about 10 million weddings per year, [2] of which about 80% are Hindu weddings.
While there are many festival-related rituals in Hinduism, vivaah (wedding) is the most extensive personal ritual an adult Hindu undertakes in his or her life. [3] [4] Typical Hindu families spend significant effort and financial resources to prepare and celebrate weddings. The rituals and process of a Hindu wedding vary depending on region of India, local adaptations, resources of the family and preferences of the bride and the groom. Nevertheless, there are a few key rituals common in Hindu weddings – Kanyadaan, Panigrahana, and Saptapadi; these are respectively, gifting away of daughter by the father, voluntarily holding hand near the fire to signify impending union, and taking seven steps before fire with each step including a set of mutual vows. After the seventh step and vows of Saptapadi , the couple is legally husband and wife. [4] [5] [6] Jain and Buddhist weddings in India, share many themes, but are centered around their respective religious ideas and texts. [7] [8]
Indian Sikh marriages are through a ceremony called Anand Karaj. The couple walk around the holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib four times, and then do an Ardaas, a traditional Sikh prayer.
Indian Muslims celebrate a traditional Islamic wedding, with rituals including Nikah, payment of financial dower called Mahr by the groom to the bride, signing of marriage contract, and a reception. [9]
Indian Christian weddings followings traditional Christian marriage customs. Among Protestants in India, the betrothal rite celebrates the engagement of a couple, with prayers being offered for a couple and engagement rings being blessed by a pastor. A day before the wedding, the Haldi/Ubtan/Mayun ceremony (as it is known in northern India) or the Roce ceremony (as it is known in Goa and Mangalore in India) is held, in which "haldi or turmeric paste is applied on North Indian Christians and coconut paste is applied on South Indian Christians." After some time, Indian Christians are married in a church wedding, during which, the couple meet in the presence of a minister, often in a church or place of worship. Readings from the Bible take place. The bride and groom take their marriage vows. The bride and groom often exchange rings symbolising their endless love. [10]
Interfaith marriages in India, especially between Hindus and Muslims, have been the subject of legal constraints in some states, vigilante harassment, and fears of violence.
In the past, the age of marriage was young. [11] The average age of marriage for women in India has increased to 21 years, according to the 2011 Census of India. [12] In 2009, about 7% of women got married before the age of 18. [13] Arranged marriages have long been the norm in Indian society. Even today, the majority of Indians have their marriages planned by their parents and other respected family members. Recent studies suggest that Indian culture is trending away from traditional arranged marriages. [14] Fewer marriages are purely arranged without consent and that the majority of surveyed Indian marriages are arranged with consent. The percentage of self-arranged marriages (called love marriages in India) have also increased vastly, particularly in the urban areas of India such as Mumbai and Delhi. [15]
Weddings are a major business in India. According to a report by KPMG in 2017, the Indian wedding industry is estimated to be around $40–50 billion in size. [16] It is the second largest wedding market after the United States, which is at $70 billion. [17] While the industry is very unorganised with small and medium scale businesses, there are also corporates who are trying to tap this industry. The prime factors for growth in the industry are the rise of middle class in India, an overall booming economy and use of social media. [18] It is estimated that the cost of an Indian wedding ranges between ₹500,000 and ₹50 million (from US$6,747.14 to US$674,743.50, respectively). An Indian is likely to spend one-fifth of his total lifetime wealth on a wedding. [19]
Many Indian celebrities choose destination weddings, [20] and Indians take inspiration from them. Both domestic and international destinations are popular for weddings in India. The destination wedding industry in India is estimated to cross ₹450 billion in 2020. [21]
Pre-wedding shoots along with wedding photography are also having a big stake in Indian weddings. Average wedding shoots can cost ranging from ₹15,000 to ₹100,000 per day. [22] [23]
A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, races, religions, denominations, countries, social classes, and sexual orientations. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vows by a couple, presentation of a gift, and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure or celebrant. Special wedding garments are often worn, and the ceremony is sometimes followed by a wedding reception. Music, poetry, prayers, or readings from religious texts or literature are also commonly incorporated into the ceremony, as well as superstitious customs.
A Hindu wedding, also known as Vivaha, Marathi: Lagna (लग्न), Bengali: Bibaho (বিবাহ) Kalyanam or Pelli, is the traditional wedding ceremony for Hindus. The wedding ceremonies are very colourful, and celebrations may extend for several days. The bride's and groom's home—entrance, doors, wall, floor, roof—are sometimes decorated with colors, flowers, and other decorations.
Saptapadi or saat phere is regarded to be the most important rite of a Hindu wedding ceremony. After tying the sacred knot known as the mangalasutra, the newly-wed couple takes seven steps together, or seven rounds around a sacred fire, during which the marriage is solemnised. After the seventh step or is taken, the marriage of the couple is regarded to be irrevocable.
Wedding photography is a specialty in photography that is primarily focused on the photography of events and activities relating to weddings. It may include other types of portrait photography of the couple before the official wedding day, such as a pre-wedding engagement session. On the wedding day, the photographer(s) will provide portrait photography as well as documentary photography to document the different wedding events and rituals throughout the wedding day(s).
Anand Karaj is the Sikh marriage ceremony, meaning "Act towards happiness" or "Act towards happy life", that was introduced by Guru Amar Das. The four laavaan were composed by his successor, Guru Ram Das. Although the recitation of Guru Amar Das' stanzas in Sikh ceremonies is a historical and enduring tradition, the practice of circumabulating around the Guru Granth Sahib to conduct a marriage ceremony is a relatively recent innovation that supplanted the tradition of circumabulating around the sacred fire (havan) in the early twentieth century. The Anand ceremony was originally legalised in India through the passage of the Anand Marriage Act of 1909, but is now governed by the Sikh Reht Maryada that was issued by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).
A Bengali Muslim wedding is a Bengali wedding in accordance to Muslim faith.
Marriage in Pakistan pertains to wedding traditions established and adhered by Pakistani men and women. Despite their local and regional variations, marriages in Pakistan generally follow Islamic marital jurisprudence. Marriages are not only seen as a union between a husband and a wife, but also an alliance between their respective families. These traditions extend to other countries around in the world where Overseas Pakistani communities exist.
Punjabi wedding traditions are a strong reflection of Punjabi culture with ritual, song, dance, food, and dress that have evolved over centuries.
A Zoroastrian wedding is a religious ceremony in Zoroastrianism in which two individuals, a man and a woman, are united. In Zoroastrianism, marriage within the community is encouraged, and is greatly favored in religious texts. The following information will detail ceremony procedures and traditional processes for a Zoroastrian wedding.
The Kupari consist of Kadodi Christians and Samvedi Christians, which are a Roman Catholic Brahmin sub-group in the Christian Bombay East Indian community, of the people of Konkan division. They are concentrated mostly in Bassein (Vasai), India, which is about 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Mumbai (Bombay) city. Kadodi ancestors were a mixture of Samvedi Brahmins, Goan Konkani Brahmins& Portuguese New Christians; because of intermarriages between them. The population is about 40,000 to 45,000. The two Konkani dialects spoken by the Kuparis are Samvedi Boli Bhasha and Kadodi, which are a mixture of Gujrati, Marathi & Indo-Portuguese. 97% of the population is Roman Catholic and the remaining minority is a mixed population of various Protestant Revolutionary denominations.
An engagement party, also known as a betrothal party or fort, is a party held to celebrate a couple's recent engagement and to help future wedding guests to get to know one another. Traditionally, the bride's parents host the engagement party, but many modern couples host their own celebration.
Arabic weddings are ceremonies of matrimony which contain Arab influences or Arabic culture.
In the United States and Canada, weddings follow traditions often based on religion, culture, and social norms. Most wedding traditions in the United States and Canada were assimilated from other, generally European, countries. Marriages in the U.S. and Canada are typically arranged by the participants and ceremonies may either be religious or civil. There is a tradition that the prospective bridegroom ask his future father-in-law for his blessing.
Indian wedding clothes are elaborate set of clothes worn by the bride, bridegroom, and other relatives attending the wedding.
Traditional marriage customs in the Philippines and Filipino wedding practices pertain to the characteristics of marriage and wedding traditions established and adhered by them Filipino men and women in the Philippines after a period of adoption courtship and engagement. These traditions extend to other countries around the world where Filipino communities exist. Kasalan is the Filipino word for "wedding", while its root word – kasal – means "marriage". The present-day character of marriages and weddings in the Philippines were primarily influenced by the permutation of Christian, both Catholic and Protestant, Hindu, Islam, Chinese, Spanish, and American models.
Muslim marriage and Islamic wedding customs are traditions and practices that relate to wedding ceremonies and marriage rituals prevailing within the Muslim world. Although Islamic marriage customs and relations vary depending on country of origin and government regulations, both Muslim men and women from around the world are guided by Islamic laws and practices specified in the Quran. Islamic marital jurisprudence allows Muslim men to be married to multiple women.
A Gandharva marriage is one of the eight classical types of Hindu marriage. This ancient marriage tradition from the Indian subcontinent was based on consensual acceptance between two people, with no rituals, witnesses or family participation. The marriage of Dushyanta and Shakuntala was a historically celebrated example of this class of marriage.
The Telugu Hindu wedding ceremony is the traditional wedding ceremony of the Telugu people in India. In the 19th century, the ceremony could last up to sixteen days. In modern times, it can last two or more days, depending on the family's financial and social status. The pelli or wedding is considered the strongest of social bonds, and is said to spiritually merge two souls opening the doors to gruhastaashramam. There is a Telugu saying that "Marriage is supposed to be a family union and not an individual formality." However, with changing mindset of the younger generation and due to globalization, marriage these days is being mainly focused solely on the union of the young couple only.
Bahaghara is a wedding ceremony performed by Odia Hindu people in the Indian state of Odisha. There are subtle differences in the rites observed by different castes. In Odia marriage rituals, the mother of the bridegroom does not take part in the ceremony. The Utkala Brahmins have their weddings only in the daytime, preferably at midday or in the morning, while the other caste weddings are done during the evening or night. There is the custom of sending betel nuts to family friends for inviting them to the marriage. The first invitation is sent to the family deity as a respect to the lord. Marriages in Odisha are mostly fixed and arranged by the parents. Marriages for serving or capturing is not common.